A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Mealy Bugs

Do Mealy Bugs make webs? I have some sort of small (read: VERY SMALL) white bugs all over most of my container plants (Impatiens mainly) and even on my ground gover in the same area. There are webs all over my plants too. The green in my impatiens leaves seems to be "sucked" out - I sprayed a little soapy water on my plants last night - but I wanted to make sure I was treating the problem correctly. I didn't see the bugs this morning, but they are small and hide well. Will my plants return to good health after the bugs are gone? What are your words of wisdom?

Ok - I've answered my own question - or the Hosts' of Home Grown on Martha Stewart did for me this a.m. - I called into the show (it's on Sirius Satelitte Radio) and asked about my "bugs", they both believe them to be spider mites and I can rid them with soapy water (already did that), regular water with some pressure to wash them off the plants, or horticultural oil. We'll, I've washed them off with water and soapy water both and they seem to have vacated my impatiens. I was instructed to pinch off the buds, add a bit of fertilizer and my plants should come back - Phew, I was getting nervous that they would all die. So - there's the answer to my own question