Mealybugs - Orchid Board

BillieG · #1 12-30-2018, 12:14 PM

Seems I have mealybugs in my orchids. I've been gone a lot these past few months, and haven't really been inspecting them, just watering, so instead of one orchid (I assume the new one I brought home from the orchid show and thought it was ok to put with others), most of them are infected. I had sprayed weekly with various insecticide sprays for 3 times and changed medium and pored systemic on the bark. Yesterday I noticed that there are STILL mealybugs and white fluff. Found new on the phals around the new buds. At least I think they are mealybugs due to the white fluff and one white bug.

So, I made a spray of soapy water and drenched all of them. I am about ready to toss them in the trash, as I am so tired of spraying and wiping and they are in my kitchen dining area in a window on a large bakers rack near my table which grosses me out.

So my question is now what do I do? If I've sprayed 4 times now with various insecticides and soapy water and changed the medium, what else do I do? Do I pour insecticide down into the bark? Soapy water? I am not changing the medium again. I threw the worst ones away, because they looked beyond recovery to me. I have never had a harder time getting rid of pests.

estación seca · #2 12-30-2018, 12:23 PM

Mealybugs and scale can look very similar, and are really hard to get rid of. Many have become resistant to a lot of pesticides. Are you sure these are new mealybugs or scale, or might they be dead ones?

Try inverting the plant in a bucket of soapy water to soak for a few hours. The bark floats up and will mostly remain in the pot.

BillieG · #3 12-30-2018, 12:38 PM

They were new from last week.

Nexogen · #4 12-30-2018, 01:30 PM

If you want to get rid of these creatures, you can use this site. Here you find everything you need.

Home Pest Control for Insects | Fire Ants, Roaches, Mosquitoes & More!

fishmom · #5 12-30-2018, 01:33 PM

They can be the very devil to control! I do find that Bayer 3-in-1 works for my plants. Imidacloprid is the systemic pesticide in it, among other ingredients. I do drench the pot of an infected plant, soak it when repotting, as well as periodic spray.

Ray · #6 12-30-2018, 01:56 PM

The idea behind rotation of pesticides is not necessarily to change at every application, but do so at each treatment, where a single treatment is typically three applications at one-week intervals.

Spraying alone won't do the trick, as they can populate the root system, as well.

When you treat, select one pesticide (imidicloprid and acephate are my "go-to's"), mix it to the concentration recommended for use on roses (unless, of course, you find one actually labeled for orchids), and wet every surface of the plants AND thoroughly drench the potting medium. That may actually take a couple of sequential pot refills to do right. Repeat that two more times at one-week intervals.

If you really want to be certain, switch to a different active ingredient, and do the same three week treatment.

rbarata · #7 12-30-2018, 02:56 PM

Take a look at this thread...that was my only battle, so far, against Mealybugs...My advise is Imidacloprid or its sucessor Thiacloprid.

Leafmite · #8 12-30-2018, 09:13 PM

My mealy bugs are resistant to pesticides (probably because of all the years spraying our fruit trees and using preventative rose systemic for the roses and a few of the houseplants) so I use Neem Oil. It takes a few rounds (and you must keep shaking the bottle to keep it mixed and spray heavily) but it gets rid of the scale and mealy bugs quite well.

I just had a little mealy bug uprising on the jasmine but, after three treatments with my Neem Oil, I am not seeing any. I will be spraying again this week and next, though, to be certain.

BillieG · #9 12-31-2018, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estación seca

Mealybugs and scale can look very similar, and are really hard to get rid of. Many have become resistant to a lot of pesticides. Are you sure these are new mealybugs or scale, or might they be dead ones?

Try inverting the plant in a bucket of soapy water to soak for a few hours. The bark floats up and will mostly remain in the pot.

How do I tell the difference between mealybugs and scale?
There is white fluff and I found a white live bug.

---------- Post added at 11:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 AM ----------

Bumping this as I added a photo. Please see original post as I can't figure out how to add phot to this post. Seriously NOT tech savy.

Thank you!!

fishmom · #10 12-31-2018, 12:50 PM

There are many resources on-line to help you identify pests and diseases. The American Orchid Society has information, and here is a link from another source, the St. Austine Orchid Society. Orchid Pests There are great pictures on this site, as well as articles on solutions.

I would say your first picture shows a mealybug.