Tolumnia and Scale
 

Okay, war mode. AGAIN, I see scale on my Tolumnia. I'm gonna try something different. I usually just use rubbing alcohol, Qtips, spray with alcohol, etc. You know the drill.

It gets way down in those tightly folded leaves and bottom of leaves, and it's never enough. So I tried a systemic, Marathon, a couple of times. But it's granular, and with Tolumnia mounted, it just evidently didn't work.

I have some Bayer 3 in 1 Advanced for Roses, that has Imidacloprid and Tebuconazole in it. It's a liquid, and I've used for roses and other plants around the yard. However, it says don't spray on foliage.

The question is... how do I dose a mounted Tolumnia? Try to spray only the roots, then continue with regular watering? Dunk the roots once a week, then continue with regular watering? Experiment?

Help please?

Hmmm.. if that Bayer's Advanced also has fertilizer in it, not a great idea. Otherwise, hard to say what the problem with foliage would be. I use Bayer's Advabced 3-in-1 Insect, Disease and Mite Control (laid in a stash before the formulation got changed). I spray on foliage, even on flowers with no harm. I don't know how "systemic" the substitute product is. There are imidacloprid products, with prices all over the map (some are large quantities, but there are a few smaller ones for reasonable prices) from Do My Own - Do It Yourself Pest Control, Lawn Care, Gardening, Equipment & Animal Care Products & Supplies ... I have purchased from them, good service. Look for "imidacloprid concentrate" or "liquid".

Soak some Marathon in water for some hours. Then add a few drops of detergent so the solution works its way into the crannies.

The newer “Bio-Advanced” (Bayer) 3-in-1 is an insect, “disease”, and mite treatment. Dilute it according to the label and apply it 3 times at one-week intervals.

Okay, all points taken on the fertilizer, Bio-Advanced, and soaking Marathon. I always use a surfactant. Also get the once a week for three weeks. Gracias.

Question remains... Do I dunk the plants in this prepared stew or just mist the roots, or just mist the whole plant?

Dunk is best, but if you can spray it well enough to achieve the same overall coverage, that's fine too.

Dunk it is!

I would add the soap to make sure the solution gets into the tiniest crevices.

Be careful about the soap addition - i.e., "step lightly".

We grow impatiens in the flower boxes on our deck. One of the boxes got a very bad mite infestation, so I sprayed it with Azamax. All seemed well, so I decided to add a couple of drops of Dawn for the second treatment.

Every plant in the box lost all of its flowers and most of its leaves, as did the nearby boxes that I also treated.

Fortunately, they have long since recovered, but forewarned is forearmed!

I will add that I've never had an issue with Dawn and orchids, but this experience makes me wary.

Okay, I found straight imidacloprid, BioAdvanced for Fruit, Citrus, Vegetable and insect control.. Inert ingredients other than that. No fertilizers, etc. It's at .235%. And of course it doesn't give measurements to dose for any flowers, let alone orchids.

The Bayer product says "Bayer product containing 1.47% imidacloprid, add 1.5 tsp into a quart of water." So maybe around a half teaspoon per quart?