AusBonsai

I recenlty aquired a Melaleuca Incana, and as I was unwiring some of the brances I noticed a heap of baby mealy bugs working their way up the trunk to the new growth. I thought I'd rid myself of them, but I'm obviously not getting the ones below the soil

I'm going to stop fluffing around with the white oil, and go for some confidor. Trouble is, I've never used it, and being one of my better bonsai, i really don't want to damage it. I was just going to get the liquid spray bottle confidor (not the aerosol), and give the foilage a good spray, but my question is, am I ok to hit the soil as well?

It has a warning about spraying dry soil, so I would assume its ok providing the soil is damp? Am just worried about damaging the tree in anyway

I really hate these things with a passion! Just when I think I've got them all, I find them slinking around another of my trees. They're fascinating little things, but they're driving me around the bend

Never spray a dry (soil) tree or tree under water stress(drooping etc).

Go for it with Confidence; sorry Confidor. Pest Oil is also fine.

I mix up Confidor, Mavrick and Pest Oil in a back pack and do everything.

Grant

Mealybugs
Confidor is a systemic insecticide so spraying the foliage should get the chemical to all parts, including the roots - but I'd spray some onto the potting mix as well to make sure. Just water the tree a while beforehand so the mix is not too dry.

MEALY BUGS
I cant find an emoticon that expresses my dislike strongly enough regarding these little s#*ts!
My Bonsai friend recently recommended the confidor tablets so when I was getting them I also got the liquid and I have been hitting it hard.
So far, its looking good. As a side note, when my friend sent me the link and I did some research it mentioned that they affect potted palms (which I have 2 of close to my bonsai trees) so I checked them out and and guess what..They are like a breeding ground for the little pests so the palms got a large dose as well

Thanks a lot for the responses, really appreciate it Will be picking some up this weekend. Just really wanted to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong, as I quite like this tree. The white oil worked, but only for a few days before they started coming back

I did see pup mention the tablets in another thread, so will probably get both to cover all bases, as I have a larger pot I'll need to dose too

Will have to check out the potted palms when I get home too, as my housemate has a couple they really seem to love my mel's, they feast on the new green growth, and wedge themselves in under the bark on any cuts I make.

Finally got around to spraying this weekend, so hopefully I'll be seeing less of these buggers going forward. I wasn't sure how much to use though, as the intructions aren't very specific. I gave it a few sprays on top, and a few underneath, but was sparing as I didn't want to go overboard. Can you give them too much?


Also noticed that its starting to flower