I've been battling this whitefly for the past week. I've been spraying a strong stream of water nightly on it to try to wash them off, but they populate quick.




So, I'm breaking out the heavy insecticides...

About a teaspoon of soap.


a splash of this, and fill the rest up with water. Don't get any in your eye.



spray all the undersides and drench the plant. leave the leftover hanging on the plant for inspection the next day and get some you may have missed.





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Down here we've got pink hibiscus mealybug.

Those things are the devil. It's like Asian scale in that they sit in the soil to come out again later after you knock them back.

But unlike Asian scale, they will attack almost everything and will completely kill alot of stuff (especially hibiscus)

Imidacliprid is about the only thing that actually works, but its exepnsive and you gotta apply it all the time, not to mention its a systemic insecticide, and hibiscus have flowers which attract bees, which in turn gets the bees.

I think I need a flamethrower.

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

hibiscus mealybug is difficult to control. The best I've found is blasting it with water whenever I can and keeping the plant healthy and it will out grow it.

I also smash what I can with my fingers and leave the insect carcus to attract wasp and ants that will come clean them up....and/or, I just rip up the hibiscus and plant something that is not as susceptiple.

Using insecticide is costly, unhealthy, and poisoning the environment. In some cases like in a nursery it is cost efficient to use it and mandatory by the USDA, however, as a homeowner??? Just spray it down with water frequently, cut the plant back that has heavy infestation, and keep the plant healthy and it will out grow the bugs. And/or, you replace the bush. Hibiscus cost $5.99 at walmart, where the pesticide cost 15 bucks.

If infestation is so bad you can't live with it. Take a couple cuttings of the hibiscus and clean all the bugs off with alcohol swipes, then root them away from the mother plant. Then destroy the mother plant along with the roots as the mealybug is in the ground also and feeding on the roots.

A systemic works also. But, poison plus spending money is a turn off for me.

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Another easy home made insecticide is a nicotine solution.

You need to find some cigarette butts and soak them for about a day so the solution is tinted.  You can also add some soap to have it last longer on the plant.  Pretty cheap and easy.  It works really good too.  The nicotine can wash right off when you harvest the vegies.

Not so sure the cigarette butt idea is the best way to do things, unless you want arsenic, tar, cadmium, and everything else soaking in. Especially not a good idea for veggies or fruits with permeable skin.

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"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas K Gandhi

I tried tobacco a long time ago. It was too much work. How hard is it to mix soap and water? I just checked the plant and there are still remnants of white fly and they just got a 2nd application.

The main thing is just to knock the insects back. You are never going to get rid of all of them, but slow them down enough for the plant to grow out of it... hopefully. This plant does show some insect damage now so the population did get out of control. But, now I'll keep it watered and feed it some and it should bush out.

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I had heard about that nicotine thing myself, but it sounded way too gross for me to actually try.

How about "sun tea" made from coffee grounds? Ive taken an old pillowcase, filled it with old grounds, tie the end, and soak it in a pickle bucket full of water. Set it out in the sun.. kinda like a giant teabag. after awhile you've got an alkaloid solution that bugs hate.

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

The sun tea sounds interesting as well.  I was just passing the tabacco info along... it is pretty gross.  I use coffee grounds in my bromilliads for keep the mosquitos under control.  Makes sense to use it on the plants too.