Phal orchid buds w/ mealies
Rebecca/N. IN/z6A
3 months ago
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Orchids and Mealy Bugs
Comments (16)Judy, the "white mold" you mention could very well be Boisduval scale, a hellishly difficult pest to get rid of. As another poster mentioned, pests are often attracted to "weaker" plants and when present in sufficient numbers, will outright kill a plant. Sounds like you have a combo of things and if your summer was anything like ours up here (cool and wet), that certainly contributed to it. My suggestion to you is to take the plants out of their pots and clean them thoroughly using a mild dish soap like Ivory and lukewarm water. Get rid of any dead roots or growths. Stand up in the pot and place a bit of damp sphag at the bottom around the roots. Now dip or spray them like crazy. Repeat every 7 to 10 days or as recommended on the product you'll use. Keep your plants in a bright and warm spot, with ok humidity and air circulation. Spray the sphag when it is dry. The advantage of leaving the plants more or less bareroot is that it is easier to see any returning bugs and to then treat them. You're also less likely to rot anything. Hope this helps. Julie...See MoreHelp with a gift Phal
Comments (16)Thank you Bob. I like the "crunchy" reference. It kind of fits in with the way I check on all my plants. Not meaning that I wait for them to get that way, it's just if you look for them to tell you what they need, they will, right? The limp leaf - I slid the whole thing out of the pot yesterday, and the moss was pretty dry all the way down, so I watered it really well, not in the pot but through the moss, let it sit till there was no more water dripping, then slid it back into the pot, and this afternoon when I got home from work, it has plumped up, not a lot, but noticeably more than it has since I brought it home. I donâÂÂt have wrinkles and the signs are good! Jane, this is also kudos to your advice, about the roots. I also have a different spot for it, and just need to move some stuff to make room. I understand the temperature needs, and IâÂÂm working on it. The one thing I wonâÂÂt have a problem doing, when the time comes, is getting the nighttime difference. New England is awesome at day/night swings! I know I could go find a nice, identified, healthy orchid hand-picked for my conditions. But there is something satisfying in bringing this neglected plant home and watching it respond! This is really nice watching it respond, and learning from people who know orchids....See MoreHelp! Phal flowers dropping after 3 days
Comments (9)If the new buds are opening and falling after only a few days,it can be humidity,phals like to be a little moist.but I am also wondering about the alcohol spray,did you also spray the unopen buds or the roots? Remember the roots acts like a sponge so if the roots were sprayed then it would absorb the alcohol. Not good.i think if you could post a pic so we could see the plant then someone could be of better help.velleta...See MoreWarning about hiding places of scale and mealies
Comments (13)They are sneaky critters. I purchased a phal a couple of months ago, did my usual bare root and repot into my mix and had a couple of mealies pop up a few days later. I used a systemic and started the hunting process with q-tips and alcohol, twice a day. Some days, no mealies, some days I'd find one, zap. I could see white coloration in the old bud scars, in the actual blooms so I used the q-tip method on all areas. I had not found any new mealies for a couple of weeks and was about to declare it mealie free. For the last week, there has been a tiny white spot just above one of the leaf bracts but it never changed. Last night, presto, stupid mealie crawling out, zap, dead. The eggs must be in the leaf bracts, waiting to hatch. Today I will spray insecticide into the bracts hoping to find more of the evil creatures. Brooke...See MoreRebecca/N. IN/z6A
3 months agoRebecca/N. IN/z6A
3 months agoRebecca/N. IN/z6A
3 months agolast modified: 3 months ago
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