Killing the pests or my plants? Mealys and Scale

[Paul Mc]

One note about fertilizers for roses, they tend to be very high in acid which may not be good for the plants. You might want to look at the balance to see what it is (10-10-30, or 4-10-10 for example) and what is in the contents of it (although this might require some investigative research on the internet to determine acidity).

I wish I could be of more help! And I'm terribly sorry to hear about your woes recently. Hopefully you can get rid of those pests and start enjoying your orchids again!

[Daethen]

If you want to truly be in control, I recommend malathion. I had scale on about 50 plants and I mixed up a big plastic bin full of malathion. I dipped every plant, pot and all for a few minutes in it and repeated a week or so later. Scale is gone completely.

[northernorchids]

Originally Posted by Daethen

If you want to truly be in control, I recommend malathion. I had scale on about 50 plants and I mixed up a big plastic bin full of malathion. I dipped every plant, pot and all for a few minutes in it and repeated a week or so later. Scale is gone completely.

If what I've done fails, I'll try the malathion. I have to wait until it gets warm enough so I can use it outside. I wouldn't want to use it in the house around my pets. Officially spring is here, but it's snowing out right now.

[shadytrake]

Originally Posted by Daethen

If you want to truly be in control, I recommend malathion. I had scale on about 50 plants and I mixed up a big plastic bin full of malathion. I dipped every plant, pot and all for a few minutes in it and repeated a week or so later. Scale is gone completely.

Ugh that stuff is so stinky...but it works! I use it to spray the greenhouse floor and the benches.

[Eyebabe]

Originally Posted by Daethen

If you want to truly be in control, I recommend malathion. I had scale on about 50 plants and I mixed up a big plastic bin full of malathion. I dipped every plant, pot and all for a few minutes in it and repeated a week or so later. Scale is gone completely.

I have used malathion and will use it again I'm sure.

However, I had better luck with Orthenex.
I think Orthenex is systemic as well and has a fungicide combined with the insecticide.

Sometimes it takes a few products, alternating them to really get a good effect.

Most of my plants that got scale this past summer were near the screened windows that vent open in the greenhouse.

My plants outside did not exhibit scale until I brought them in...imo there may have been some bigger predatory bugs that kept it under control (of course absent in the greenhouse due to the screen )

Two years ago, when I had a fairly substantial scale problem on my indoor orchid collection, I used rubbing alcohol. I put it in a spray bottle and uprooted each plant dousing it and wiping it. My big mistake was not protecting the root systems from the alcohol. All the plants were cured from scale but severely dehydrated. I treated about 100 plants and about 7 died from the treatment.
It is alot of work as opposed to spraying...but effective nonetheless.

[dounoharm]

clean and repot everything, i would mix a bucket of the systemic and soap mixture and dip the plants, scrubbing the roots and crevices with a toothbrush...please use rubber gloves and do this outdoors....then repot....spray everything once a week with the systemic and soap for 6 weeks, then continue to spray once a month, your infestation should die out.....gl

[Daethen]

It was dead of winter when I had the problem. Yes, it is stinky, but it WORKS!!! I didn't want to spray everything which is why I chose to dip. And I didn't want to repot as I had just potted everything a short time before. I know others have their own ways, but this one works for me, so I am going to stick to it.

[northernorchids]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll work in that malathion as soon as weather permits going outdoors. And I'll keep up w/the systemic and soap. I had to run to the big city yesterday and stopped at a real garden store (which we don't have in my little town). Picked up some Pyrethrum, a horticultural oil and some Bonide systemic that you sprinkle on the soil and water in (sounded a bit safer to handle). Same ingredient as the Bayer, just in powder form. I used the Pyrethrum and Bonide on the Pfrag I didn't dip. I'll save the oil for a later application if needed.

[northernorchids]

Well it's been several months since I started this battle. Things are looking better. One drastic thing I finally did was toss ALL of my Phals. They seemed to be magnetics for mealys. Every bloom would be fuzzy w/them. They are inexpensive to replace, but I'll wait for awhile. Right now I have 1 Phal that my husband bought me and I'm keeping a close eye on it. I also tossed a few plants that didn't seem to be recovering well from the previous neglect.
Everything has been repotted, watered w/a systemic, Bonide systemic powder sprinkled around the roots when I repotted, sprayed w/pyrethrim, and I try to go over the plants every few weeks hand cleaning problems. with an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. Right now I only have a small scale problem on 2 Oncd (and they are divisions of the same plant).
There's good air circulation where they are at, so that should not be a problem.
My Phrag (Paul Eugene Conroy?) bloomed beautifully and is sending up new growth. I even purchased my self another Phrag to try.
I haven't tried the malathion for the scale, I forgot it over the summer. If we get a warm day yet this fall I'll try it on the problem Oncd.

[Discus]

I've also had a long running battle with scale - malathion is about the only thing that works, particularly for the sneaky ones that work their way riiiight down into the leaf axils (particularly on things like Tolumnias). It's also quite hard to remove scale from cacti (some of which also have it ) through all the spines, so spraying it is :/