Mealybugs on orchid

[yeoshua88]

Help! I found mealybugs on my schleriana phalanopsis, papheopedilum, and dendrobium nobile. I have not had a run in with these in a while. I have these 2 insecticide sprays but I wanted to get everyonese opinions on how you treat these pest. I have never had an outbreak before and I have several orchids so am very concerned that its gonna kill multiple orchids before I get it under control.

[estación seca]

Fungicide won't kill mealybugs. I can't read the other label.

[yeoshua88]

This might help. I have used this for aphids before on suculents and it burned one of the suculents so I am afraid to use it. It did kill the aphids on the other succulent I had though.

[Ray]

It says, right on the label, “Controls listed insects”. Are mealy bugs on that list?

• Make sure you get an insecticide that lists mealies.
• Spray every plant (not just those that appear to be infested), wetting all surfaces to dripping, AND thoroughly drench the potting media.
• Repeat that two more times at one-week intervals.

You must drench in addition to spray, as they live on the root system in addition to the foliage.

Most insecticides only kill adults, not their eggs and juveniles. The three-treatment regimen is intended to kill newly-maturing insects before they can reproduce.

[estación seca]

Mealybugs crawl far from your plants to lay eggs, which may remain viable for 2 years. You need to be on alert constantly.

I kill them by submerging the entire plant and pot in a pitcher or bucket of water with a tiny bit of liquid dish detergent to break the surface tension. With floating media I invert them. I soak for 6-12 hours. This drowns bugs plus eggs. I wouldn't do this during a cool dormancy period.

[Maryanne]

You could try Neem which comes in a number of formulations...follow directions on the bottle. It is an anti-feedant, and a natural product of the neem tree. I've used it and it works, but like any other pesticide, you must keep up with the insect population growth.
I've also used the isopropyl alcohol/soap/water spray - it works but you must repeat every 3 - 4 days. I also found that 'Simple Green' spray cleaner from the grocery store works on various pests - dilute to weaker that what you would use for actual cleaning - but again repetition, use a small paint brush or q-tip or something to remove crud/insects from crevises. when nothing innocuous works, I've resorted to Bayer formulations, but that is rare.

Good luck!
Maryanne in Massachusetts

[Leafmite]

I am currently using Isopropyl alcohol for scale and any other pests I see. I sometimes have to treat the orchid/plant a few times but, in the end, it has been doing a nice job controlling all types of scale, including the mealy bugs.

The mealy bugs I have are not affected by systemic or contact pesticides (resistant) so I use alternatives. If it is a bad infestation, I wash the plant well with soapy, warm water, let it dry, then spray well with the alcohol. I keep checking the plant and if I see any new scale, I spray again (do not use any of this with carnivorous plants).
Neem oil is like the alcohol for me...I have to keep checking and spraying for a while.
If you have plenty of time, you can spray plants with olive oil, let sit overnight, then use soapy, warm water to wash off the oil. I was free of pests for a few years after doing that to my entire plant collection.

[Dalachin]

I've had a couple of battles with mealies, and on my buggers imidacloprid products (bonnide grannules or bayer rose and flower) have eventually cleared them up- it takes multiple treatments for the systemic to take effect. I soak the roots with the imidacloprid once or twice a week, and spray the live buggers with isopropyl alcohol.

Imidacloprid is indoor use only (it affects pollinators) and is banned in many states.

[Ray]

The reason for the multiple treatments isn't so the systemic efect can take effect, it's because imidacloprid and most insecticides only kill adult insects and have no effect on eggs and juveniles.

The repetition is intended to kill newly-matured adults before they have an opportunity to reproduce.

[Roberta]

A note as to why the repetition is so important... along with the fact that most treatments don't kill the eggs or larve (so you have to treat repeatedly to continue to reduce the population of adults so you get fewer babies), treatments also don't usually kill 100% ... some are going to be resistant. If you aren't persistant, the resistant survivors will multiply - you certainly don't want to encourate resistance! One is NEVER done!