I feel your pain. I looked a little deeper and I'm pretty sure I've got "obscure mealy bugs" YUCK!

http://www.ehow.com/how_6935_control-mealybugs.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscure_mealybug

Look at those links and see if it helps . . .

Carolyn

PS GOOD LUCK to both of us!!!

Hi Maid,

Sorry to hear this, but if it's white & fuzzy like cottony -- that's mealy bugs. Pls. move the infected plants to ANOTHER ROOM. Mealy bugs are VERY contagious especially among Hoyas.

Take a Q-tip, dip the tip in alcohol, & touch the point of the tip to the bug, if it turns red, that's mealy bug.

I'd throw out the cuttings of Swedish Ivy immediately lest they infect anything else (also they're readily replaceable), nto worth the rest of your plants (assuming you've got others).

Searches here, at Houseplants &/or at C&S for 'mealy bugs' should yield lots of info. on how to treat for this. Good luck!

Thanks PG-
I already have thrown the jar of cuttings away. I'm still not 100% sure that's where they came from, but I don't care. It's outta here. You're right, it's not worth the risk of loosing more plants for those silly swedish ivy cuttings.

I do have to say, I haven't seen a *bug* only the white cotton like fuzz. I did find it on one of my pub cuttings this morning, I isolated it as well.

I have done a lot of reading, I opted to use rubbing alcohol, spraying the entire plant. I plan to do it again in 10 days or so.

My concern is there HAS to be a mamma here somewhere laying down all this stuff, I'm worried it's in one of my plants below the soil, but you'd think I'd have seen some sign of a critter. I haven't found in my readings where the mother/adult mealy lives.

Thanks PG . . .

Maid~

One more thing PG, after reading on further, I will spray with alcohol 3-4 times per week, as I read and it does make sense, waiting too long in between applications may not help. Is every other day too often, do you know? TY
Maid`

Debi,

When it's mealies, there is no ONE mother. Once you have them, you never really get rid of them completely. As for spraying with alcohol, about every 6-7 days will work, but Bayer's Tree & Shrub as a water-in is a more effective, permenant solution. Anytime I find a mealy, I water it in and I hardly ever see them anymore.

If you prefer to use the alcohol spray, keep the plant out of direct sunlight for a couple days after spraying. Be sure to spray under the rims of your pots - they lurk there! Soil mealies aren't nearly as common as the above ground variety (at least I haven't seem them very often...)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll say again that the best defense is carefully inspecting each and every plant each and every time you water it. That means pulling foliage up and looking carefully at the leaf nodes (that's where they tend to hang) and the leaf undersides. Once you know what to look for, they won't escape your inspection!

Denise in Omaha

Hi Denise,

Yes, exactly, thx for explaining so clearly, I was coming back to say, pls. be sure to check the undersides of the leaves, especially where they join the stems, that's a favorite place for them.

H. compacta or 'Rope' Hoya w/ all its nooks & crannies is a real danger w/ this, I believe Denise & I both have had that experience.

I used a systemic called Marathon yrs ago, the private use of which recently became illegal in my state of NY. I haven't needed it since, but it did the trick.

Denise, remember Lesli/GA? I believe I sent her some for her Hoyas early in the life of this Hoya Forum. She seems to have dropped away, a very nice & knowledgeable woman, guess I miss her. (Sorry to digress.)

Karen's right about H. compacta. I quit growing it because if there's a mealy around, it will find it's way to compacta and once you have it on that one, you might as well throw it away because it's impossible to get them all. Unless, of course, you use a systemic. I got another one awhile back and even though I use the BATS, I still keep it completely away from all my other plants.

Denise in Omaha

'Morning gals,

As you have suggested, many times, (I learned from my extensive reading,lol), I did check under lips of pots, I did isolate the infected plant(s) and I haven't stopped looking at the rest of my plants on a almost hourly basis. . .

I have a Bayer product called rose and flower insect killer, ready to use. Can I add it to water and use it to water in. It says can also be used on house plants. Or should I not compromise and get the real thing.

I do have a compacta, but it is in a different room, and none of the plants in there have any signs of the pests. But I do check them too.

If I do have to get the BATS, I will do so as soon as its safe to go outside. We are in the midst of a winter storm, it snowed 7+ inches since last night and no signs of it stopping yet.

Thank you both for all your help, I really do appreciate it. I know you both have been offering lots of advise to many people here, I read posts from 06, regarding this same issue, and Yes PG, I read a lot of posts from the member you mentioned. Even the one when you offered to send her some marathon-lol.

Thanks again,
Maid~

Debi,

I'd read the label and see if it specifies mealies. If it does, it can probably be used same as BATS. Don't feel bad... after posting here, I found some scale on my H. rigida. I'm sure I've mentioned that I often find (especially) scale on the ones I get from Hawaii and other warm spots (this one came from AZ...) And they're harder to see and can't be "washed off" like mealies can. You have to pick them off with a toothpick, and it's really necessary to use a systemic with them because they're so hard to see on the stems (especially the "babies.")

Anyway, hope you get them under control so you don't have to walk around feeling paranoid (which is what it does to me when I find them!)

Denise in Omaha