Aphids on a phal- What should I use?
 

So I moved and now I don`t have fungus gnats on my orchids anymore (now my houseplants are fighting them so i`m treating everything for them) and I found an aphid on my phal that has a keiki. :(( I looked it up on the AOS site but I didn`t see a section on how to get rid of them so does anyone have any awesome die instantly method for aphids? i took the one i saw off and sprayed it with 2 different insecticides and they didn`t kill it (grr) so I put it down the drain obviously i can`t do that to my whole plant so what works on them in case there are more? i haven`t seen any but if theres one....

i still have stuff to move over from the apartment to here so i don`t have my camera yet (gonna take pictures of the condition of the apartment before i hand over my keys in case they try to lie about stuff like my last ones did). Pests are making me crazy. The orchids like the new place better for the most part might be a little dry though gonna look into culture stuff soon as i finish up the old apartment.

oh and i moved my den outside because it still isn`t happy but is slightly better.

The answer to your aphid problem is isopropyl alcohol.

This wipes out many of the soft bodied insects.

It does not get rid of spider mites though, as spider mites are not insects.

Philip is right.

However, you can always use a hose and BLAST THE LITTLE SUCKERS INTO OBLIVION!

:) I find that the most cathartic, if the plant can stand it.

I've found Safer Soap also works well. You can get it at Lowes or Home Depot.

Soap and oil are generally for hard-bodied pests, aphids are soft-bodied, which is why iso. alcohol works on them.

Here's some effective home remedies that Ray has collected: First Rays' Home Remedies

ETA: That's not to say that Safer Soap wouldn't work, I've just found that the alcohol works better, and I don't have to pay for it. Neem oil is great- kills some pests on contact, and makes the plant taste bad (topically).

Get a systemic like Bayer's 3 in1 for roses, works great for keeping disease and pests away- again, makes the plant taste bad, but for 30 days and is safe for orchids. A lot of higher-up growers I know swear by it.

You have to be careful with insecticide soaps, as they can burn delicate plants because too concentrate (happened to me many times, I stoped using them).
Instead, I use a mix of Isopropyl alcohol (the 70% kind) with the same volume of water (pure alcohol is ok too), add a few drops of liquid soap (plant based dishes soap is best), and a crushed clove of garlic. Let macerate for a day and filter. Spray every 3 days for 2 weeks as aphids eggs can hatch every 3 days...

ok another question. for the alcohol mix use if i spray the plant with it do i leave it or rinse the plant after? should i soak the plant in something to get the mix also?

my den is going nuts outside :D the roots are bright green again now :) and i only put it out yesterday or the day before.

You don't need to spray the alcohol on if you don't want to.

You can just use a cotton swab and dip it in the alcohol and just rub onto the affected areas.

The alcohol evaporates pretty quickly, so you don't have to do anything.