You may have mealybugs. These soft-bodied insects produce wax and spin it over their bodies, the result is these bugs look like small pieces of cotton stuck to the plant. They damage plants by sucking the juice from the cells. Hibiscus are susceptible to infestations of mealybugs. What you do about it depends on where the plants are, inside in containers or planted outside in the landscape and what kind of mealybugs are damaging the plants. Inside plants can be sprayed with insecticidal soap according to the label instructions or if the infestation is small, a moist cotton swab can be used to remove the pest. Plants in the landscape can also be treated with insecticidal soap or any number of pesticides. However, there are many beneficial insects which like to snack on mealy bugs. Lady bugs, mealybug destroyers and small predacious wasp all do a good job. Before applying any pesticide, inspect for beneficial insects, if there are a few working on the infestation, wait a little while to give them time to do the job before choosing a pesticide.
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