Rehabbing Oncsa. Gower Ramsey

[greenhouseFrog]

I was gifted this Onc. Gower Ramsey by a friend of mine, and while excited, I’m concerned by the desiccation of the pseudobulbs and the negligible amount of mealybugs that tagged along.

Despite being very thirsty, this plant made a new growth at some point in the recent past and is on its way out of the container—does this plant look like a candidate for repotting? If so, could I submerge the roots in a Kelpak solution for like a day beforehand and then pot up to where the media is level with the base of the new growth?

As for the bugs, I’ve had reasonable success by just blasting them with soapy water until they’re gone, but that’s only because I’ve never dealt with a major infestation!

Thanks in advance!

[Roberta]

Water well, and treat that infestation. Kelpak likely will be helpful. I'd wait for new growth to start so that you catch the new roots just starting. When a plant is weakened, it's the dinner bell for bugs. So getting it back to health, and treating the infestation together should help a lot. The old p-bulbs likely won't plump up, but more favorable conditions will likely kick-start new growth.

[Dimples]

Another at-home treatment is rubbing alcohol (70%) applied every 1-3 days (until you haven’t seen any M-bugs for 2 weeks). Focus on the cracks and crevices but cover the whole plant. It’s similar to using soapy water, but it evaporates faster so there’s no chance of water sitting where it shouldn’t.

[Roberta]

Another good thing about the alcohol... it instantly dissolves the waxy coating that "protects" the mealybugs from the treatment. It is very satisfying to see it vanish leaving the little naked bug, which then is vulnerable to that soapy water.

[greenhouseFrog]

Wow I had heard about rubbing alcohol for mealies but was nervous about going full on dripping wet with spray! I realize that these at-home remedies have their limits of effectiveness and scalability and that a systemic is probably going to make my life easier, but I need results now and don’t know enough about insecticides to make an educated guess in time!
Thanks you Roberta & Dimples for weighing in!

[Roberta]

Rubbing alcohol (70%) can even be sprayed on flowers with no harm. (Handy for getting into the crevices of a Phal flower, those are mealybug magnets). 90% is too strong - that needs to be diluted down to 70%. But in the US, 70% is the default. (elsewhere, read the label)

The downside of all the home remedies (and some pesticides as well) is that they only kill what they contact, no residual effect. So repeat treatments are especially critical. You'll never get them ALL (they were around before we were, and will be there when our species is long gone) but the repeat treatments get the survivors, and the new generations, to at least keep them under control.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by greenhouseFrog

could I submerge the roots in a Kelpak solution for like a day beforehand and then pot up to where the media is level with the base of the new growth?

1-, to 2 tablespoons per gallon and immerse the entire plant for an hour or two, not a day.

[Dimples]

I’ve never damaged a plant with 70% alcohol, and I use it a lot. At one point, I had alcohol in a 32 oz spray bottle, so I could easily treat my larger houseplants and for speed with over 100 plants in the house. Currently, I have a small 2 oz spray bottle on my kitchen counter. Only orchids and a few small tropicals in the indoor collection at the moment.

Don’t put a doused plant in front of a fan/in a draft in winter.
It can strip some plants of the outer coating on their leaves. In my experience, it’s uncommon and you can kinda tell by looking at the plant if it’ll be an issue.
Aside from that, go nuts (within reason).

[Roberta]

I stick a suitably -sized sprayer directly into the bottle as it comes from the drugstore. (I accumulate a collection of sprayers from empty bottles, occasionally buy them from Home Depot. ) If you want to nail a single mealie, you can just spray a bit on a cotton swab (Q-tip) and dab. Also very satisfying.