They are difficult to get rid of, especially if you don't use pesticides (which I don't). I spray the entire plant with soapy water then I get out the Q-tips, dip them in diluted rubbing alcohol and go over the entire plant. Those little buggers like to hide, especially in hard to reach areas. It's a good idea to go over the plant with the Q-tips every few days because they will inevitably reappear. I also wash down the affected plants with a strong spraying with the hose often. If you have beneficial insects they really help keep them in check. You also want to make sure that they haven't spread to any plants nearby. Good luck. Karyn

It's a cottony maple scale, indeed, and for the last 2-3 years we have a severe infestation here in New England. Due to their life cycle they are very hard to get rid of completely. As far as I know (from my own experience) only Safari (Dinotefuran) if applied twice a year (at the right time) AND for two years on a row could give you complete freedom from the beast. Re: as far as hydrangeas concerns. If you cut them to the ground now then by the next year you'll have a nice healthy rejuvenated shrubs. P.S. Every leaf and branch from infected plants must be burned, not composted.

I was shocked at the reply I received from the nursery. How do you knowingly send out infested plants? I don't care that you think it's a mealy bug infestation instead of a scale. Does that make it any less of a problem? It certainly looks more like a soft scale than a mealy bug as there are no cottony masses and the bugs are also smooth. They are soft bodied but all the mealy bugs I've seen have been sort of fuzzy and I've dealt with soft scales before. They are so difficult to erradicate. I'm going to copy the response that I got from the nursery. Am I crazy or is this completely unacceptable? Karyn ****Dear Karyn: I'm so sorry!! Are you sure that it is scale and not mealybugs? I've never seen scale in my greenhouse, but I did have some mealybugs which I sprayed with a systemic a day or so before your plants shipped. They should be dead or dying in the next couple of days. I really think that the systemic will take them out although sometimes it takes a week or so to get the ones on the root. If it doesn't, please let me know! Best Wishes, ***************** I didn't post the name because I didn't want to publicly blast this nursery. I've bought from them before and never had anything like this happen.

@Kauaiguy, I second what Alexandra said. There is no way you've been taking care of orchids for so long and not become an expert. I certainly value your perspective and thank you for the advice. I am here to learn, after all. Speaking of which, I should probably stop claiming I've figured out what kind of buggers I have because I obviously haven't. If I sound too sure about things, it's only because I am trying -- and failing -- to be brief, not because I actually know what I am talking about. So here is my dilemma: I think I need to know what bugs I am dealing with so I can decide on the right intervention. But I don't have any actual bugs on the plant to identify -- the ones in the pics were in the humidity tray, not on the Phal, and they were found before the last repotting when I soaked the mix and the roots in Physan 20. Most instructions for any treatment I have seen include a step where you decide whether it's helping or whether the bugs have come back which I can't do as is. Would it be a good idea to get some sticky traps and place them around the plant to hopefully capture some culprits? The alternative would be to go in blind with some sort of nuclear option which scares me because my first priority is the health of the orchid. Oh, and I am dropping out of the see-my-garden arms race. I am just not worthy. Yet! :)