Mealy Bugs..send them to bug hell
 

Neem Oil is a total waste of time, money. All of the home made "remedies" ..70% alcohol, dish washing soaps, 409 spray cleaner and ALL combinations will not solve the mealy bug infestation. Soaking the whole orchid in 3% hydrogen peroxide only worked for a short period of time. Believe me I've been there ..done that. Time for the big guns to blast the bastards to bug, hell: ORTHENE 97.4% Acephate .773lb Systemic Soluble Insecticide for Turf,Tree & Ornamentals. On Amazon for $15.85 W shipping.I mix it in a hand sprayer ( using rubber gloves) and take the plants outside or into the garage. Let them totally dry out before bringing them inside again. Of course if you have a green house just spray away.

I feel your pain. I've never been able to totally eradicate the little buggers either. I hope the big gun works for you.

Bill

This works? I'll have to try it. Thanks for the advice.

Orthene is a good solution and should work. It is a systemic. If it does not eradicate them all after a course of treatment, rotate with a product containing imidacloprid, another systemic.

Perhaps because I've not had an infestation *knocks wood*, the dishsoapy water and rubbing alcohol combination has worked fine for me - If I see even 1 mealy bug on a plant, I spray the entire plant well with the soapy water - alcohol mix, and isolate it. Usually, that's all that has been needed. I spray a second time a week later, as well as check the plant over well periodically. I 'un-isolate' the plant after several weeks of not seeing any more bugs.

Isopropyl alcohol works for minor infestations.

You can try and see if you can find out what is the source of stress in your plant(s) and remedy that first to see if that will allow the plant to kick in its natural defense mechanisms and help you reduce the issue of mealies coming back on the same plant. After all, wild counterparts of orchids have natural defenses against pests in nature, why are your plants not defending themselves?

Maybe a nearby orchid that has been stressed is sending the other orchids in your collection stress signals and therefore, it is seemingly getting chronically stressed "for no reason".

This sounds like I just fell off the turnip truck or I may have a couple of lost marbles, but you can verify this claim on your own - stressed plants can send stress signals to neighboring plants and induce a stress response in plants that are not attacked by predators or have not been directly stressed out themselves. Plants are known to release substances in the air to chemically signal neighbors of predators.

Sonya, you have been lucky indeed.

Soap, cinnamon, alcohol, neem are temporary controls for mealies (scale too). You may get the first bug or two to invade, but if you have to re-treat more than once, you have an infestation that will be difficult to control without stronger measures.

(snipped)

I find that very interesting. A happy plant is a healthy plant :)

After reading my post again, I realized maybe a good number of people, particularly those who are in my generation or younger may think I might be "trolling". So, I'll post a lead and then you all can follow up on my claim.

The documentary is called "Amazing Plants":

https://youtu.be/vNWByUk22sl

You didn't seem to be trolling. Plants certainly are more susceptible to pests and disease when they're less than healthy. Unfortunately, most orchid hobbyists can't provide ideal conditions for our plants. We live too far from the equator, where there isn't enough sun; we live where it's hot and dry; we can provide high humidity or fresh air circulation, but not both; our summers don't have much of a day-night temperature difference; we have greenhouses that are too hot or too cold most of the year. So our orchids are almost always under quite a bit of stress.