Scale symptoms

[Sherry Rylander]

My Orchid and orange trees have the same symptoms. I noticed sticky clear sap on the orange trees and was told the problem was scales. So I checked the plants around them and noticed they all had sap, removed them all from the room and started treating them. But now I've found the sap on my orchid across the room on the counter. The only thing that could connect the two would be small gnats that fly around the soil. The orchid is doing wonderful and adds about four blooms every two weeks and has been blooming for about five months. I don't know how to treat it without setting it back. Any advice.

[E-Jag]

Yes, don't treat it - at least until you know what you're treating it for. The sap you've mentioned is called "happy sap" and is a perfectly normal - and innocuous - part of orchid culture. The gnats are harmless, though perhaps annoying. Acquaint yourself with scale (either here or Google) and if you see something on the orchid which you think may be scale, rub it with alcohol. If it goes away, it may be so take a closer look. If it doesn't go away, it likely isn't scale. Right now, just enjoy the blooms. And welcome to the 'geeks.

[Leafmite]

I clean the scale off my bay with cotton balls dipped in alcohol. With the citrus, you will have to clean both sides of the leaves and the stems. I do this cleaning every week until I don't see any more scale. The leaves of an orchid can be treated with alcohol but not the flowers. I have citrus, too, right next to the bay but the bay is the host of choice. I very rarely find any scale anywhere else and the bay gets ultra infested. If only I could use systemic on it. Good luck!

[Sherry Rylander]

Thanks for the advise guys, the orchid is doing great, still blooming like crazy. This is my first one because I never thought I could grow them. Are there easier varieties to grow or is mine just in the right place, pot and soil. I do nothing but it water it when it looks dry. I don't know terms yet but it actually has a new shoot??? Coming from the bottom.
I did treat the orange trees and they are free of scales.