Ants on one of my cymbidium....

[Luvlyhnezh]

Yesterday morning I found ants on one of my cymbidium. So, I did the neem oil spray, waited but still had a lot. So, I tried Brookn's recipe. I did not know if it worked 'coz we had to leave. Got home late so was unable to check it out. Well, this morning, there were still some ants. So, I thought of combining Brookn's recipe(but only 5 drops of soap-too bubbly for me) with 10 drops of neem oil plus 1/4 c. alcohol. Guess what after an hour, I checked them out & they were all gone.Oh btw, when I was spraying I saw a few mealy bugs flying around & sprayed them, too. Then, to play safe, I also sprayed them on the orchids around. I finished the whole bottle. I checked this afternoon & no signs of any pests in site. Glad to be able to use a safe pesticide for my kids & pet. Thank you Brookn's for sharing your recipe.

[orchids4me]

Originally Posted by Luvlyhnezh

Yesterday morning I found ants on one of my cymbidium. So, I did the neem oil spray, waited but still had a lot. So, I tried Brookn's recipe. I did not know if it worked 'coz we had to leave. Got home late so was unable to check it out. Well, this morning, there were still some ants. So, I thought of combining Brookn's recipe(but only 5 drops of soap-too bubbly for me) with 10 drops of neem oil plus 1/4 c. alcohol. Guess what after an hour, I checked them out & they were all gone.Oh btw, when I was spraying I saw a few mealy bugs flying around & sprayed them, too. Then, to play safe, I also sprayed them on the orchids around. I finished the whole bottle. I checked this afternoon & no signs of any pests in site. Glad to be able to use a safe pesticide for my kids & pet. Thank you Brookn's for sharing your recipe.

Her recipe is great isn't it! I added alcohol 15 drops to it and blaset ans soaked a Paph with mealy bugs and still haven seen any still spritz it once a week.
Mealy bugs fly? I dint know this interesting.... I assumed they crawled. Now aphids thoses little buggers fly all over the place...
Did you re pot to rid of the ant eggs if nesting in the pot? The alcohol may have killed those but I'd re pot anyways.
Emmaye

[tansyflower]

The ants aren't that much of a problem (unless you particularly dislike them), but they do signal problems with other insects, such as mealies or aphids, which the ants "farm".

[Luvlyhnezh]

Hello, Emmaye - sorry am a newbie, did not know it was aphids that fly 'coz it was white so I thought it was mealy bugs. Glad to know the difference. As for repotting, I did not do that since I just repotted it a week ago. That's why I was surprised to see the ants & some aphids. There was none when I repotted it. I just bought it last week through Craigslist.

[Luvlyhnezh]

Hi Tansy... thanks for the info. I guess, thats why I have the ants because of the aphids. I actually don't like any pests including ants.
~Amy~

[Luvlyhnezh]

Ok... now my question is... do any of you think that I need to repot again just to be sure I got rid of the critters??? I probably just missed seeing them when I repotted it after I bought it. Should I soak it first in Physan 20 or Brookn's recipe. Come to think of it, I remember not soaking the roots to anything before transplanting it. I just rinsed it out with host water. It was my first biggest task since it's in a huge pot. My first big one.
~Amy~

[tansyflower]

That recipe of Brookn's should be ok to soak the pot in (I think). The soap is a wetting agent and makes the mixture stick to the plant.

[Luvlyhnezh]

Thanks Tansy. I will do that. Wish me luck. I sure hope I don't see any more critters...