Could this be scale on phalaenopsis?

[sweta]

Hi,

Couple of my phalenopsis orchids in my collection have tiny bumps at the base that kind of felt like scale because I would see sticky residues on leaves. so I tried rubbing them off with alcohol and thoroughly cleaned with soap water but that didnt help. So I just scratched those areas to remove those bump with my finger nails put some cinnamon powder. And also treated them twice a month with bonide systemic insecticide with acephate. With much reluctance I had to resort to this as its extremely frustrating getting rid of this..now I'm again seeing those tiny bumps growing back up. What do I do so I can save these plants and dont have to part with them? but at the same time.keep my other orchids free from passing on pests. I treated these phals with acephate twice and I'm hesitant to treat these again. Please suggest.

[Dimples]

Doesn’t look like a pest. Looks normal to me. Having to do that much damage to remove something from a plant should be the clue that it’s part of the plant.

[estación seca]

Look up some photos of scale. They're not easy to mistake of other things. You're using some extremely toxic poisons in your home on things that aren't insects. Plants normally have lots of scrapes and scratches.

[sweta]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Look up some photos of scale. They're not easy to mistake of other things. You're using some extremely toxic poisons in your home on things that aren't insects. Plants normally have lots of scrapes and scratches.

I did look up for scale pictures but there seems to be many varieties. While I havent seen the hard armored scale but i think some of the Oncidiums had the whitish patches thats looked similar to boisduval scale. I have seen white specks as well as sudden appearance of scrapes and scratches that kept spreading quickly as well as sticky residue on some of them. I tried isopropyl alcohol soapy liquid etc but nothing helped and I cant afford to loose my orchid collection that I spent so much money on. So in desperation I resorted to extreme measure as I did not want to take a chance. I think I've done enough harm to my collection will stop now.

[estación seca]

Boisduval scale juveniles are very much like cotton strands stuck on the plant. They come off very easily with a little bit of soapy water. Some adult scale insects stick a little harder than others, but they are generally quite easy to remove with a finger.