Scale - must I treat my whole collection?

[SheilaJ]

Today I found a couple of small brown scale on my phaius, and one scale each on two nearby phals. I moved the sick plants to a separate room and will be treating with Safers or neem or alcohol or Bayers Rose & Flower (still deciding).

Do I need to treat all the remaining plants in the grow room as a precaution? They are on a 2x6 table, there are about 27 of them total. I did rearrange the plants a bit recently, but the affected plants were all off in one back corner.

[Ross]

I don't think so. A couple adults is an indication they are around, but far from an epidemic. I wouldn't even bother moving them, if they were mine. I would start a daily observation of every leaf and every node on blossoms, including petals. (Actually it can be very relaxing if you do it right ) The crawlers are around. I don't like Safers anymore because it stinks and leaves a white residue. I prefer Neem or Schultz Garden Safe which uses synthetic pyrethrins and canola oil. It's odorless. You do need to drench the affected plants thouroughly though. It won't hurt to drench all the plants and will probably make you feel better.

[ronaldhanko]

Be careful in treating the Phaius - its leaves are more sensitive than the other plants. Also, I know it's too late now, but it is not a bad idea to keep new plants isolated for a bit in order to make sure that they do not have scale or other creepy-crawlies.

[jkofferdahl]

I agree with Ross. If it's just an isolated couple of scale on one or two plants treat them on the spot. I'd remove the scale with rubbing alcohol, though, before using the insecticide.

[SheilaJ]

Thanks everyone. I do isolate plants for several weeks - I haven't added new ones in many months, so I'm not sure how the scale snuck in!

What is the rationale for the rubbing alcohol? I normally just scrape them off with my thumbnail and then spray. I was going to use rubbing alcohol first, but the only bottle I could find was my husband's, and it expired in 1993!!

I ended up using the Safer's because it was handy and I was too lazy to go out in the pending storm. It did leave an ugly white residue though - I shall look for Ross's Garden Safe next time.

My weapon of choice is generally an imidacloprid product, but I prefer to use something non-toxic enough to spray indoors in my grow room (which is right down the hall from the bedrooms). When I use imidacloprid, I'm dragging 27 orchids down a flight of stairs, putting them outside in late afternoon when it's shady enough, spraying (usually in the wind), waiting for them to dry, then dragging them back in late at night - and hoping it doesn't rain during all of this. What I pain.

I have imidacloprid granules that I use quite successfully on my normal foliage plants, but it's not supposed to be leached out for 10 days or 3 waterings, and I can't figure out how to make that work for orchids. Any suggestion there?

Is neem safe to use indoors? I think it stinks too, but I can deal with the smell. It's the greasy mess I hate.

[Leisurely]

Whatever spray treatment you decide to do, just remember to do it about every three or four days because the crawlers continue to hatch and you need to spray until the cycle is broken.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by SheilaJ

- I shall look for Ross's Garden Safe next time.

Check Home Depot. It's a teal colored spray bottle. Comes in two formulations. One's called Houseplant & Garden Insect Spray. This is the Pyrethrin/Canola Oil mix. The other is Fungicide 3 which is Neem Oil. I'd opt for the second one if you get only one. I get both and rotate.

[Bolero]

I personally would treat the whole collection, I always do that regularly as a preventative.

Not everyone would but I think a systemic would be perfect to make sure your whole collection is looked after.

[SheilaJ]

I did spray all the orchids with Safer's soap. Whew. Smelly. The three offenders have been isolated for the time being. I will treat a few more times. I do feel better having treated the whole batch. If/when the weather gets nice again, maybe I'll do the outside thing with a systemic just to be sure.

Thanks for the helpful and speedy responses - this is a great board!

BTW, there are 11 new orchids that came this week, off in isolation as well.

[Bolero]

Just another point. Once you treat them, it's possibly a good idea to treat them again in about 2 weeks to ensure you get them all.

I haven't heard of Safer's soap before, but hopefully it fixes the problems.