Scale After All These Years :(

[Maree]

I've been growing orchids for 20 years and today I noticed a scale underneath one of my orchid's leaves. I used a Q-tip w alcohol and removed but I'm concerned about my other 21 orchids. I did recently purchase BioAdvanced 3:1 and fortunately it still has a bit of Imidacloprid.
My plan is to take all plants outside and spray liberally, repeat in 2 weeks X2.
Sound like a good plan? Any other suggestions?

[Dimples]

If you have other houseplants, treat those too.

[Ray]

I would recommend shortening the treatment interval to a week. 3 treatments should do it.

[Maree]

I do have a concern, I read Imidacloprid can be toxic to cats and my cats on occasion nibble on the leaves. I also read it is the same ingredient as topical flea medicine but can't find anything specific to ingesting plant foliage treated with Imidacloprid. Thoughts? Thanks again for all the input - Melanie

[Dimples]

There are other products that are applied as a root drench. So long as your cats aren’t soil diggers, they shouldn’t come into contact with it that way. Check your label in case yours can be used like that.

[estación seca]

For very few scale I use either soap solution or 70% alcohol, but not a mixture of the two. I then pay very close attention over days to weeks to figure out which plants still have them. The infested plants I will completely submerge in a weak soap solution for 4-12 hours.

Scale females lay eggs under their shells. Treating plants is enough. Mealybugs crawl far away to lay eggs, so they are harder to control.