Take a look at my cymbidiums

[rbarata]

The blooming season arrived.

If you notice, these have a lot of what is called here "cochonilha". After the blooms fell off, I must take care of it.

[bil]

We get that here. Cochinillia, which is devastating the prickly pears. I just spray with confidor, or more correctly its generic equivalent, the chemical is imacloporid, I think. Wonderful stuff, but you need to repeat after 2 weeks or there will be eggs that hatch out. I would be tempted to treat one plant now just to see if it does affect the blooms. I'd be surprised if it did.
It spreads like crazy, filthy stuff, as does large scale, which is just like it at that stage. They call that cochinilla here too.
I would give them a third threatment, and don't just spray the affected stuff. From the look of it that's an established colony, and there are lots of plants that harbour it. Citrus, bourgainvilla, some succulents and cactus, roses and other ornamental plants like Cala lillies.

We keep it down, but at the cost of a lot of chemicals. Half measures are no good as you can turn around and find you are swamped with it.

[charitysmama]

I just spray with confidor, or more correctly its generic equivalent, the chemical is imacloporid, I think. Wonderful stuff, but you need to repeat after 2 weeks or there will be eggs that hatch out. I would be tempted to treat one plant now just to see if it does affect the blooms. I'd be surprised if it did.
It spreads like crazy, filthy stuff, as does large scale, which is just like it at that stage. They call that cochinilla here too.


Thanks for the great advice. I have been battling them with malathion, an old bottle I brought with me when I moved to Oregon over 10 years ago. Which brings me to another question. Does anyone have trouble getting cybidiums to grow in Oregon? I didn't have trouble in Ca. It's good to know the critters fly thru the air, and are harbored by other plants. lh

[bil]

Originally Posted by charitysmama

Thanks for the great advice. I have been battling them with malathion, an old bottle I brought with me when I moved to Oregon over 10 years ago. Which brings me to another question. Does anyone have trouble getting cybidiums to grow in Oregon? I didn't have trouble in Ca. It's good to know the critters fly thru the air, and are harbored by other plants. lh

You should SEE the problems here in Southern Spain. For centuries, cochinilla and chumbera (prickly pear) have coexisted. Now tho something has changed, and cochinilla are spreading like a white plague. Now they smother the cactus and completely kill a big clump in 2-3 years.

I'm attaching two photos. One is cochinilla, the other is big scale, or cottony cushion scale. I have a suspicion that while people call it cochinilla, just as they do here, it is in fact scale. Have a look round and see if you can find any adult scale. The first stage are the tiny orange crawlers, then come the small white ones that look remarkably like yours, then the breeding adults that can grow a half centimetre long with ease.

If it is scale, don't hang about. Ants spread it and it is highly contagious, being spread off birds and on clothing.

The cochinilla are the ones on the cactus showing how they stain your finger.

You need to be careful with malathion and dursban=Chas48. Both can kill plants. Confidor tho is wonderful stuff, and I have used it indescriminately, and have never killed anything yet. Best yet, it makes the plant poisonous, and so all the bugs get killed, but as I say, I would use 3 doses all 2 weeks apart.

[rbarata]

Another recipe is made with coconut soap followed by a spray of emulsionable mineral oil. This form a microscopic layer over these bugs so that they can't breed, killing them by asphixiation. But this method seems to be a litle messy to me.

[bil]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Another recipe is made with coconut soap followed by a spray of emulsionable mineral oil. This form a microscopic layer over these bugs so that they can't breed, killing them by asphixiation. But this method seems to be a litle messy to me.

Yeah. Plus, it might not get eggs, or small ones tucked in a crevice.
In your shoes I would spray everythng green that might have them. At least, I'd suggest that you visually check everything in the garden, and spray an area all round each infected plant. Big scale is spread by ants I think, as the two are always closely associated.
The HUGE problem with cochinilla is that because they spread like spiders, by ballooning, the damn things just drop out of the air!

[charitysmama]

I brought my cymbidiums in from the green house after I sprayed and put them in front of my south facing sliding door. They are loving it, getting lots of new growth. I am excited, but now I probably have to fumigate the green house. lh

[bil]

Originally Posted by charitysmama

I brought my cymbidiums in from the green house after I sprayed and put them in front of my south facing sliding door. They are loving it, getting lots of new growth. I am excited, but now I probably have to fumigate the green house. lh

Do make sure that you keep a careful eye on them in case the problem comes back. Cushion scale is a swine for coming back from the dead more times than Dracula.

[charitysmama]

Originally Posted by bil

Do make sure that you keep a careful eye on them in case the problem comes back. Cushion scale is a swine for coming back from the dead more times than Dracula.

Thanks, Bil (is that short for Bill???, ), I will. How about a couple of more questions? I have an orchid that has a terminal spike, or at least it did until I cut it off yesterday. It has been doing great, and then started losing leaves. I dumped it out and there were some dead roots, but there are two new orchids growing out of the sides of the stock or stem. Should I try to separate all three, trying to give each some roots, or wait until the top is totally dead? At least, it looks like it is headed that way. Right now I have them in Ziploc vegetable bags (the ones with little slits in the bags) and am misting them each day.

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[bil]

Originally Posted by charitysmama

Thanks, Bil (is that short for Bill???, ), I will. How about a couple of more questions? I have an orchid that has a terminal spike, or at least it did until I cut it off yesterday. It has been doing great, and then started losing leaves. I dumped it out and there were some dead roots, but there are two new orchids growing out of the sides of the stock or stem. Should I try to separate all three, trying to give each some roots, or wait until the top is totally dead? At least, it looks like it is headed that way. Right now I have them in Ziploc vegetable bags (the ones with little slits in the bags) and am misting them each day.

Actually it is bil is short for Bill. (See Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison. 2 Ls, officers only.)

I haven't had a great deal of experience with Cymbs, so if anyone else can pitch in?

If I have a suffering remnant of an orchid, I don't personally like ziplocks. I plant them in the usual medium for that orchid and put a bit of sphagnum moss under it as a water reservoir, but not so much as to cause problems later on. When the roots start to grow, I pick out as much as I can. It works well on dens and catts, but I haven't tried it on Cymbs. However, I would try that if I had a bulb or two on their own. I mist them pretty often too.

My worry would be fungus, so I would hit it with an anti fungus spray. I like Mancozeb. It's a godsend.