I agree with SJF. If you are serious about getting rid of the mealies, systemic is a must.
BTW, if this plant has been anywhere near your others, you should also treat them with a systemic as a prophylaxis.
Last year I had a Paphiopedilum that had persistent mealies. I could keep them knocked back with one of those dish soap & cinnamon extract solutions, but they would return. Here is what I did to finally get rid of them.
1. Remove the infested plant from the medium, carefully wash/remove as much medium as you can from the root system. Discard the potting medium. The old pot must be washed & sterilized, or it should be discarded.
2. Wash every surface of the plant (leaf tip to root tip) with at least dish soap solution, but preferably dish soap-cinnamon extract solution. Use a small soft paint brush to work the solution into nooks & crannies.
3. Wait 10 - 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly.
4. I recommend Bayer Advanced Rose & Flower dual action spray for your systemic treatment. It contains a pyrethroid and a systemic that is the same chemical used to control fleas on dogs & cats. Spray all surfaces of the plant, including the roots.
5. Get your new potting medium ready. Rinse or soak if that is what you normally do. Then, spray the new medium with the Bayer R&F spray, mix, spray again.
6. Re-pot normally. Water as you normally would for a newly-potted plant
7. Spray the formerly-infested plant (above-ground parts and media surface) and it's neighbors with the Bayer R&F at intervals recommended on the label. Do this for at least a month to a month and a half.
This may seem like a lot of work, but it's really not much more trouble than normal re-potting, plus some extra spraying.
Your plant otherwise looks pretty healthy. Good luck with it!
Last edited by Orchid Whisperer; 10-24-2013 at 12:33 PM..
Reason: Typo corrections
|
Hybrid Mode
