Aphids!

[camille1585]

Aphids don't really need something as strong as imidacloprid. The downside of this chemical is that it will damage blooms.
Watch out with the alcohol. I have used it with some success against mealies, but if you spray mounted plants you really need to avoid the roots. I sprayed the roots of a plant and that ended up killing the roots, and then the plant died...

Whatever you spray with, you should repeat it few times every few days because aphids multiply like crazy! Adults put out 4-5 nymphs a day, and the babies are adults within 10 days.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Whatever you spray with, you should repeat it few times every few days because aphids multiply like crazy! Adults put out 4-5 nymphs a day, and the babies are adults within 10 days.

And the weird thing is that no matter how many you kill, you have to kill them all to get 1 individual, they are all clones!!!

[Junebug]

Alcohol has worked for me too with no damage to the plant. Can't testify as to whether it would damage buds or blooms though. Avoid the roots as Camille suggested.

[boytjie]

I'll add my again with Safer Soap: I've sprayed the roots of both mounted and potted plants with no harmful effects. I had a bad mealy bug blight on a Paph species, and drenched the medium and roots with Safer Soap every third day for two weeks, flushing with plain water in between. No damage at all to the plant from the soap. Can't testify to developing buds, but I've also used it on open blooms, and aside from some minor spotting there was no lasting damage. As a disclaimer, that might depend on the species and how delicate the blooms are - but for a heavy infestation, I'd think you'd want to be more concerned about the long term health of the plant, rather than the blooms.

[josterha]

I just found aphids on one paph today for the first time. I have no idea where they came from. All of my plants are inside my apartment with no new additions and I could only find them on this one plant among 60 or so others. I am using Safer Soap insecticidal soap. I can't testify to the effectiveness yet, but I will let you know.

John

[jrodpad]

Thanks for the info on safer soap and on the alcohol treatment. What strength do you use for the soap and/or the alcohol?

Do you need to dilute the soap solution? Do you need to dilute the alcohol solution? When you say "alcohol" do you mean regular rubbing alcohol?

Sorry for the noobie questions - I've got some mealies that I need to take care of before they spread.

- J

[josterha]

Safer Soap comes in a ready-to-use spray.

[phearamedusa]

Safer's soap also comes in a concentrated form, follow the mixing directions on the label, if you get this one.

[shadytrake]

For dish soap...dime size dollop per quart of water. For alcohol, I use 40% rubbing for delicate chids and 70% for the hardy varieties (straight...no dilution) from the dollar store.

If I had to use it on really delicate ones like micro-minis...I would probably dilute the 40% by 1/2 and 1/2.

I haven't seen any ill effects on mounted plants but I never spray the roots with soap or alcohol. I use the Bayer systemic for that.

[jrodpad]

Thanks Shadytrake!