The Great Mealy Bug War of '07-'08

[Tindomul]

In the last year and a half I've been fighting Mealy Bug scale all over. Home, office etc......
Some battles have been lost, and some have been won (that is nothing died). And I thought Mites were bad.

Ok,
The first battle was the battle of the Orchidarium, what a Nightmare!! Can't use insecticides for frog safety issues, and could not remove some of the plants because they had grown into the background attached themselves to the orchidarium its self.
The first casualty was a Tolumnia noid. Most likely the plant that introduced the enemy.
As time went by, and my vigilance waned, matters got secretly worse. Suddenly I would see swarms of male mealy bugs flying inside the viv. I can tell you though that they are really easy to kill with your fingers. Slow flyers and not good at evading you. One cutting of my Slc. Mini Beau was attacked and killed. Then my Schoenorchis fragrans was the next casualty. Finally the second cutting of Slc. Mini Beau was killed. That was last years winner for the Orchid Board Calendar contest. Gone, forever! Three Haraella odorata also fell in this battle. They were too defenseless to stand a chance!!!
The Mealybug had setup base on my Angreaceum scottianum, Orchid Board Chat Project plant. I managed to kill them off there though. The plant is still healthy and scale free.
Then at home I lost Blc. Nippon Flag 'Nice Day' and two others were saved by application of neem oil and soap water. They are doing well for now.
Today, the battle now rages within the leaves of three full grown Clivias, and my Starfish Cactus that bloomed this last fall. Im not sure who will survive. These I can spray till the spray breaks. Hope it pays off.


Sorry guys, just wanted to destress and let it all out.

[Ross]

This would be a great thread for folks to share their successes and failures dealing with Mealies. Maybe others would find something that works for them?

I've had great success using Schultz' Garden Safe Houseplant & Garden Spray. It contains Canola Oil and synthetic Pyrethrins. Don't get it on flower buds though!

[Tindomul]

In the orchidarium I've done a lot of mechanical (hand) cleaning, and use of cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethanol. Seems to work if you do it everyday for a week or more.

[Gin]

I am sorry Tindo know how it is . A systemic would be the way to go if there was an area to move the plants into.The bathroom ? . I use Bayer Tree and Shrub , also Orthene Wp. and on the non orchids Disystron when they are outside , it really stinks . Also the tops are sprayed with Safers or Neem or the Garden Safe as Ross mentioned to kill the ones on the leaves it takes awhile for systemics to enter the plants system . Other then to remove the plants from the Viv I don't know what to tell you . Gin

[Des]

I use a small electronic Bug zapper it kills them in the flying stage. In the mature stage they are extremely difficult to get rid of, as those you see are usually just the tip of the iceberg. In desperation the other day I immersed the whole plant in a mixture of white oil, washing up liquid and water, and left it there overnight ! It was a case of kill or cure. the plant seems to be no worse off for the experience and so far so far not a sign of these horrible (for want of a better word!) plant destroyers

[Orchidophile]

I think (I hope) I just ended my own war aganst these things. I had one casualty my catt. pecivaliana 'Summit' seedling. Luckily they didnt find my terrarium with all my mini's.

[SheilaJ]

I'm sorry you lost so many plants.

I detest mealy. For (non-orchid) plants, I use a combination of imidacloprid granules (Marathon 1%) in the soil, and a heavy spray with aerosol leafshine (Pokon brand). The leafshine works like a horticultural oil.

HOWEVER, do not use the leaf shine on a clivia, even out of the sun. I very nearly killed mine that way. Someone on gardenweb reported good luck with sticking scented geranium leaves in between the clivia leaves. I added that to the systemic - don't know if it helped or not.

I don't know if neem, hort oil or insecticidal soap would be safe for your frogs, but they would help with the mealy, although not as effectively as what I mentioned above. The imidacloprid sprays are good too, but shouldn't be used indoors.

[Jo Ann]

I feel your pain …I can only offer sympathy …to be honest I find growing plants indoors more easily bothered by bugs then outdoors. I’ve never had the mealy problem but I’ve noticed within a fews days of bringing a plant indoors I’m seeing little tiny creatures crawling around..? The indoor environment is just too comfy bugs love it inside.. spider mites and white fly were my headache ..I’m a big fan of systemics because I just don’t have the time to baby my plants as I would like..

[Bill_NeOh]

Des, let us know how the overnight immersion goes. This is something I never thought of and if it doesn't kill the plant it might be an effective way of getting rid of that nasties that need oxygen. I've been fight Scale off and on for the past few years. I'm pretty effictive at keeping it at bay and thought I was completly clear of the problem a few times but as soon as the right conditions popup, there they are again. Grrrrrrrr.

[Des]

Bill , so far so good the catt does not seem to have suffered any for the experience . I also included a few drops of H2O2 35% in the water in the hope that it will kill any eggs that are present. I wish I new more about the life cycle of this pest, as it might help to keep them off my plants . They always seem to be present in one corner of my greenhouse. I thought that maybe air movement was the problem .So I positioned a fan there but no luck that has not worked either I have now removed the catts from that corner and replaced then with a few of my precious Miltoniopsis but only because I have never seen W.A. on Milts. Wishful thinking ? Maybe , time will tell!