I had mealy bug issue, the white insects on the leaves, and I sprayed soap solution. But I used too much of soap in the solution. The leaves are now turing brown at the tips or edges and drying and eventually falling off. Some leaves also curl up. This is my bougainvillea plant, indoors. Can someone help me save this plant? I sprayed this solution twice, so far.
Hi Dipti. What kind of room are you overwintering it in? These are difficult to overwinter in northern climates unless you can provide high light and either very high humidity or very cool non-freezing temps (the cooler air naturally will hold more humidity). Your browning edges looks like normal die back from bringing it into a dry house in winter. If you do have it in a standard dry northern house, then all the leaves will die back very quickly now. To get rid of mealy bugs, you can do it with water alone. Get a cheap 7-way hose end sprayer and set it to the "flat" setting. Take it outside and carefully blast off all the bugs and and sticky white nests, especially at the crotches of the branches leaves, next time you water. Look very, very closely to make sure you got as many as you can. Also blast the top of the soil a little. Repeat several times when it is time to water your plants again. You'll get most on the first day and get a 100% cure in a few months. It works better than any insecticide.
The plant has always been inside the house, never outside. It sits near a south facing window. I take it in the basement to spray the insectiside. The temperature in Calgary is dry and my humidity goes to say 35% only, in the house. There is no special light , except for the sunlight from the window. I will follow your instructions for the bugs. I have not seen them after the spray, I did. I saw one after a few weeks but to me my plant looked very sad.
