Multiple Pests

[scy]

10 days ago, I bought a cymbidium chen's ruby 'golden tiger.' It's a pretty massive plant (especially compared to my dens, phal and milt in 4" pots and smaller. When I first had it, I inspected it and didn't see any problems. It was a lush green, no dye back tips except for 1 or 2. The leaves had water spots and appeared "dusty" which I thought was from the shredded paper used in packing it. Now that a few weeks have passed, I noticed that this "dust" kept reappearing even after I patted it away after I first saw it. Also, there's been more die back tips and I killed a tiny spider hanging off the side of the pot. Today my fears were confirmed when I looked more closely - scale.

I need help in getting rid of these multiple pests! When I had scale on my den, I used a cotton ball moistened with rubbing alcohol and ran it throughout the leaves and stem, but as you can see, I don't really have a way of going through every single leaf. It's too big and thick to go through to the base. Also, the roots that are sticking out are dead - mushy. I don't know what the root conditions are underneath, because it's so tightly potted, that it would be a day project to unpot and then repot.

1st pic: Some brown bump that seems to be within the leaf. It wasn't there before, but my guess is it's a pest - can't be good!

2nd pic: overall photo of entire cym. I used a metal ring to keep the leaves upright so I can keep it by the windowsill. I had it somewhat isolated from the other orchids, but after finding pests, I quickly moved it back to the floor - far away from everything else.

3rd pic: white dot - think it's scale
4th pic: "dusty" stuff - now think it's mealybugs


What should I do? How can I get rid of these pests? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Call_Me_Bob]

i think your right. the one is definitely scale and the other looks like mealies, but i cant tell for sure. i would treat with neem oil . i just found scale on some of mine ill be treating with neem again.

[pedidiva]

Can you take the plant outside & spray it with rubbing alcohol, wait a day or 2 then do the Neem? If you don't mind insects--get some lacewings.

[Call_Me_Bob]

i hear you are supposed to treat ( if you go with neem ) once every 2 weeks, to get all the life stages

[scy]

Thanks for the help!

I can take the plant outside. I've never handled a large plant like this, so I should spray the whole thing with pure rubbing alcohol, then do the same with neem oil? I am afraid of insects (I know I picked the WRONG hobby!), so I will pass on lacewings.

How do I use neem oil? Does it need to be mixed with water or sprayed as is? Is neem oil sold at HomeDepot or Lowe's? I've never used it before.

pedidiva: do you know what the first pic is? it looks pretty disgusting.

Also, on a separate note, my father-in-law gave me 3 succulents potted in soil that contained fungus gnats. Now I have that problem to deal with too. I have most of my orchids potted in s/h. I killed about 4 adults (2 each day), but I'm sure it's probably eggs that were hatching somewhere. I already repotted 2 of 3. The problem is that each orchid has its own humidity tray and plenty of water in s/h pots (as well as algae for some). How can I get rid of these annoying things once and for all? Someone has suggested letting it go dry, but do I damage the orchids by withholding water while waiting for it to completely dry out? Is there anything else I can do?

[Call_Me_Bob]

you need to dilute it with water, but i dont remember the ratio. i think its like 1 tsp to 1 gallon, or something to the like. the first pic is a scale

[scy]

Originally Posted by help

you need to dilute it with water, but i dont remember the ratio. i think its like 1 tsp to 1 gallon, or something to the like. the first pic is a scale

Ugh... I thought scale was only white. It's pretty big in comparison to the tiny white dot in the 3rd pic. I just sprayed the whole plant down thoroughly with pure rubbing alcohol. I hope I wasn't supposed to dilute that. I don't have any neem oil and hope that I can find some locally.

[Call_Me_Bob]

the white looks like mealy bugs.... i got neem at a garden center. but it should be able to be found at HD

[silken]

It definitely looks like scale in the first picture. I have never had mealy bugs and know they are fuzzy. but so are the male scale bugs. Only the female has that hard round shell and the eggs are protected under there. They are VERY hard to eradicate and it usually takes regular treatment for weeks to get all the life cycles as the eggs hatch. They hide in crevices and under the dried bracts so you will have to be diligent and keep it isolated for quite a while. I was given a plant with it and thought I had gotten rid of it only to find it was back after a month of monitoring. I'm not trying to discourage you, just warn you. A systemic such as Merit works well if the less drastic ways don't work. But even the systemic needs to be applied for about 4 to 6 weeks.

[Call_Me_Bob]

never thought of the male scale.... maybe its just scale instead of scale and mealies. neem would take care of both though. if that doesnt work, i'd go with silken's advice and try the systemic