Scale or something else?

[nzadro]

Hello,

I just received this Bulbo. sumatranum Sumatra x macrochilum in the mail from a seller.

The orchid is yellowing and quite unhappy - I don't think it appreciated being shipped - but I am more concerned about what pest is on the leaves. The pest is quite small small and brown, is teardrop shape, and has horizontal ridges along its "back". The do seem stuck to the leaves, but come off with alcohol. The fact they are a little stuck, makes me think it is scale, but I can't seem to pinpoint which variety. Can anyone ID this pest? Scale or otherwise? Pix included.

I also found a snail

My other plants that came with it look fine, which is good, but this one bummed me out... The bloom is special, but I don't appreciate being sent pests. But hey, this all comes with growing, right?

Why can't we have *just* nice things??

[rbarata]

I also found a snail

Add a expresso (coffee) to a liter of water and water with it for 15 days. It's toxic to snails.

[nzadro]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Add a expresso (coffee) to a liter of water and water with it for 15 days. It's toxic to snails.

Yep! The technique has worked for me in the past. Already set aside some coffee to flush with. My boyfriend is less than thrilled about that, haha!

[Roberta]

The lump on the leaf definitely looks like scale. Careful when you remove it.. underneath are eggs, that can drop off and infest the medium. If it were mine, I'd spray both leaves and the medium with a systemic insecticide - and repeat in 5 days or so... and again 5 days after that. At least. When killing pests, "one" is almost never "done", since treatments do little or nothing to eggs, often even don't kill the larvae. You have to reduce the adult population until there's not enough of it to reproduce, so you need to get the successive generations.

[estación seca]

It looks like scale.

I keep an eye out for cheap ground coffee sold on the clearance rack when it is past the expiration date.

[Roberta]

When I suspect bush snails, I just take a handful of grounds out of the coffee filter and toss onto the surface of the medium. So far so good... and I have plenty of coffee grounds.

[nzadro]

Originally Posted by Roberta

The lump on the leaf definitely looks like scale. Careful when you remove it.. underneath are eggs, that can drop off and infest the medium. If it were mine, I'd spray both leaves and the medium with a systemic insecticide - and repeat in 5 days or so... and again 5 days after that. At least. When killing pests, "one" is almost never "done", since treatments do little or nothing to eggs, often even don't kill the larvae. You have to reduce the adult population until there's not enough of it to reproduce, so you need to get the successive generations.

Originally Posted by estación seca

It looks like scale.

Many thank Roberta and ES. I swabbed off whatever I could see with a Qtip and alocohol. They were tiny shells, so I hope this indicated a smaller infestation? And now I just used the Bayer Bioadvanced insect spray. I hope that helps. I will repeat it in a few days, despite the claim that the spray is effective for 14 days. I have the plant isolated for now.

Originally Posted by Roberta

When I suspect bush snails, I just take a handful of grounds out of the coffee filter and toss onto the surface of the medium. So far so good... and I have plenty of coffee grounds.

I have used straight strong concentrated coffee as a flush. It has been successful for when I got a mounted orchid full of tiny bush snails. But I am curious at your method, do you remove it after a few days? How do you keep the coffee grounds from molding?

[Roberta]

Where I have used the coffee grounds trick, I have not had any problem with mold. (But then, I'm growing outside... so with light and air exchange, it's an environment not conducive to mold) If it got moldy (regular snail bait does) I would just brush it off. When I have done it, I really don't use much - more like a few good pinches than a handful. But brewed coffee would certainly eliminate the possibility of the "residue" growing stuff.