Washing plants

[stitches201]

It's me again, a newbie question. I just wrote down the stuff to give my orchids a bath. I saw some mealys and possible mites. Now how do I go about washing. do I dip??? do I take a cloth and wipe the leaves down?? Please help, and thank you in advance. stitches201

[articuno75]

Dip your orchids, pot and all. I use a spray bottle to spray the leaves. Let the plant set for a few (15-20 minutes or so) then rinse well. Retreat within a week as preventative.

You can just use the spray as an insecticidal soap. It won't harm the plants

[Brooke]

What type of orchid are you washing? For orchids with pbulbs and "tough" foliage like catts and dens, I use a soft toothbrush to scrub them. It helps remove eggs we cannot see and lowers the chance of reinfestation.

Good luck with eliminating mealy eggs - I think mealies are the toughest pest to remove since they lay their eggs in every nook and cranny of the plant and can hatch out for months.

Brooke

[katrina]

Mealies...YUK!!!! They are a tough one for sure BUT if you start working on it early...stay consistent in the treatments you can overcome. I did.

Tip w/mealies....actually all insects but especially mealies since they are such sneaky little buggers....even when you think they are gone...continue to treat for at least 2 weeks because of the eggs.

IMO...you can't just treat the leaves because even one mealy could've already laid a bunch of eggs and they can do that (like Brooke said) in any little nook or cranny...including down in the medium. So, treat the top and soak the plant, pot and all, like Jenny said.

14 days is the usual incubation time on eggs...keep doing the soaking and top treatments for at least 2 weeks after last visible sign and that should cover you on any new ones that might be hatching out.

Also...if you've had any plants sitting right next to the infested one...treat it (or them) too. This was my mistake...I didn't treat the neighboring plants and my infestation jumped from one to the next and before I knew it BOOM they were on about 15-20 plants.

[jerrymeola]

Mealies are easy rid if you understand their life cycle. They live only 3 days so there is a constant supply of eggs under the papery covering of the pseudo bulbs and in the medium.

You must treat mealies (and thrips) 4 times in a week to break the life cycle and rid the plant of all the eggs. Anything less will not work.

Katerina you are waiting to long when you think there is a 14 day incubation - it is 3 days.

[grandmapenguin]

Question? Would I get mealys on my Chids if they are clean now and I have them indoors? Remember I am a Newbie?
I have a Cymbidium outdoors that weill have to be coming indoors soon. What should I do to it?
Thanks in Advance

Terry

[kmarch]

If your orchids are mealie-free and indoors, I think there's little chance they'll get mealies unless you get a new orchid that has them and introduce that plant to your collection. Fortunately they are softbodied and vulnerable critters and fairly easy to get rid of with a few applications of insecticidal soap.

[grandmapenguin]

Just finished my first wash-down of 10 Chids. I got to see my first mealie (won't even capitilize his name) today. Gave that sucker and any others around a bath with Safer's. I don't know what I would do without this Forum.
You are the best.
Also thank you Kida for the phone help. I must have gotten one of those "PRIZES" when I got two new plants.
Another lesson learned. Thank you all for the other readings on Diseases and Pests.
Terry

[katrina]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

Mealies are easy rid if you understand their life cycle. They live only 3 days so there is a constant supply of eggs under the papery covering of the pseudo bulbs and in the medium.

You must treat mealies (and thrips) 4 times in a week to break the life cycle and rid the plant of all the eggs. Anything less will not work.

Katerina you are waiting to long when you think there is a 14 day incubation - it is 3 days.

Are you sure Jerry? As I recall...the information I came across stated 14 days for incubation. Course of action was also described as...time the applications/treatments every 6-7 days during infestation. And, to continue treating for 2 weeks after last visible sign in order to get any unhatched eggs.
I admit it took awhile to get mine under control but once I realized I should be treating the adjacent plants too...I found I was able to eradicate the little buggers. Also...I was researching based on using natural solutions....do you think that could affect the timing?

