Does anyone know of a cure for this cactus infesting insect? They are driving me crazy. I have a lot of cactus stands and these bugs are a serious problem.
- I can't use insecticides or other toxics, because this is food for my tortoises.
- Soapy water doesn't work.
- Various lemon juice, vinegar, etc. solutions don't work.
- I blast it off with the hose, but it always comes back in force. If I had nothing but free time to go around and blast 40+ cactus stands every couple of days, I could really make a dent, but I don't have that kind of time.
- I called Rincon Vitova for some biological control, but they weren't much help. They have a bug that eats these "mealy bugs" called Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, but these lady bug relatives are very expensive and require moderately high levels of humidity and like it warm, but not hot. They won't live long in my hot dry climate. The lady on the phone thought green lace wings might help too, so I'm going to try those in spring.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get rid of it once and for all? I've read hours worth of stuff on this and have not found a solution that works.