Fortunately, I only had the one plant with mealies which I was able to take care of. I have been spraying all of my violets with neem oil since then. I havent had any problems with it other than the smell. I do agree with Irina that it resembles a rotten onion smell. As for the effectiveness of neem oil, I can only assume it is doing a good job at this point since I havent noticed any other bugs. I have only been using it for a month so time will tell. Julie, I have never used the Purelec pots or any other pots with a water gauge. For my smaller starter plants, I just use solo cups with holes slit in the bottom and set in a tray of water. For larger plants, I just use regular plastic pots with drainage holes and set them in an tray of water as well. It is a gamble doing community watering but with so many plants, it is a risk I am willing to take. If I were to individually water each plant it would probably take me an hour. Doing it this way takes me about 5 minutes a week. Aside from the time factor, I also hate to pay those steep prices for the fancy pots. If you want a cheap alternative, you can go to walmart or dollar store and find many clear glass pots, candle holders, etc. for a couple bucks. You can easily see the water line through the glass and physan 20 controls the algae well. Rambler

Jean, yes, inspect ALL your plants.. It's the crawlers, (babies) that are hard to find.. That's the reason it's important to spray all parts of your Agave/s. Leaves/stems, etc. I think Baby Wipes contain Rubbing Alcohol, right? It's been a long time, lol. If it does, alcohol will help somewhat, but Jean, to rid those suckers, literal suckers, you better get to work. Clean and inspect daily until you get hold of Bayer or whatever you choose to use. They multiply fast. Are these guys hard-shelled? Yuck, plant bugs are gross looking, especially when magnified. I read an article that explained how eggs are in waiting, during winter months, then when climate is 'just right' they come out of hiding. Hatch. As much as I dislike Scale, IMO, they're easier to rid than Mealy.. I purchased an Olive tree from an online nursery. I ordered from this place several times, and never ever found insects, but there's always that first time, you know? The olive tree arrived. I set it beside a group of citrus and other tropicals. (BTW, it was winter, days cloudy, and my eyes aren't what they used to be.) I can't recall how many days later, while misting, I spotted a brown lump on a leaf..then another and another. Jean, I wanted to cry..there were hundreds of scales..truly that many and more. Then, I looked at citrus neighboring the olive..all branches growing nearest the Olive had loaded..which is one advantage..scale move slower than say, mites. What do you do with a hundred scale? Hand-pick each? What? Earlier in that summer I spoke with a woman in Fl who owns a citrus nursery. She's the person who told me they use Fish Emulsion as a scale preventative and insecticide. I phoned her, explained the situation, asked the portion of FE to water. She gave me the recepie, and it worked! Talk about grateful. One thing that bothered and still troubles me to this day. The olive was delivered in winter. It was very cold outside. Yet, the cold didn't bother or kill the scale. This was pre-heat-pack days..the cold didn't bother the tree either, so I don't have an answer. The olive is alive and well to this day. So are the citrus. So, IMO, scale aren't terribly destructive IF something is done, but if left to live, bye-bye plant.Good luck, Jean, Toni

Thank you for your answers. Yes, I'll try to post my pictures, just for the sake of information. I would be glad to be mistaken. I know it's the earwigs ( or something else) eating the leaves, and I don't see any visible damage from the mealybugs. I also have a different kind of damage on the rose leaves, like trails eaten trough the leaves ( their thickness) and just a thin brown membrane of the leaves remaining.... but this is not the rose forum. I am in Toronto East, zone 6a. Trust me, mealybugs are an outdoor pest. Anybody knows if they die in winter? I have managed to cut most of the branches that were going through and low over my fence, and have not seen more than one or two bugs any more on my plants. I just scrub them down with a piece of the wood mulch that I put around plants, and smash them. I know about q-tips and alcohol, but I was a little concerned about burns/ dehydration on the very young twig knots, where I usually see the mealybugs. But it's just horifying to see so many bugs on these trees and shrubs outside of the fence... systemic would not be an option for me....

Ficus are a Mealybug favorite. You don't mention that you have used horticultural oil. Oil will kill Mealybugs if done correctly. However living in California you probably have a ready source for re-infestation in your yard. So it is likely that you are killing them and they are re-infesting your Ficus almost immediately. You may be able to reduce the number of Mealybug in your yard by introducing Biological controls such as the Mealybug Destroyer, and limiting the use of broad spectrum pesticides, if you use these. The main thing is to stop them re-infesting your plant. If you must after trying everything else you can mix some Imidacloprid into the soil. Be sure to find a formula registered for house plants and follow the label to the letter. Another caution on using the Imidacloprid is that it can encourage Spider Mites, so only use it where you absolutely must and watch out for the Mites. Here is a link that might be useful: Mealybug dispersal