Help! My first mealies :(
 

So yesterday I was trying to sort out a kink in a leaf in one of the young plants I bought a few weeks ago, and out came a mealy bug :( I looked at pics and that is definitely what it was, today I found one other in that kink. I got rid of both of them.

I got 5 plants from that grower, and as 3 were young plants and 2 were in flower I didn't repot any, but I did check them over carefully.

Do mealies tend to stay on one plant when there are only a couple of them? Or even though I only found 2 should I worry about all my plants now...? I have isolated the plant already. Should I spray all plants? (I check them regularly, they have no signs I know of).

Should I worry about all the plants I got from that grower or just this one?

Which is the best mealy bug killer available in the UK? (I was at an orchid show last week and nearly got some, but hubby was muttering about how much I had spent already, so I didn't >.<). I would prefer one available in shops or garden centres.

How thorough do I have to be (just bug killer or repot and bug killer or soak plant for 20 mins, repot and bug killer). I am confused about how tough it is to get rid of them, and perhaps when it's only a couple it doesn't have to be such a tough regime. At the show there was a talk where the guy said to soak for 20 mins, doesn't this risk rot??? And what about this being such a young plant? It's at least a year off flowering, maybe 2.

Thanks so much for any help, I was so gutted to see the damn thing, I bet if I had have got the killer at the show there wouldn't have been any bugs then :/

I would isolate any that came from that grower. I would isolate any new plant that comes in for at least a couple of weeks to observe for problems though. I am not sure what products are available to you there. I had one plant that had a couple of mealies. I got lucky. I removed them and never saw any others, but I would get something on hand to treat all the possibilities. That way you don't have to let a problem get out of hand while waiting on the solution.

It had already been about a month before I saw this, but thank you for the tip.

I have some of this already http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clear-Flower.../dp/B00187TTJM would it be safe for a young orchid do you think?

That one is perfectly safe. I have used products in my mealie bug battles containing either imidacloprid or acetamiprid as active ingredients and both work extremely well with no side effects on the plants. I do know that imidacloprid will damage blooms and cause buds to drop if they are sprayed, but don't know if it's the case with the other one.

Acetamiprid is the active ingredient in the product you linked. The only limitation with it is that on my bottle of it it says not to make more than 4 applications per year. Since you don't have a bad infestation I recommend that you treat your plants twice, about 2-3 weeks a part. Spray outdoors, and keep the plants out of the sun until they dry. If you don't have too many plants I would recommend spraying everyone to be on the safe side since mealies are hard to eradicate. Miss one mealy on an unsuspected plant, and the problem starts all over again....

Oh thank you so much Camille, that is wonderful info!

the good news is mealies don't fly - definitely isolate the plants from that grower - but keep your eye on any of your other plants that were nearby
gl!

this works for me:
2cups tepid water=water in the sink run a few min
ten drops dish soap=any dish liquid soap
half teaspoon cinammon extract=from your litchen or get it in the supermarket found with the vanilla and the almond ectracts
....even flies on their perch get nuked with this mix...
those mealies can also bring fungus with them...flush them and wipe them out with cotton buds...
keep on using it as if you are watering the plants with it by spay...
eggs can be in the media... I am scared of touching the roots and damaging them...so I just douse the pot witht he mix
those mites just freak me out! I dont want bugs in my house! grrrr