Good show ol' chap!

However...the eggs will most likely not be affected by the poison. Maybe the systemic nature will work in your favor for any hatchlings. But I would get some rubbing alcohol, screw a pump sprayer onto it, and spray the holy hell outta those plants. Drench leaf, root, and stem. Repeat a week or so later and periodically thereafter. Good luck!
-MB

You can spray orchids with rubbing alcohol? That will not hurt them? Can you spray other plants with rubbing alcohol?

I would be careful spraying an orchid with alcohol. If you do then be sure to rinse it well afterward with warm water. The alcohol basically freezes the plant in the process of getting rid of any bugs. I have a very badly damaged paph that it is probably on its last legs due to my spraying with alcohol...I found out later that I should have rinsed in warm water. I would just repeat the systemic treatment a few times with about 10 days in between.

Larissa

To answer birdboy's question about using rubbing alcohol on other plants. In my experience, using rubbing alcohol on other plants works very well, but as Larissa said, you may need to have a bottle of warm water standing by to help remove the excess alcohol after your cleaning. This is especially true of any plant with tender leaves. I have several varieties of bamboo in my balcony garden along with a couple different gingers, horsetail reeds, & various carnivorous plants (I am literally making an urban jungle! Now all I need is a miniature tiger & a few parrots!) So as you can imagine every plant has different types of leaves that make them tolerant to different types of treatments. The bamboos & thicker/ tougher leaved plants are easy; I just spray, wipe & forget. The gingers & carnivorous plants with their tender leaves demand that I spray them clean after removing parasites or they will repay my cleanings with yellow, withered leaves. F.W.I.W. I prefer us rubbing alcohol as my organic pesticide on my orchids & other plants. I have found the soaps can leave a residue & here in South Florida (where today it was in the mid 80's) that residue can cause nasty damage to the plants if left on the leaves during hot sunny days (even the tough bamboo leaves can be badly damaged).

To my new favorite person Greentherapy... I do not like using systemic unless necessary. Recently I had a nasty infestation of mealy bug & scale that made the use of a systemic necessary. I experienced the same whirlwind of rash decision making in which I took the morning of from work & doused the hell out of my "children" all the while laughing like a mad scientist as the little mealy bugs begin to shrivel & the scale fell away! It was one of the most satisfying feelings I have had in quite sometime! Fortunately there were not any casualties (other than those dirty stinkin' bugs!) from my tinsy rampage.

-Ray-

Er...the alcohol does NOT freeze the plant. It does evaporate quickly which DOES have a cooling effect. It *could* cause damage if the ambient temps were very low at the time or if the plant was VERY sensitive. But you're going to have a lot more damage from bugs than you will from the alcohol. Not to mention the strong possibility of the bugs transmitting or allowing virus and/or bacteria to get in by piercing the plant tissues. I would not worry about the chilling effect at all if the ambient temp is above the mid 60s or so. The best thing about alcohol is that, unlike most if not all systemics, it is effective against mites. Plus it is cheap.

Oh, one other thing, alcohol has limited if any phytotoxicity unlike certain systemics. I sprayed my entire collection about a month or so ago and noticed zero damage on any plant of any genus. However when I sprayed earlier in the year with malathion, i had three or four plants with damaged leaves and one of them died.

I have used alcohol before, it was odd but it seemed to work very very effectively on some plants and almost not at all on others, even though they were in the same growing conditions, even right next to each other, and I drenched them all.

Ray- Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has lost a bit of sanity when it comes to the health of my kids.
It's funny, like I had said I have a very demanding job, I'm 26 and am the GM of a very successful restaurant. I recently decided to step down and serve once again cause I felt my quality of life had diminished severely. The orchids were the main catalyst for that, I once took pride in my collection now I look at it and shudder, dead leaves, black holes in leaves, shriveled bulbs, accordian leaves, flowering stalks that are twisted. Not Good.

I will repeat the process in a week or two to make sure I get them all.

You might consider spraying the plants with a mixture of equal parts of alcohol, water, and Formula 409 at seven day intervals, three times.

I still can't believe you can use bastards in a thread and it didn't get pulled....

I'll have to agree with MrB. I've used 70% isopropyl alcohol on orchids - many different genus - for a number of years as a contact pesticide. The only trouble I've ever experienced is with stunting of actively growing root tips ... and I'm still not certain it was the alcohol. I've also killed some live moss on a few mounts with alcohol - not sure why it's susceptible while the main plant is not. All things considered, I've had better results with alcohol than I have with any other pesticide, but then my collection's pretty small (couple of hundred plants). Alcohol would probably be unmanageable on a large scale.

"I still can't believe you can use b------s in a thread and it didn't get pulled...."

jane, the word isn't vulgar or slang; check your dictionaries. I do not choose to use it inappropriately.

--Stitz--

I've discovered something that I wanted to share with you. I have previously used a concoction of dish soap (Ivory), neem oil and water with much success. Recently I discovered Orange Guard. It was recommended in one of my orchid books as being good for just about everything and all natural made from orange peel oil. I tracked it down locally and gave it a try. It is, in my opinion, the very best option for insect control. It smells like fresh oranges and gives the leaves a natural shine. I'm thinking of making my own brew using some orange oil from the heath food store when I've used all of this I've bought. The Orange Guard is very inexpensive at $8 for a 32 ounce bottle at a local hardware store.

Just something to ponder and add to your list of options. In my experience the alcohol and insecticidal soaps and neem oil work great too but the orange oil smells wonderful and makes the plants glow.

My two cents,

Erica

hello, Erica, that is very interesting about the orange guard. did you mix it with water and drop of soap as one would with neem oil? thanks
sue

Be careful with Orange Guard. I have used it 'around plants' but spraying directly will burn the leaves. It wasn't developed for that use. It is used to repel ants, roaches, etc by spraying around doorways and walls. I have used it both inside and outside the house.

Blc sprayed with Orange Guard (by accident)

{{gwi:145025}}

I bought the Orange Guard in the spray bottle that was pre-mixed at 1/4 strength.

Sue, I have yet to make my own concoction but I would dilute it one part pure orange peel oil to four parts water with a dash of Ivory dish liqud into a spray bottle and shake it up.

I'm curious Jane, did you use the Orange Guard that wasn't pre-mixed (the kind sold without the sprayer) or did the pre-mixed solution do that to your orchid? Thanks for sharing your experience, I will watch my collection carefully. I sprayed them all about 5 days ago covering them in the diluted solution.

Erica

Hello, Erica, and Jane, thanks for sharing the info and experience. Funny that the orchid book would recommend it if it would do that to Jane's plant. has anyone tried the orange soap which is sold for washing hands? or the orange oil furniture polish? there is also almond oil furniture polish, too, I believe. I have tried murphy's oil (furniture polish) on a citrus plant and it worked really well in getting rid of scales.
sue

I think the problem is due to the oil. I've used other oils on my plants (neem) and am always careful about keeping them shaded until dry. This spray stays oily. The plant was shaded for a few days and moved back into the sun. This showed up about 2 weeks later. I didn't notice it right away. All my thick leaf plants were affected. All my dens had the same burns and some new growths were killed.

I would strongly suggest you not use this on the plant directly. I used the premixed in the spray bottle. Loved the smell and had used it to repel ants around the plants outside with success. But spraying it on the plants directly burns. I have never used a product which cause such damage to my plants.

Jane

I just want to add, I didn't see any damage to the leaves on the thin-leaf plants. I believe it is because the Catts and dens have their leaves facing the sunlight. Just a guess...

Jane