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This past summer, I acquired a lovely orchid plant. It was in flower,
so I placed it in the living room to be enjoyed. Several weeks later, I
noticed a few specks on its leaves. As a novice orchid grower, I was
horrified. I took out my glasses, then the magnifying glass. With each,
the problem intensified. I remembered reading how newly acquired plants
should be isolated from a collection, and felt lucky I had kept this one
on a table by itself.
I opened reference books to try and determine what I was faced with.
This plant is a phalaenopsis so I decided that it more than likely had
scale. I took out a Que-tip, dipped it in alcohol and proceeded to take on
the little critters one by one. Several hours passed. After repeating this
procedure every other day for three days, the scale was definitely
winning. It now looked as though it had been sprayed on the plant. I
decided it was time to turn to one of the volunteers listed in the "Need
Help Growing" section of our newsletter.
I spoke with Don Garling. He said there are two types of scale, the
soft scaled (one of the most common is the brown scale, Coccus hesperidum) and
the armored ones (the most notorious of these is the Boisduval scale,
Diaspis boisduvalii). The following treatment which Don recommended
really worked well for me and I would like to share it with you.
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Mix as follows:
1 quart of water
1 Tablespoon mineral oil
1 Teaspoon rubbing alcohol
2 Drops liquid dish soap
(Ivory recommended)
Spray plant thoroughly once a week for three weeks. This is good for
thick leaved plants (cattelya & phalaenopsis, etc.) For thin leaved
plants such as masdevallia or very valuable plants, use the same
formula but make it per/gallon instead of
per/quart.
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** This remedy will not work on mealy bugs, which are fuzzy white
specks with little tails. They need a systemic type remedy as they
also get on the roots.
** For Rots & Bacteria - sprinkle area with cinnamon.
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Ann Brunke
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