Pest under sheath

[justatypn]

My Oncidium totosauri was looking poorly and after inspection this is what I found. Possibly mites, yuckie, under a new growth left, removed that leaf due to it being infested as well as on it's last leg. I noticed under the sheath additional infestation. I cleaned the underneath of the leaves with alcohol and water. I hope you's can tell with these s. How do I deal with these pests under the sheath. The sheath itself is strong with no signs of deterioration.

[Tindomul]

Thats Ang. scottianum????????
With my limited experience, I would simply do what you have been doing. Daily inspections/killing of the mites, and maybe even place it in a higher humidity situation. Hope someone with real experience and know-how chimes in, and good luck!
P.S. are you sure that A. scottianum?

[justatypn]

Good one Tindo...see what happens when my mind is overwhelmed by pests...I just cringe...regrouped and no it is not an ang scott....great eye, it was a test you know and you won, you get to go to the head of the class ....corrected my error...it is a

Oncidium totosauri

I had the totosauri on a mount, it has been taken off the mount for further inspection...what to do, what to do...

P.S. Good eye

[Gin]

Probably is scale or Mealy bugs , I would give it a good spray with one of the Bayer Advanced products, use a tooth pick to raise the sheath enough to spray under it . The Rose and Flower spray works well , it is supposed to protect for up to 30 days ( I don't believe that ) If off the mount I would leave it off until the little XXX s are gone .Also spray the mount , If you have Orthene WP.(it stinks) and can treat outside that is my weapon of choice plus the leaf spray . 3 times at weekly intervals . Take no prisioners Gin

[justatypn]

I was hoping not to bring out the heavy artilliary but seems I might need to. Will be heading to supply house to get some orchid supplies and yep will definitely pick some of this up. Since I did the alcohol, I will wait a few days. In the meantime I did remount it not wanting to shock the guy with it setting out but without a doubt will remount on something else as this driftwood is breaking down more than I would have liked. Not to bad my first pest problem other than fungus gnats, which is a given. Thanks for your imput...the battle begins

[littlefrog]

I'd go ahead and pull off the papery part. Makes it easy to get to the rest. My bet is boisduval scale.

[justatypn]

Flat white and tan to brown when dead? But you say I can pull back the shealth, now where they are located is not under a papery sheath, healthy sheath. Did get under there with alcohol and water noting 2 new shoots but now I bet they are scared to come out... Already pulled back the dried sheath, actually is was pleasantly clean behind it...

[littlefrog]

Some sort of scale, anyway...

Ok, don't remove the live stuff... You are going to need a systemic to do the job properly though. Imidacloprid and orthene are both systemics, I'd just soak the plant in a small bucket of properly mixed pesticide. Give it 10 minutes, repeat weekly for 3 or four weeks.

But, if it is the nasty crap that i think it is, you need to pay close attention to your other plants. You might want to consider spraying the whole collection at the same interval.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by justatypn

Since I did the alcohol, I will wait a few days.

I had a boss a few years back that swore (not litterally) that Blackberry Brandy would cure (and prevent) about anything. Did you try that?

[Tindomul]

Cheryl, well I have an Ang. scottianum, so I know what it should look like. hehe.
Now, I've always been curious to try Marty's CO2 treatment to kill pests on a single orchid. I imagine that mealy bugs, mites and the rest are suseptible to asphixiation via Carbon Dioxide. Sooooo, If you could fine a pot thats sealable, and some dry ice, and flood the pot with the 'smoke' from the dry ice, maybe you can snuff the life out of those pests?? I would love to find out if this works with mites and stuff.