Dendrobium equitans

[patte2]

My Dendrobium equitans is dying. It had mealy bugs and I sprayed it with 70% alcohol and got rid of the bugs, but now the plant is turning yellow and dying. Help..only a few canes are left.

[Roberta]

It is very likely to produce new growths. And the yellow growths that look fairly dead may even still bloom a few times more. But yellowing of the older growths seems to be part of the normal pattern for this species.

[patte2]

Thanks for your comments. However, this plant was very robust and had been growing as a specimen plant for many years. Never had any issue with it before now. It has only been after the spraying with 70% ethanol that the canes started dying in massive quantities. The majority of canes are completely dead and only a couple are still yellow and a few are still green. So only about 10% of the plant is left if that. I repotted but that has seemed to do no good also.

[estación seca]

Alcohol won't kill all the mealy bugs. How many were there? If the whole plant was covered with them like a flocked Christmas tree, the plant might be fatally injured.