pepibom I believe those ARE scale. Mealy bugs are fuzzy and white even cottony if you will. I battle these constantly and unfortunately they are very difficult to get rid of.....completely any way. They also LOVE the flat leaves of a bird of paradise plant. I recently received three orange BOP and am hoping to keep these away. I have lost many white BOP to these stupid things. I believe they make honeydew which is a sticky substance and that can eventually cause more problems like fungus or disease. You mentioned it's not looking the best. If the plant is stressed out it is a calling card for pests. This also will make it more difficult to rid the pests. The location it's in sounds right to me for these plants. They like sun. I would definitely keep wiping the plant down with a solution of rubbing alcohol water and some mild dish detergent. Use a cloth and wipe the leaves on top and under, stems and all. I'm hopin someone else will chime in here because like I said I have these pests myself. I just wiped down a couple of cast iron plants myself-- talk about time consuming. If it's bad or becoming a bother you might consider finding a new plant- although two years is a long time to have a plant. These plants however I find are rather easily attainable. They are a lovely plant to add to a collection and really add a tropical feel. Good luck on the battle!!! Kyle

The white one, Strelitzia nicolai, is less cold tolerant than the other common one, Strelitzia reginae. But it should come back when the weather warms up. The white one also gets much taller, although Ballarat weather will probably regularly trim it down, LOL.

First of all, the snarky comment from Arunski about shoulda coulda was unnecessary --who says something like that? I love plants and I'm pretty good at growing them, but sometimes we plant lovers see a plant and buy it, not really knowing that much about it. I bought a white bird of paradise summer 2019 from Home Depot because I loved the look of it. It was about 2 feet tall. Planted on my covered porch in a beautiful pot and it grew unbelievably over the summer. I had to bring it inside for the winter and it has continued to grow in a corner that has a window, but it is extremely filtered light from plants outside. I purchased a cheap LED floor lamp from Amazon that I can bend to whatever position and the plant seems to love it, even though 2 feet of it are above the lamp. Watering has been limited due to spillage issues, and still it grows. It's about 6 feet tall now with new growth all the time. I had no idea it would get this big, but I have 4 more feet to go before I have to move it so we will see what happens. I could move it back on the porch, but it has grown too big to move I think and everyone who walks in the door has a fit over it. I think I will buy a nice self watering planter and see if that helps. I've only fertilized it twice. Who knows? Maybe it knows it's loved and likes the home it lives in. We have a good vibe.

" but since we are in a drought here, we only water for 2 or 3 minutes every few days." This type of watering routine will keep barely anything other than the most drought tolerant species alive! With an automatic sprinkler system, you are losing a good portion of the water emitted to evaporation, as much as 50%......and it really doesn't matter what time of day the system turns on. And with a big, leafy plant like the Strelitzia, you can bet 90% of the of water NOT lost to evaporation is not hitting the root system - water just on the leaves is not a viable substitute for that. In short, your watering routine is likely not delivering anything of value to the plant in terms of needed moisture. Reprogram your sprinkler system so that the water comes on less frequently but for a longer duration. Can't tell you exactly how long - you will have to do some testing to determine a correct interval, but you want any irrigation water to penetrate as deeply into the soil profile as possible, at least 6-8", more if possible. Or use the hose on a slow trickle left in place at the base of the plant. Again, the length of time will be determined by how well and how fast the water percolates through the soil. And once a week should be more than adequate for any plant well established in the landscape, perhaps less often for very drought tolerant species.. For a state that is suffering from an extended drought situation, I am amazed at how inefficient and wasteful most CA watering practices are! I am not an irrigation contractor but I am a landscape designer and certified horticulturist and DO know how plants should be watered and I could make a fortune redesigning CA irrigation systems to deliver water more efficiently and with less waste. Pop-up sprinkler systems are fine for lawns (provided they are programmed correctly.......and few are) but they are a waste of time, money and a valuable and precious natural resource when used for regular landscape plantings. Investigate converting your system to a drip or low emission system for all the landscape plantings. And remember that low and slow or less frequent but longer watering periods will provide much better results.