Using alcohol as an insecticide on orchids
 

A big Hello to all you orchid growers!!! I am new to the website and new to orchid growing as well. My big question is spraying orchids with alcohol as a pest control. My eyesite is poor and it is difficult to see tiny bugs even with magnifying glass. Can I just routinely spray my orchids? If so how often? Do you coat the leaves or just the base of the plants? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Howdy, and welcome to the OB, Heather!

I personally don't know about a regular, preventative application of rubbing alcohol. I have, however, successfully used a recipe of rubbing alcohol, Ivory dish soap, and warm water in a spray bottle to battle some false spider mites and mealybugs.

While you wait for others' responses, try this link to a past thread: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...adication.html

:goodluck:

To get rid of pests, I use a 50/50 mix of alcohol and 409 Cleaner but I don't think it would be a good idea to use it as a preventative spray.

Add a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid to some water in a sprayer and use that. A good thing to have available to see the tiny little annoying pests we sometimes encounter is a magnifying glass, it comes in very handy ;)

hi Heather! welcome:)

I haven't tried alcohol to control/rid of pests but I have read through the forums about its use.

Do you still use listerine?

Yes, the Listerine is more of an antiseptic. I use the above mix for bugs

Hello Heather and welcome to Orchid Board :) I've never used alcohol on my 'chids, so can't give any input there. I use Safer's Soap when I do notice buggies, but I don't really have a preventative that I use regularly. I just try to keep things clean and give everyone a good inspection about weekly.

Welcome aboard!

I'm a little unorthodox in my orchid care if you compare me to most others, and novice to boot, but I do use alcohol just not as a stand alone product.

I found a formula using it and I've had success with it. In a pint spray bottle I put about 10 - 15 drops of dish soap, about a 1/4 cup of alcohol and about 1 table spoon of cinnamon extract. If you can't find the extract then I use cinnamon powder*, Fill the rest of the spray bottle with water.

There are many variation of this formula around, this is the one I use and it doesn't have to be so exact.

*If you use the cinnamon powder, make sure you keep it shaken so you do not clog the sprayer. I also try to keep the spray to a minimum from any roots, I read that cinnamon acts as a drying agent, but it burns the bugs mouths and they leave your plant/s.