i use diazinon in a bucket and leave the plants submerged for 3-5 min.

so far they seem under control.

mealybugs and slugs are usually my problem. (both are hard to eradicate.

the joy in using a systemic is that it gets in the actual tissues of the plant, leaves, base, and roots! when the beasties eat and suck juices from the plant, they get zapped! its lovely! in a severe infestation, you need to remove all media and repot...the bugs will get down into the bark, so you have to start clean...also, if one of your plants have bugs, just assume they all do and treat them all....start a regular routine with your plants, use a systemic twice a month, and a mixture of insecticidal soap/liquid seven twice a month.....you wont EVER have to deal with bugs again! prevention is the best method!

I go the Bayer 3 and 1. The only bottle they has was the one you hook up to the hose. They said the concentrate and mix is the same as the normal bottle. Since they did have have the bottle without hose fitting I do not know the right mix. Can anyone help? Could I just hook to my hose and have at it? :)

It's 5 1/4 tbsp per gallon, if it's the same concentrate.

(jeez, I can't believe I know that off the top of my head lol)

I had a case of scale last spring. I used Bayer 3-1 and repeated treatment religiously at recommended intervals. I did not repot. I have not seen a single sign of them since then. 3-1 not only kills the adults it kills the crawlers down in the media as well. If you only treat what you can see then you will be treating forever. You must treat the media or you will be fighting a never ending battle.

What is this rhubarb mix ?

You take the leaves of rhubarb, cover them with water in a pot and bring it to a boil, Simmer it for a while, let it cool then strain it. I add about a teaspoon of alcohol and a few drops of dish soap to a spray bottle full. So far I am finding that it works better than any homemade spray I have tried. I haven't tried the windex and tobacco one yet, though.

Hello, my treatment is a bit different. I discovered the infestation on about 10 phals in apartment, not big but the mealies were there. Read a lot you posted and other members posted - thank you all!

Question: Does this work to get rid of mealy bugs (not just control):

Group 1 - I dipped the entire pot including medium in a dish soap & water solution for over an hour; scrubbed all leaves with alcohol, dish soap and then sprayed neem oil;will repeat neem oil in a few days
Group 2 - I got rid of pot, medium. dipped entire plant in same solution for over an hour. If suspect eggs still in crevices, leave plan in soap for a day. Then spray entire plant in neem oil. Then put in water & fertilizer solution (not repot yet) to see if bug comes back.
Will spray neem on all every few days.

Also tossed all ceramic vases in dishwasher, rubbed pot floor area with isopropyl 70% alcohol before replacing clean pots.

QUESTION 1: can bugs' EGGS and crawlers survive water and dish soap submersion for so many hours or do they get suffocated?
QUESTION 2: will this get rid of the bug? if not, what else do you recommend?

Thank you!

Cooking oil + dish detergent + few drops neem oil + water in a spray bottle, spray thoroughly every other morning until the buggers are gone.

Usually during this period I also slightly reduce the sunlight and put a fan on the plants, to avoid oil burn and also to make sure the leaves dry/avoid crown rot.

Seems to work on scale, aphids, mealybugs, nematodes alike-- I use this on all my plants (including non-orchids), plus it's non-toxic if you have pets or kids. I've got some really nosy kitties, with chemical products I'm always afraid somebody will accidentally ingest.

For systemic insecticide, I generally use imidacloprid; despite its reputation as problematic on bees, I don't think that's really going to be a problem if you keep your orchids indoors. I dose according to the rate in this article: North Jersey Orchid Society converted to metric units.