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MollyBlooms Grosse Pointe Farms, MI Oct 20, 2016

... two mealybug/scale-infested orchids that I've had for years. Every year they go outside and the bugs seem to go away, only to reappear once they're in the warm confines of the greenhouse for the winter. Both are lovely plants (but with a lot of leaf damage from the bugs), but I can't seem to keep the bugs in bounds no matter what I do and every winter I end up battling scale, probably from these two plants, on my other orchids. Should I take a division of each and try to start again or just trash them entirely?

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Pott3r1 Boulder, CO Nov 13, 2016

Hello; I can give you good advice. Scale insects appear as hard-shelled, round, immobile, brown helmet-shaped objects that most often occur on the undersides of leaves and stems. Orchids are susceptible to several types. Brown, soft, and Boisduval scale. Severe infestations can cause leaf yellowing and stunt the plant.I treat light infestations with a swab dipped in 70% denatured alcohol. Control severe outbreaks by spraying with Insecticidal soap, Orthene, Malathion, or horticultural oil. Boisduval scale, most often a problem on cattleyas, is a severe and very contagious pest that may be difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate with available pesticides. The grower should "carefully" consider whether it is better to simply dump a badly infested plant rather than run the risk of having it infect the rest of the "collection". I hope this helps.

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