Hep! it is indeed mealybugs, I took a closer look and I certainly see little bugs, they are powdery white but has small legs, when I wipe with alcohol they become dirt yellow smudge... the hoya is hanging in a small closet with a northern window- my husband just peeked over my shoulder, not east as I said before.. I have other plants in there for winterstorage, my hibiscus looks like it has a bit of 'spiderweb on it- I know it is a pest but do not know what the name is. My irises that was delivered a bit too late to put in the ground last fall is in there too, One of them was filled with small lice. I sprayed it down with the chrystanmentum spray and it seemed like it did the job. I decided To make a fast sweep of the houseplants and realize that the grape ivy too has white clusters (stems , leaves, underleaves) I look at the passiflora and detect a bit of spiderwebbing. I move on to the bedroom and my hibiscus in there is too affected by webs I am afraing to take down my green hoya... ahmm. went and bought isoprpyl at the pharmacist, could only find 71% / 90% I got the lower number and diluted with water. now it's war! any takes on dealing with the buggers in the soil? should I start watering with soap? can I use dishdetergent water? which soaps to avoid??? thanks klk *I don't know what systemic is but do not like the name, sounds like something I do not want in the house...*

OK...a little breathing-time, at last. Thank you, graywings, for HP suggestion. I had some on-hand and let it sit on the spots for a minute or two before using machine again. Result VASTLY superior to anything tried before. Will have to wait until dry before final pronouncement but looking very good right now. Thank you for quick response, graywings. You've made a very troublesome evening quite a bit better. Thanks, too, livebetter, for follow-ups. Pretty nice of you.

Thanks! I was sooo afraid she would put me on meds. Mom takes meds for it, and dad had meds and 6 shots a day for it. I just didn't want to start that yet. I told DH that I had to keep doing what I'm doing, no matter what the blood work said. It will be really hard once we start traveling again for the summer, but he's already been told that my big food processor is going with us. I found a recipe for spelt flour biscuits that I have been using for breakfast. I mix them in the fp and bake them, and bake eggs, cook my bacon ahead of time. Then my breakfast gets nuked and eaten for the day instead of grabbing toast for breakfast. It's gotta be better for me. He has also been told no more going 6-8 hours between meal stops. 4-5 is about my limit. I hope he listens! He did remember last Sat. when we had a day out. I made breakfast before we left and by 12:30 he was stopping for lunch. Dinner was getting pretty late for me and I could feel it, but we were going out with his sister and bil. They served a loaf of warm wheat bread right away, so I had just half a slice of that to tide me over. When we are on the road, test kit goes where I go! Guess I will find out how it works on the road in two weeks. We will be headed for VA for a wedding. Invitation came yesterday for a cousin of his, and we are going. This cousin's wife died of cancer almost two years ago. The memeorial service was in June when she passed, and then in Nov. she was interred in Arlington Nat'l Cemetary, and we went for that. I am sure she is very happy for him. She was that kind of person. We will definitly be going! Special people to us, as you can tell by the fact that we drove 7 hours each way, and spent the money for rooms twice. This is an older cousin of DH's. Thanks for the encouragement. I need it! Tami

Thanks, Evan! It probably is the difference in climate, since it is definitely colder up here in the foothills. I leave my Moro outside as long as possible so that it gets as much time in the 30F's as I feel it can tolerate. This season, it actually got a light snow. Also, I've held off harvesting them for as long as possible. Josh