SOS mealy bug

Dear All
We grow orchids and insectivorous plants (amongst others). At the start of last year we started having issues with mealy bug on some of the orchids. We believe that they came in on an orchid we had purchased from an orchid nursery. This then spread to the insectivorous plants which are in a totally different area of our home.
We have tried all the sprays that say they kill mealy bug....but they don't.
Do any of you have any suggestions on how we can eradicate mealy bug? It is getting so bad we are thinking of ditching all our plants. Really don't want to do that as many have a story behind them.

 

Asume you are talking about the Mealybugs that are one the top of the plants rahter than the Root Mealybugs.

For the ones on the leaves of our mainly Phalenopsis Orchids we use cotton buds dipped in methylated spirits and it kills them instantly without harming the plant.
The bugs hide down in the leaf joints so you have to look out for them re-emerging or if you know they are down there, just let a bit of meths run down the joint.

Never had instectivorous plants so no idea if meths is safe on them though using a sewing type of needle to pick them off may work .

 

I have problems with mealy bugs from time to time, I think unless you dump all your existing plants you are not going to entirely eradicate them.
I've used the meths method for years but recently I had some streptocarpus that were badly infected.
I watered them once with this vineweevil killer and it seems to have worked.

Of course you would need to try it on the plants in question before going too far.

 

+1 for the vine weevil killer.
I use it on my cacti and succulents when there is the odd mealy bug infestation
It works well

 

@ricky101, @pete, @Sirius Thank you for your replies. Yes we have tried and tried the meths but getting down into the nodes is obviously where the next lot are waiting and so difficult to get to.
Will try to buy the Bug Clear and have a go with that.

 

Just be wary, never tried it on orchids or insect eaters.

 

I also used meths, but I let it drip down into the nodes. I sometimes think a bucket of it so you could dip the whole plant would be better!

 

@CarolineL Not sure that the insectivorous plants would cope with a bucket dunking. It is so annoying that after 40 years of growing these plants it is only in the last 2 years that we have had this problem.

 

I have never had mealy bugs on insectiverous plants, cacti yes, badly affected ones spend the winters in the cold greenhouse on a separate shelf to the big cacti out there because they're too big for the windowsills.
For indoor plants I manually remove them and may also stand them on the decking over the summer.
I have used an insecticidal soap with some success, does need repeated spraying.
If your plants are in a greenhouse then maybe try the RGS recommendation of biological control, see below:
A ladybird, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, can be released into greenhouses to control mealybugs. Note that the ladybird's larvae look like large mealybugs! Both the adult ladybirds and their larvae are able to find and eat mealybugs and their eggs in confined spaces on the plants. Parasitic wasps (Leptomastix spp., Leptomastidea spp. and Anagrus spp.) are also sometimes available for use against these insects. The parasitic wasps can give control of mealybug populations where population levels are fairly low.

 

@On the Levels , we wonder how many Insectiverous and Orchid plants you have and what type of Orchids are they ?

We used to be troubled with MB but they were mainly from rescue Orchid plants which were easily treated with a couple of treatment of Meths and never caused a large infestation of the whole greenhouse.

Could your problems be caused by something common like potting medium or substrate if you use any, eg clay pellets ?

Though we do use that Bug Clear Ultra Vine Weevil in the greenhouse have never used it on the Orchids, plus its a very strong solution intended as a root drench, unlike the Bug Clear Ultra hand spray Gun which is the same chemical but 100 times weaker.

An alternative to such chemical controls you could try SB Plant Invigorator which we have just been using successfully with daily sprays to control red spider mite on the toms.
Would think that would at least reduce their desire to stay on your plants if it does not kill them.

Suggest you to test either out before using it on all your plants, even the SB Ingigorator might affect your Insectiverous plants.

 

We bought the bug clear and only wanting to try with one plant made the calculations and duly sprayed that plant. It is now moved away from the others...but then mealybugs do fly! Instructions say only do 2 treatments in a year. Hope that we find our experiment works.

 

Only the males fly and then not very well, the young walk.

 

Try neem oil, insecticidal soap, or rubbing alcohol to kill mealybugs. Also, isolate infected plants, improve air circulation, and manually remove mealybugs. Good luck!

 

Cryptolaemus IMHO seem not to be that good. When I worked at the botanic gardens, one of my tasks was to distribute the regular supply of them amongst the plants. They look VERY like mealy but they move quite fast. However they didn't seem to get rid of enough mealy, and need warmth.