Who Will Win?

No - I'm not writing about the impending election which is a hot topic around here. Rather, I'm writing about another issue that isn't exactly rocking the nation, but is taking up a considerable amount of my time.

S. and I both like plants and the way they bring a little personality to our house. Since we moved in at the end of June, I've been keeping a look out for big plants on sale, and nurturing some of the 4" (and much less expensive) variety that will one day be big and gorgeous also.

I take pretty good care of all seven of them: watering, fertilizing, wiping down and trimming leaves, giving their pots a quarter turn towards sunshine, or trying different locations until that perfect amount of indirect light makes them happy. They're not orchids mind you - just ordinary house plants. But still, I get excited when they grow new foliage. I feel successful when they grow big enough for re-potting. I secretly call them my babies (yuk, right? what nerd says that?)


So you can image my dismay at finding white mealybugs and their webby little nests. Just typing out the word 'mealybug' gives me the shudders because they're kind of creepy, not just because they're insects, but because they are suckers. Not biters. They feed on plants by sucking out the juices. Plant vampires, if you will.

And they are prolific, determined little scrappers!

The plants were put in a strict quarantine (the laundry room) after I pulled these buggers off with a toothpick and then squished them. Ew. Yesterday they got a pesticide bath and today I'm swabbing each individual leaf with rubbing alcohol on a q-tip.

Some Internet sites have suggested these pests are so hard to get rid of that it's best to throw the plants away and start over. But I think not just yet. I'm on a mission. It's me vs. mealybugs!

PS Image to right was borrowed from http://www.answers.com/topic/mealybug. Does anyone else think they look like the Trilobite fossils found at the River Falls Learning Center in Indiana?