newbie I have scale i think
 

Hi :waving :hello I'm new to orchids and have a problem. I only have 4 plants but am already in love with the long lasting blooms. I live in the cold north so i obviously have indoor plants. I think from reading the info on this board that I have hard scale. I have been rubbing them it off with my fingers. obiously this has not worked since all four plants now have the same stuff. help what do i do to get rid of this ugly stuff. please look at my :photo:Attachment 17880

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Yeah, you sure do. It's ugly stuff, isn't it?

There are probably many other ways of getting rid of scale, but way back in the prehistoric times when I learned orchid culture I was taught to get it off using rubbing alcohol. Dip either a Q-tip or a cotton swab into the alcohol and rub it onto the scale. When I do this (and I'm thankful that I've not had to in many, many years) I rinse the plant following application. The alcohol is quite effective in killing the scale, and I never saw any harm to my plants as a result of using it - though I suspect someone will suggest a gentler and equally effective method.

MDNB
 

You don't have scale, your plants do.:biggrin: I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I like the Bayer Tomato & Rose Insect Killer. It is systemic and it will kill most all buggies. Take your infected plants outside and spray them. Let them dry out and bring back in. Watch them closely, but I would think that it would get rid of it. Good luck.

Thanks for letting me know it's the plants not me but my plants.

So how did you manage to keep it away after you got rid of it.

Hi MDNB, sorry to hear about the scale, I've dealed with other pests before but I've read that scale can be effectively treated with rubbing alcohol as jkofferdahl stated.

I would literally wipe the whole plant with a cotton ball (or as many as needed) soaked in rubbing alcohol, the orchid is usually not harmed by it, I did it with my phals while dealing with aphids, they are more than fine.

And afterwards take Gregg's advise and use plant friendly insecticide just to make sure you got them all.

Have you considered cutting the infected spikes if not in bloom?

Either way the very best of luck!!!!! :goodluck: Keep us posted!!!! :)

That's pretty advanced case of scale! As the others said rub the plants where the scale is with a cotton ball, etc. with alcohol making sure you wipe off the mature scales down to the green plant tissue. This will assure the eggs inside are treated. Also spray three times weekly (once a week) with Neem Oil, Safers Soap, or any other safe indoors insecticide. Doesn't have to be systemic. You are after the crawlers (the infant stage.) Keep it up to be sure you get everything taken care of. Just keep careful watch of all the plants, as the infants can (and do) move around and will infect just about every lossom and spike you have, if given a chance. They're nasty, but control is possible.

I carefully worked through all of the plants to get rid of it. It took a couple of go-rounds. Once it was gone I did as Ross suggested and used Safer.

I use a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and 409...no water.
Keep it in a sprayer. It immediately gets the job done.

I think it's also important to actually remove any pests that you've sprayed. Wiping the leaves works fine and I use a curved dental instrument to pull anything out of the base of the leaves.

I'm seeing a very advanced case of scale on your plants. One of the most important things we can do as orchid growers is to be aware of what's happening at the start rather than trying to fix a major problem.

I see cb977 that you found my formula. I have never used it as a 50/50. I seems to work fine the other way too.