Pleione bulbs with Meally Bug
 

Hi all,

I received these bulbs of Pleione Berapi in early November (about the 12th or so). I kinda forgot about them and when I went to check on them today, I found lots of mealybugs on the bulbs. Fortunately I left them in the ziplock bag, so the mealybug did probably did not spread out. Although I did leave it open, but hopefully they are not that able to escape.

From the picture you can see a little white powder left behind. My question is, what chemical treatment would you suggest? I have alcohol and I have Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil. I'm afraid to rub it because the little growths at the base fall off easily.
Any and all help appreciated.
Oh and, these are my first Pleiones and not sure how to store them in the fridge.

No photo.

I've never grown them, so take the remainder with a salt grain. Something so small and easy to enclose into a plastic bag, and something that isn't stored dry.... I would probably put them into a jar with a solution of dish soap (sink, not dishwashing machine) 1 teaspoon / 5ml per quart / 1 liter. Shake them lightly in the jar to get water into all the crannies. Weight them down under the surface if necessary (I bet not) and let them sit like that for 4-6 hours. This should drown the mealy bugs. I often do it with new cacti I buy, almost all of which come with mealy bugs.

Then rinse well, let air dry and put into a new bag with new medium, then back into the refrigerator.

If you search you will find Pleione threads with detailed instructions. I read them in the past but don't recall who posted.

I can't see any photo nor a link to it. The treatment must be systemic, something imidacloprid based.

Imidacloprid is a contact poison as well as a systemic poison. You could use it now. You could also use other contact pesticides. Since the bulbs are dry, people who use diatomaceous earth would cousel that you could use that, too.

I would still do the soak I mentioned before.

I would sugest to clean the bulbs as far as you can go, before any treatment.

I don't know anything about Pleione - are the roots really dead?

If the bulbs came bug-infested from a vendor, you might do other people a favor mentioning it in the Vendor Feedback forum.

You should contact Braxtonds or try to get in touch with the one who runs this site.

The Pleione Website - The Pleione Website Homepage

I wintered mine over with pine shavings in a plastic bag (after drying them for a couple of weeks) and kept them in the fridge until I noticed new growth.