mealybug organic control Beauveria neem oil ant control sticky band cryptolaemus predator
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Mealybug is hard because it hides in a waxy coat that repels water based sprays, so plain neem alone often disappoints. An organic plan that works combines several steps. First control ants, because ants protect and spread mealybug for their honeydew, so band the tree trunks or stems with a sticky grease band to stop ants climbing. Second, use a neem oil spray with a little soap to cut through the wax, sprayed forcefully to reach the hidden colonies in leaf joints and under bark, repeated weekly. Third, in humid weather the insect fungus Beauveria bassiana works well on mealybug. Fourth, there is a specific predator beetle, the mealybug destroyer Cryptolaemus, that you can release in orchards and gardens where you have stopped chemical sprays. Also prune and burn heavily infested shoots and remove weed hosts around the field. Be patient, mealybug needs repeated effort and several methods together, a single spray will not clear it. For badly infested high value crops ask your KVK or a bio control lab about Cryptolaemus releases.
Stopping the ants changed everything for my custard apple. I put grease bands on the trunks, and once the ants could not climb the mealybug spread slowed right down.
Add soap to the neem and spray with force into the leaf joints. The wax keeps plain water sprays out, you have to break it.