How to keep phals alive and well while I'm away?

[camille1585]

As to your original question about the Phals staying alone for several weeks, I do it every summer and my conditions in the Netherlands sound similar to yours. No AC, and it's usually 24-30C indoors in the summer. I go on vacation for 3 weeks in July/August and when I get back the plants look fine. They're really dry, but I rarely see wrinkled leaves. Even the Dens and Paphs are fine.

What I do:

• Water the plants really well the day before leaving 5I do a mong, several hour soak).
• Move them all to the coolest room in the apartment, curtains drawn.
• Each plant had a saucer under the pot, these are all filled with water, which keeps the plants hydrated for the first week or so (usually empty within 3-4 days, and takes another 3-5 days before the plants are completely dry)

As to the mealies, I've been dealing with them for 15 years, never completely got rid of them. I do a mealy treatment (neem, or insecticidal soap, or wipe down with rubbing alchohol...) before leaving, and I know that I'll have to repeat it once I get back from vacation... There are definitely more mealies than before vacation, but they do not take over the plants.

[sangenuer]

I just took them all out of the water and saw at least one or two live mealybugs. They soaked for over six hours. Maybe not enough soap?

[Dimples]

You don’t need a ton of soap, but my experience suggests that you can use quite a bit of soap (occasionally!) in the water for the first or second treatment. There’s usually enough dust, microbes, aka bits of *stuff* in the pot, on the plant, or on the outside of the pot for some of the extra soap molecules to interact with, that the plants come out fine. Try doubling the amount of soap to the same amount of water. I’d stop at 1 tablespoon of soap per gallon of water as a absolute maximum while you experiment to see what works. And giving the plants a swish in the water will help dislodge any trapped air bubbles where the mealybugs can hide.