Mealy Bug on a Cymbidium

[poppy86orchids]

Hi again!
Having really caught the orchid addiction bug, I brought my mother-in-law-to-be a stunning huge Cymbidium for christmas.
She loved it, but sent me a picture today showing what looked like greenfly all over the blooms.
I went and had look with all the books I have on orchids and I am quite sure they are mealy bugs and not aphids.
I read to use an insecticidal soap. Is this correct?
Also, so I use the plant with it, spray it on a few times or use a paintbrush and er 'paint' it on?

How often would be suitable?
I have isolated the plant from all others for her, but it was never really in contact with others. Did it come with the plant?

[Ray]

Mealies are white and fuzzy...

If you can put a spray head into a bottle of isopropyl rubbing alcohol, you can spray the whole plant and be done with them. It's much more immediately effective than is insecticidal soap (and by the way, ordinary dish soap is just as good - about a teaspoon per liter).

[(..._...)]

Just to add to what Ray said-- I used insecticidal soap, and got rid of them. They were fairly easy to kill. The one issue was that I lost the blossoms due to the insecticidal soap (although my infected plants were phals and not cyms)