Yeehaw and Boohoo!

[OrchidObsessed]

Hello All,
My gorgeous Paph has two, count em... TWO buds! Yeehaw!!! I am thrilled as this is my first rebloom ever. I can hardly wait for them to open.

I just found a whole heap of mealy bugs on the Paph and have spent about an hour with tweezers picking them off of her. Since this is my first run in with them, I was wondering if Neem spray will do the trick or if any of you have suggestions. I think I managed to get them all, sometimes going as far down as possible into the tight leaves to tweeze them out. I also checked all my other plants and found two on two other chids. These too were tweezed off and killed (with vicious glee!), but any tips and tricks would be super appreciated.

I'll post pics again once the bloom has opened.

[Gin]

Congrats. on the buds .. Good growing .
But ! I would treat all of the plants tweezing them off only gets the ones you see they lay eggs . I don't know what you can buy where you are I use the Bayer in a blue spray bottle it is a systemic will kill any that hatch . Even at that keep a close watch on them . Neem will work but plants have to be kept out of the sun so it does not burn them . Repeat applications will be needed .

[Becca]

You can also try rubbing alcohol on a cotton pad or q-tip! This is what I use, although when I find mealy bugs it is generally only one or two at a time.

[Connie Star]

I had a problem with mealy bugs last fall and used a combination of tweezing, alcohol and Neem. No recurrences after 3 months.

[OrchidObsessed]

I just q-tipped the whole plant right down into the hard to get places with nail polish remover (no alcohol on hand).
Thanks for the tips! I foresee a shopping trip for rubbing alcohol, Neem oil and a systemic available in New Zealand.
Death to all mealy bugs is going to be my battle cry in the near future. *sigh*