Does anybody have any recommendations on pink hibiscus mealybugs? The most recent IFAS bulletin that I could find (2014) offers pretty much nothing. They say that there are no chemical controls and that they are hoping for biological controls to emerge. I am planning to just cut them way back and spray soap on them weekly until they are under control. But, I am willing to consider other options (although I generally try to stay away from insecticides).

coffee grinds and tobacco mulch...soapy water with neem too on cloudy days...if plant is big enough, prune infected branches


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If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

There is something in a blue bottle bayer that you can buy at Lowe's

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Style is what you make it!

Just keep the hose next to the plant and spray them off daily. Eventually something will come by and clean them up. Smash them with your fingers also. Keep the plant healthy and it should defend on its own. But, if not yes, that blue bottle bayer is a systemic pesticide to use in last resorts. Good luck.

When they get on my baby palm roots, I enjoy poking them with a toothpick! LOL

Thanks for the replies. After talking with Sally Scalera, I am going with the weekly baby shampoo and vegetable oil routine. They really weren't as bad as I thought after trimming. But, better to stay ahead of them, I guess.

I had a few bushes with them and the ladybugs I bought at Rockledge Gardens handled them. Just split the release on the plants and watched them go to work.

Tried the ladybug method, but, they flew the coop almost immediately. My neighbors probably benefited.

I had that happen when I tried it on the aphids in the butterfly garden I made for my wife. It was windy though. Tried it again on a calmer day and they had all the little yellow aphids on the milkweed gone by the next day. Voracious little guys.