PLS help - mealybugs :/

[heavensent]

Hello,

so I am freaking out. 12 days ago, I rescued some orchids from a friend. I have no idea how I didnt notice it until now, but they had mealybugs. Not tons, I found cca. 3 live ones on each one. I discarded 4 of 6 orchids. The two left seem fairly healthy. I isolated them, removed adult insects with alcohol and sprayed the plant many times with water/soap/alcohol. Cleansed them under running water and discarded the substrate. I had them fairly close to other plants. I inspected closely and could not find any sign of mealybugs on them. I cleansed the areas around them with said solution, pots also. The remaining orchid will stay substrate free for a few days and I will repeat the proces, then put them in LECA to observe.

My question is. Are there any chances that other plants did not suffer infestation? In cca. 10 days? I have some minis, hoya, spider plant...

I can not buy any chemical insecticide in my country.

[Leafmite]

Mealy bugs can be difficult to eliminate. You will need to keep checking over your plants to be certain.

The mealy bugs I have been battling are not affected by pesticides so I have been using isopropyl alcohol and oils. I have a spray bottle for the alcohol which makes treating the plants much easier. With the non-orchids, make certain you get the alcohol on both sides of the leaves and cover the stems well...then keep checking the plant.

[estación seca]

Most people can control mealy bugs without pesticides. I don't think it's necessary to throw away infested plants.

You must watch carefully. Leafmite mentioned using 70% alcohol as a spray. Insecticidal soap also kills adults. Eggs may not be killed, and mealy bugs crawl to lay eggs far from the plants.

It may take several years, but if you watch your plants closely and treat them as soon as you see mealy bugs, you will eventually get rid of them.

I often treat plants infested with mealy bugs or scale by submerging them in water with a very small amount of soap added. I leave them for 4-12 hours depending on how bad is the infestation. I only do this during warm weather.

[heavensent]

Thank you!

I will hope to God that I've noticed the problem soon enough and acted accordingly so that the other plants are not infected. The two remaning will be watched closely and in a completly different room. Thank you!