I've been battling mealies for about a year now. There is one hoya they particularly love and I have tried just about everything to get rid of them and yet, they are still here. Here is a list of what i have tried so far:

- individual q-tip with alcohol

- spraying plant with diluted alchohol

- neem oil spray

- repotted plant into new soil and used Bonide houseplant systemic insect control

- unpotted and removed all soil, now growing completely in leca

And yet, I still see mealies on that hoya. I have them on other hoyas as well and on African violets. They seem to love those too.

I just bought Bonide Eight houseplant insecticide spray. I will be trying that out next.

The day someone discovers or invents a mealy bug destroyer will be a happy day indeed!

Hi William,

I don't use a greenhouse, grow indoors only, Succulents, Tropicals & lots of Hoyas. Very rare mealies which I just treat w/ alcohol. Sounds like maybe you need to take everything outside, empty the whole greenhouse & disinfect it all. I realize that's likely a big job.

But I stopped growing Hoya compacta (Indian Rope Hoya) 'cause its nooks & crannies are just too perfect for mealies.

Any chance you can take all the Hoyas outside, hang them in some trees & let your local insects take care of the mealies?

If no one has mentioned it, Helicopter Parenting your plants doesn't actually help them & sometimes hurts them when folks keep doing stuff to their plants, repeatedly trying different treatments & not allowing their plants time enough to recover. We jokingly refer to that here sometimes as Loving One's Plants to Death or Overnurturing them but it can be true.

I'm not necessarily saying you're doing that, but pls consider it as a possibility, or maybe a contributing factor.

I don't helicopter to treat them, just to hover over and look for a new leaf, a growth point, maybe a new shoot etc. I just enjoy looking at them. For instance, I purchased an andersonii clipping months ago. I've watched it finnaly take root, then throw up a new leaf. I placed it in a pot with a homemade Sphagnum moss pole, watched an aerial root take hold and now it's taking off with great growth. Those are the things I enjoy.

Well as long as it's only hovering to LOOK, that's fine, I'm guilty of that as well. I'm sure many of us are daily lookers.

I've even joked I trained myself to look only, as if I were Prince Charles. When he was younger, he was often photographed w/ his hands clasped together behind his back. I used to LOOK w/ my hands clasped behind my back, so I wouldn't touch & especially so I wouldn't WATER (learning that for the Succulents).

What pls is an andersonii? Some new type of Hoya I haven't yet heard of?

OR,

Maybe a Ceropegia sandersonii, which I know & have grown (& is also related to Hoyas, sort of a cousin as it's a fellow Asclepiad).

No, it's a philodendron. I grow lots of different plants, bromeliads, dracinias, philodendrons, hoyas, sansaveras, etc. In Sept the all get dragged back inside to overwinter till late April early May. Needless to say, the house gets a ltttle crowded!

Thanks, I'll have to look it up to see.

Do you still grow Hoya compacta? The mealiest of all Hoyas?

No, that's one I don't have. For some reason, scrunchy leaves never appealed to me.

"hover over and look for a new leaf, a growth point, maybe a new shoot" -- this!

That moment that you get the new growth or first leaf after being so careful and waiting so long is sure a delightful one!

And I don't grow compacta either for the same reason. I've never really liked the scrunchy leaves. Now, puckered leaves like Chelsea are adorable!

I don't have a Chelsea. I just started getting serious with hoyas this year. I've had a Crimson queen for years, which is currently in flower, and I just picked up some cuttings of obavata, kerrii, publicalyx, macrophylla, lancusa, curtisi, Australis, wayitii, Bella and one or two more I can't remember theie names unless I go look. They have all finally rooted and with this hot humid weather, are all sending out a shoot or two with leaves. Can't wait to get them into flower next year.

Wow that's quite a shopping list! Congratulations! The wonderful world of hoya addiction is now yours. :-)