Couple of hundred plants infested with tiny white flies - fumigation options?
 

We have a BIG problem on our patio right now - tiny white flies and their cottony white larvae, also little yellowish circular capsule-like things (picture below, not sure exactly how to describe them) affecting a couple of hundred plants - Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, Vanilla, Cymbidium, Epidendrum, Rhyncostele, Oncidium, Encyclia and Paphiopedilum. We'd found these on a couple of plants a couple of weeks ago and thought we'd nipped the problem in the bud, treating with soap solution and alcohol. However, today, on closer inspection, a very large number of plants are affected, too many to treat each one individually in this way.

Is there a fumigation option (commercial or industrial) that we could use to treat this without damaging the plants?

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I just discovered similar symptoms on a couple of Cattleyas I got from one source. I think it is boisduval scale. There is an AOS article and video if you google it. I have tried a mix of 50% isopropyl alcohol with a small amount of detergent and wiped down the entire plant. You could try systemic insecticides (imidacloprid or similar) as it could be time consuming treating numerous plants. Apparently these have become quite resistant to insecticides. I have imidacloprid but haven't tried it on this yet. Good luck

You have a scale insect infestation (brown circles, second photo). The white fuzzy stuff is the juvenile "crawler" stage of the scale insect. If you saw white flies, that would be a different insect unrelated to the scale.

You need a systemic insecticide. In the United States I would use a product containing imidacloprid, or Orthene (acephate). I don't know what might be available in Mexico. You can check this website Orchid Pests, Orchid Diseases and look for the link for pesticides. You want systemic pesticides that treat scale insects.

You should be prepared to spray every plant you have once a week for at least a month, maybe two months. This includes any plant near your orchids (even non-orchid plants). After that, you will likely need to start a preventive spraying program to keepcthe scale from returning.

Sorry this happened to you. I hope you get rid of all the bugs!

Thanks for your quick replies, it's off to Home Depot for me tomorrow.

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FINALLY found imidacloprid here, after spending the last month or so battling with the infestation with soap and alcohol (at least there seems to be no actual damage to the plants). The imidacloprid I found is Confidor 350 SC from Bayer, its concentration is 30.20%. Unfortunately it doesn't come with dilution instructions for orchids - any suggestions?

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You can use the dilution rate they detail for roses or other "ornamentals". Be sure to drench the medium as well. And, like catt mentioned, make sure to do repeated applications over a period of time.

I know you're working with a lot of plants but you might want to consider cleaning the plants of all the old, dried up bracts and plant bits where these guys love to hide. Start with the plants that have the heaviest infestation and then work your way through the collection as time permits. This will also remove the old dead scale as it's killed off.

Thanks, Katrina -- just applied second week of treatment today. No longer any visible signs of anything alive (except the plants, of course!!). Cleaned off all dead scale that I found. Gonna keep treating for another couple of weeks at least, just to make sure.

Sounds like you're getting control of it. Good luck in the battle! If you stay on top of it...your plants will be perfectly fine. :Tup: