MEALIES I HATE YOU!

[james mickelso]

Systemics are the best way to treat a plant but that is a prophylactic. Bayer works quickly and usually kills most of what is on the plant. Spray it with Bayer every week for three weeks. That should get rid of all the bastar....er....bugs. Use a systemic for long term benefits. The eggs come with the media. Take your existing media and give it a soak with the Bayer at 1 tsp per gallon. Soak it over night and then dry it out in full sunlight for a couple days. That should take care of most all the bad guys. I spray my plants whenever they show some bugs. Doesn't hurt them a bit.

[Ordphien]

Why not use carbon dioxide?
That's what I use.

Place the orchid in a large trash bag, and set a pound of dry ice in a container warm water next to the orchid.
Close the bag, watch it inflate.
Go to bed, or work.

One treatment is normally enough to kill most pests.
Sometimes two is necessary.

Not alot of hassle. Plus you get to play with dry ice.

[Suzanne17]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

The eggs come with the media. Take your existing media and give it a soak with the Bayer at 1 tsp per gallon. Soak it over night and then dry it out in full sunlight for a couple days. That should take care of most all the bad guys. I spray my plants whenever they show some bugs. Doesn't hurt them a bit.

The media that the Surf Song was in is gone- I used it up a while ago. Now I'll keep a close eye on the plants that are in that media.

---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ordphien

Why not use carbon dioxide?
That's what I use.

Place the orchid in a large trash bag, and set a pound of dry ice in a container warm water next to the orchid.
Close the bag, watch it inflate.
Go to bed, or work.

One treatment is normally enough to kill most pests.
Sometimes two is necessary.

Not alot of hassle. Plus you get to play with dry ice.

Where do you get the dry ice? You get enough to treat at one time rather than trying to store it, I imagine. How do you dispose of it then? I like the idea a lot.

[RandomGemini]

Depends on where you live. In my state, you have to be over 21 to purchase dry ice and you have to sign a waiver and get it filed with the local police department, but otherwise, you can buy it at walmart.

[Ordphien]

Wow... that's alot of work for dry ice.
Here you have to be 18.
And you buy it at grocery stores.

You buy it by the pound.
Costs me $2 a pound.
It doesn't store well, so use it all in one go.
The dry ice should be completely gone by the time you open the bag again.

[RandomGemini]

Well, I think we had some darwin awards candidate blow his hand off trying to make a dry ice bomb or something. I recall that the laws on purchasing dry ice changed here recently.

[james mickelso]

I find using a household/garden insecticide much easier and it gets rid of the vermin pronto.

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by Ordphien

Why not use carbon dioxide?
That's what I use.

Place the orchid in a large trash bag, and set a pound of dry ice in a container warm water next to the orchid.
Close the bag, watch it inflate.
Go to bed, or work.

One treatment is normally enough to kill most pests.
Sometimes two is necessary.

Not alot of hassle. Plus you get to play with dry ice.

Thanks for this tip. I am going to try it with all my outdoors orchids before I bring them indoors. To be clear - do you place the dry ice into a container of warm water ? Will this treatment work against scale and pillbugs , earwigs .ie everything ?

[BettyE]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

BettyE, because Merit and Bayer Rose and Flower are the same insecticide and mealies hide in the crevices between leaves and inside blooms, so the entire plant has to be treated.

Actually, I called the 800 number for Merit. I told them that I needed to use it for scale. I was told told to immerse the pot into the Merit water, and NOT to spray the leaves or flowers. Merit is a systemic, and it worked for me & my orchids. BettyE

[Ordphien]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

Thanks for this tip. I am going to try it with all my outdoors orchids before I bring them indoors. To be clear - do you place the dry ice into a container of warm water ? Will this treatment work against scale and pillbugs , earwigs .ie everything ?

I use warm water. The bubbles will splash all over your plant. And I find that the water gets freezing from the dry ice if you don't use warmer water.
The easiest way is to just ensure the splashing and container don't touch the plants.
But sometimes that isn't possible.

I've successfully used it on mealies, spider mites, scale, fungus gnats, and very bad aphid infestations.