"Horticultural oil is your best ally in the battle against scale on orchids. Scale insects are drawn to the entire plant, so you will have to treat the roots as well. ... Take your orchids out of their pots and remove the bark growing media to expose the roots. Trim off any dead roots at this time. Prepare a 2 percent solution of the horticultural oil (this works out to about six tablespoons per gallon of water) and dunk each orchid, roots and all, in the oil solution for several minutes. Repot your orchids in moistened orchid bark.
You should treat all the orchids in your collection, even if you don't see outward signs of scale. Although scale insects may be much worse on some orchids, such as Phalaenopsis, than others, such as Paphiopedilum, few are truly immune to their ravages. However, the jewel orchid, Ludisia discolor, is quite pest resistant and is an easy orchid to grow indoors. Scott Aker is a horticulturist at the U.S. National Arboretum." URL : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022800550.html *********** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