Is it possible there are varying incubation times based on climate/temp? Meaning longer times for winter in OH vs summer in warmer climate?

I'm admittedly a mealy newbie since last year was my first infestation but I was able to finally eradicate them using the information I found and used.

[grandmapenguin]

When I immersed the pots in the Safer's solution how long should I let them sit? Also I ran some lukewarm tap water over the pot when I brought it out of the solution.
I put all the gravel in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes to sterilize it. I am now running a small fan in the area to give them some air movement to dry. Do I sound like I know what I am doing? LOL

[NicC]

grandmapenquin
I submit that 15 minutes at 350 is probably the short limit for tough fungal spores. Also, at 350 some types of gravel will pop like popcorn.
If you are turning the oven on just to sterilize gravel, media, LECA I suggest about 250 for about an hour.
Medical autoclaves run about 500 for 30 minutes more or less. Some bugs are just harder to kill than we would like.
Nick

[Sassismom]

Wow what a lot of good information on mealies. I have to admit I've been battling them for quite some time now, but since getting the cinnamon extract recipe, I seem to be winning the battle against the little varments.

[stitches201]

I just came from GMC vitamin shop and tried grocery stores and can't find the extract.. Powder but no liquid. Where did you get yours.?????????
Thanks in advance Elaine

[shiningrock]

I got mine at Walmart in the spice aisle.

[kid a]

I found mine at a Super Walmart in the spice aisle near the baking stuff right next the vanilla extract. The didn't have it anywhere else I looked and for some silly reason Super Walarmt was like the last place left to look and there it was! I did some hunting too to find it, lol! Good luck, let us know if they don't have it. ALso if you can't find i wouldn't recomend getting it from a health or holistic store because you get way less quantity for almost three times the price of one bottle.

[brookn]

What you can get at the health/holistic store is the pure cinnamon oil. It would only take a few drops of this for the recipe. Cinnamon extract is cinnamon oil, and alcohol so the cinnamon is diluted quite a bit.

[salaite]

What is the cinnamon recipe? I'm desperate, my masdie is now covered with those beasts

[glossterline]

I have never found mealy bugs easy to control on any plant. They begin life as an egg, pass through several larval stages, and eventually become adult when females begin to lay eggs. In some species there are only females; they are parthenogenetic (like many types of aphids). Their waxy covering is resistant to contact insecticides, and consequently, the most effective pesticides are systemic - they are absorbed by the plants and sucked up by the bugs. In the UK, insecticides based on the active ingredient IMIDACLOPRID are commonly used. I don't know if you can buy it in the USA or elsewhere. But it has to be used a number of times so that it catches the larvae that keep hatching from the eggs.
Most female mealy bugs cannot fly and do not crawl far. Contamination is invariably from another infected plant placed nearby.

Les

[salaite]

I went on hols for 3 weeks. Carefully put all my orchids in a tub on a gravel with some water. Then asked my neighbors to spray them from time to time. But goodness me what I found when I came back!!!!! My masdie had mealy bugs. Then other orchids had some another kind beast that I couldn't identify. Now after a while of my TLC to them mealy seems to be gone as I was checking bugs and eggs every single day. I could not get cinnamon extract anywhere though. Is it possible the mealy is gone, as I can't find it now for a while?
Now about that other beast: it looks like grasshopper just a very small one. Attacks only young leaves leaving white marks on it. I managed to catch all of those too, but what are these white marks, I hope it's not some kind of virus? Does anyone know anything about them?

[glossterline]

Long-range identification of insects is not easy, particularly without any photo to go by. If the insects jumped (like a grasshopper?), they might have been froghoppers of some sort. These also suck plant juices and many leave marks where they have been feeding. If you treat the plants with a systemic insectide (a couple of timed treatments) you can control most of these plant-sucking bugs.

Les

[11Orchid126]

Bear one thing in mind. I swear, mealies are born pregnant.