Systemic for Brown Scale?

[Wynn Dee13]

I wouldn't use it monthly either for a preventive. The same insecticide that kills bad bugs also kills the beneficial bugs. The main ingredient in the Bonide, Merit, and Bayer 3 in 1 is Imidacloprid which is thought to contribute to the honeybee colony calapse disorder. If you look it up on google it also says using a lot of Imidacloprid can cause spider mites to attack your plants after using it because it kills off beneficial bugs that eat spider mites. The information about spider mites was not specifically about orchids since most of the labels don't mention orchids specifically but it was mentioned for plants grown outside.

I'm only using this because I have a scale infestation and rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip are not cutting it. This will be the first time I have ever used a pecticide. I have been using a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol for a long time and I am going to keep using that method on the ones I can see. My collection is just too big to use the alcohol alone at this stage.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Wynn Dee13

I wouldn't use it monthly either for a preventive. The same insecticide that kills bad bugs also kills the beneficial bugs. The main ingredient in the Bonide, Merit, and Bayer 3 in 1 is Imidacloprid which is thought to contribute to the honeybee colony calapse disorder. If you look it up on google it also says using a lot of Imidacloprid can cause spider mites to attack your plants after using it because it kills off beneficial bugs that eat spider mites. The information about spider mites was not specifically about orchids since most of the labels don't mention orchids specifically but it was mentioned for plants grown outside.

I agree. I use it with caution, but sometimes you need the big guns to deal with an infestation. I had read to apply it weekly for 4 to 6 weeks so I did and that is when I got abnormal blooming on my plant. I apply it once and use Malathion as a contact killer while I wait for the systemic to get up into the plant. Never saw scale again after using it.

[Wynn Dee13]

Originally Posted by silken

I agree. I use it with caution, but sometimes you need the big guns to deal with an infestation. I had read to apply it weekly for 4 to 6 weeks so I did and that is when I got abnormal blooming on my plant. I apply it once and use Malathion as a contact killer while I wait for the systemic to get up into the plant. Never saw scale again after using it.

I'm glad it worked well for you! It gives me hope it will work for me. Did you fertilize while using the Imidacloprid? I wasn't sure if the two should be mixed. I guess it should be okay since Bayer 3 in 1 contains fertilizer but I'm still curious to know if you used fertilizer.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Wynn Dee13

I'm glad it worked well for you! It gives me hope it will work for me. Did you fertilize while using the Imidacloprid? I wasn't sure if the two should be mixed. I guess it should be okay since Bayer 3 in 1 contains fertilizer but I'm still curious to know if you used fertilizer.

I don't remember for sure as it was 2 years ago, but I am pretty sure I must have. I would have just watered with the rest over that 6 weeks and it would usually include fertilizer-most often MSU.