mealies on my Sedirea japonica

[whygreenberg]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Thanks for all the ideas! I'll try with a paintbrush and an alcohol/soap/water mix, and if that doesn't work, I'll spray. Is the mix with 70 or 90% alcohol?

I think either is fine, especially since you're diluting in water anyway (as Susie suggests, rubbing alcohol can indeed be used undiluted...i've done that with a q-tip too.) I think the 70% alcohol is what is commonly sold in drug stores, etc.

[Dorothy]

Originally Posted by Gin

If you don't have a soft small brush a feather also works well .. Gin

That is so cute!
Tickle the mealies off them ..
I bet your orchids will love you for it

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Dorothy

That is so cute!
Tickle the mealies off them ..
I bet your orchids will love you for it

Hoefully this is an orchid that's not too ticklish, or else it might get really upset and die on me to get revenge!

One other thing that came to mind. Mealies lay eggs which= more mealies. How many times do I need tickle the plant to make sure I killed them all?

[whygreenberg]

Tickle tickle!

When I have had to resort to the spray, I've done it every 3 or 4 days for a period of about 3 weeks. Worked for me on what was either mealies or soft scale. Some of the leaves on my afflicted Dend. dried out a little from the spraying, but cest la vie! It is a much happier guy now.

[L-Dub]

I found a phal with mealies last night. I treated it with straight rubbing alcohol (70%) on a Q-tip, and that seems to gotten rid of the worst of them.

How much do mealies spread to other plants - do I just treat the plants where I see them, or do I need to treat all the plants that are nearby? Do I have to worry about them being down in the potting medium?

Thank you!
Bryan

[kiki-do]

I have four phals in my kitchen and 4 in my livingroom, all have had mealies found on them throughout. The other orchids have been either out on my porch or in my sunroom, and no problems there. Last week I declared war on these 8 phals, as the q-tip and alcohol wasn't cutting the mustard. I kept finding them, approx. 10 or less each day, so I took them outside and sprayed heavily with the 1 cup water, 1/4 cup alcohol, 1/2 tsp of dish detergent....soaked them good. After letting it drench into every nook and cranny, then I cleaned all the leaves with Ray's Clean & Shine. It was a warm windy day, so everything dryed quickly. I ultimately decided to cut all the blooms down. I just couldn't get into all the crevices no matter how hard I tried. I will spray again in three days to make sure no eggs hatched in the medium.
What I figure is to get them off now, once and for all, plus it's fall and the temps will drop soon and promote new growth. And I have to have my plants indoors, up here anyway, and too many chances of mealies spreading. I've been battling this all summer long. Enough is enough! I hope!

[kiki-do]

Oh, and I almost forgot! When you have to clean up mealies, be sure to check the stakes, clips, trays, and tables your plants are on. I've found some lurking there too. Especially inside the clips holding the stems. I'm fighting mad at these pesky critters.

[Dorothy]

I know Tindo went to war with them - http://www.orchidboard.com/community...r-07-08-a.html
and quite a few other members .. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...earchid=251599

[camille1585]

Ok.... I just found mealies on 5 more orchids!!! (a Neo, 3 phals and a Beallara) Not a lot, just 1 or 2 or each plant but they are there. . I think I'm going to put an end to it before it gets out of control to avoid waging a long war like Tindo. I'm bringing out the big guns, so tomorrow I'm buying somme Confidor and I am going to eradicate the little beasts!