Is this a Mealybug and if so, how do I kill the little ***?

[dounoharm]

insecticides are really no problem if you handle them correctly! do not be afraid! if you handle them correctly in a well ventilated area, you will be fine and so will your dog....use them outside in a shady area, don't let the dog near while you do it of course, and make exceptions for wind blowing it around....wear gloves! if you are really worried, wear one of those face masks....use a good sprayer, and spray the entire plant completely! these chemicals will not damage your plants (unless you put them on the plant in full sun, lol)...always measure correctly and use what the instructions tell you! no extra!...if you must spray indoors, you can do that too! put the plants in a big old leaf bag, and spray away! then throw out the bag!...there is no need to agonize over hurting the plants or your dog or anything else! just follow the directions and everything will be ok! these chemicals are sold FOR HOME USE by the average joe...anything that is really bad is regulated and only used by licensed individuals...after all, you spray your house for bugs (or most folks do) or hire someone to do it for you...you use chemicals on your dog for fleas don't you?...we use chemicals every day in our lives...you just have to exercise a bit of care in your daily life....so don't worry about this one...good luck!

[RandomGemini]

I'm more concerned about the odors overcoming her than anything else. My dog is on high dose steroids and I do have the outside of my house sprayed every other month because one of my neighbors got infested with carpenter ants a while back. But I crate the dogs for an hour after the pest control dude leaves and he does not spray inside on or near my carpets.

My dogs don't have fleas and haven't had fleas in the 18 years I've lived here. Flea eggs actually require humidity in order to hatch. It's not humid enough for flea eggs to hatch where I live, so flea infestations are rare.

But I get what you're saying.

I can definitely spray the plants outdoors. I'm so mad right now. I'm tempted to just take the pots everything is in on that table, chuck them all in the garbage, remove everything from its current pot and media, chuck the pot and the media in the garbage too and then take a flamethrower to the evil little *****.

Of course, maybe throwing out the pots and the media and repotting everything is a good idea, but I should probably hold back on the flame thrower... tempting though it may be.

Another thought that comes to mind is to set everything outside and dump a bag of lady bugs on them. We have a local nursery that sells lady bugs for this purpose. They say to pour a can of soda pop into the bag, so the lady bugs can't fly away, then empty the bag on your infested plant.. but then I'll have lady bugs in the house...

[AnonYMouse]

This is a new plant? Acquired at a show, online or a shop? If at a show, were all the plants from the same vendor?

If the plants are from the same vendor, yeah, take precautions. If the plants are from different vendors, I'd kill the F'er and isolate the one plant, quarantine the rest. Certainly be vigilant on all plants but I'd wait on the thermonuclear stuff.

I don't know the life cycle but I doubt the mealy hooked up with another mealy, deposit eggs, hatch and infest other plants in a day. I've never seen them on the move but I think they are crawlers, not jumpers.

Edit to add: I've had new plants arrive with a mealy on occasion (from reputable vendors). I'd kill the F'er, isolate for a few weeks but have never suffered a repeat. I'm vigilant, I have loups and magnifying glasses for regular inspections.

[RandomGemini]

Show, last weekend. Three plants I purchased were from the same vendor. I have had all of the plants I bought that weekend on the same table, in the same room for a week.

Edited to add: My flame thrower post was more of a vent. I've never had to deal with mealybugs before, or really any sort of pest. I had one plant come home with fusarium. When I discovered the issue, I tossed it and replaced it with another plant that I liked better that's growing much better for me than the one that I'd had before, so that worked out ok. I found that one of my african violets was infested with aphids, tossed it... and then found that my other two african violets had thrips and tossed those. No more clearance rack plants for me!! I'm okay with that too.

At this point, I'm concerned that with a week of these plants sharing a table, they're all infested. I'm willing to repot all of them, had planned to when they dropped their blooms anyway. The masdie is the one I'm most upset about. I've been excited about it and doing all of this research and reading before getting one, and then I finally get it home and the thing has bugs! I know that pests happen in orchid growing, I can deal with that, it's just frustrating and I needed to get over being mad so I can wrap my head around the problem.

I've checked over the other plants and haven't seen any signs of mealy bugs, but that doesn't mean that they aren't there, so what I'm gonna do for this weekend remove all of the other plants from that room and put them in another spot in the house, away from my usual growing space and watch them for a while. I'll make sure to separate all of the plants that came from this vendor, from the ones from other sources too.

I will take the masdie out of its pot, pitch all of the old media and try the soap solution and use alcohol on the bugs I can find and just do a lather, rinse repeat on this process until the eight week life cycle has passed and I don't see anymore bugs. If I see more bugs on the other plants, then I will just break out the insecticide.

It will be fine as long as the orchids i've spent the last year caring for don't get infested too.

[AnonYMouse]

Not sure how to advise since I've always found the F'ers on their in-take inspection. I don't know what they can do in a week.

I have the Bayer systemic on hand but I haven't used it. I'm ambivalent about it. I suppose it would be reassuring about the plants' health. If I were to out-door my plants, I'd likely use it. Since I grow indoors, I'd do all I can before resorting to it.

[RandomGemini]

That makes sense to me. I really do hate using harsh chemicals like that in my house and I grow indoors too.

Actually you've helped me a lot! I'm not mad anymore and I feel like I can handle it now.

Sorry for all the drama. I don't have friends that I can vent to about my orchids.

[dounoharm]

lol, poop happens, especially in orchid growing...you invest so much money, and time (years sometimes!) and emotion in growing and developing them....it can be heartbreaking....just a note on the insecticides (jeez, I am stuck on that subject!)....the 'stink' in a chemical IS NOT THE CHEMICAL, NOR IS THE STINK TOXIC! the manufacturers ADD the stink to the chemical to let the user know the chemical is present! the actual chemical has no odor...the stink itself is not toxic, lol....so don't worry about that harming your dog.....good luck!

[LovePhals]

I would separate the masdie from the other plants and check them daily. It may only be the masdie. I purchased 3 phals and had them all in the same area. Only 1 had mealy bugs even after being around each other. It ended up taking about 4 months I can't remember exactly to rid them. I checked the phal daily and killed off the mealy's one by one and repotted. Finally when I did see any for another month or two I put it back with my other orchids. I used mainly alcohol. I put isopropyl alcohol in the cracks and crevices of my phal leaves almost every day. It did not harm my plant and I wiped down the leaves. Eventually they were all killed after I figured out they were coming from a dead spike.

[plumania]

I dip cotton tip of an ear bud in the straight rubbing alcohol and apply on the mealies and watch them shrink to death. I have a couple of Hoyas they love. Usually they do not come back for a while.
If you have patience ,you can get them one by one.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Dounoharm is right.

Sorry about your dog! Regarding systemic chemicals and using them around your dog, one of the best controls for mealies is imidacloprid, which is used as a flea control for dogs. If you are using imidacloprid on plants, there should be little risk to your dog (but ask your vet just in case). Imidacloprid is in Bayer Advanced Rose & Flower and some other Bayer products.

The soap-based home remedies will temporarily suppress mealies and scale but will never get rid of them (I know from experience).

Any plant on which you actually see mealies should be removed from its pot and medium, thoroughly cleaned, sprayed roots and all with a systemic, spray new media with the systemic, then repot. Spray the leaves again at intervals recommended on the bottle, repeat for at least a month. For plants that show no infestation, spray the leaves and stems at recommended intervals for at least a month.