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Mealybugs on Orchids: 6 Methods to Eliminate Them for Good
43K views
Oct 3, 2024
What’s the white stuff on my orchid leaves? Mealybugs look like white fuzz, elaborate cotton candy, or the result of a drunk spider trying to make its web. Mealybugs are white insects 1/16 to 1/10 of an inch big (0.2 cm) that chew away at orchid tenders, concentrating on younger growths: any new roots, leaves, sheaths, and new buds. The younger the sprout on your orchid, the more hydrated the cells are, rich with minerals and nutrients. This is extremely attractive to mealybugs, and other insects and pests as well. What is a mealybug? A mealybug is an orchid hazard. There's no other way to put it. Its body is actually pink, not white. The impression that it’s white is because it’s coated in white, fuzz-like cotton all over its body. Wherever it goes, it leaves a sappy wax, which attracts ants. Of the six methods cited in the video, I can give to links to 4. You can check the price by clicking them. There are affiliate links, which I explain below. -70% Isoprophyl Alcohol ( https://amzn.to/2RuVFJV ) -Neem Oil ( https://amzn.to/3w4DPfO ) -Diatomaceous Earth ( https://amzn.to/3geWBdZ ) -Lady Bugs ( https://amzn.to/3pu7EEc ) If you want the full explanation of this video in writing, go to https://orchideria.com/mealybugs-on-orchids/
View Video Transcript
0:00
Mealybugs is something that we almost always will encounter when we have orchids at home
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Hi, I'm Amanda Matthews, and thank you for watching this video at Orcadaria
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where I teach you how to cultivate your orchids indoors, since my growing conditions outside aren't the best for orchids
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Now, what are mealy bugs? They're kind of like cotton candy or kind of like a drunk spider who really didn't know how
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to build a web right and they are extremely tiny first we think they're white but they're
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actually not white they're pink but they have this white fuzz on them so we when we see them since
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they're so small they're only like one 16th of an inch to one tenth of an inch or 0.2 centimeters big so i mean
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that's really tiny so we we might not see them but we will see like this web or this cotton candy
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that is around the leaves and what they do is they just
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chew on the orchid leaf itself. That's why they are so dangerous. It's not like fungus gnats
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which will come and we'll bat off and probably a sign that we need to repot. But mealy bugs actually
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chew on the orchid leaf and they'll chew on the most tender parts. So if your orchid has a new growth
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a spike in formation, that's where they're going to want to go. So really look at that new leaf
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the new spike that's emerging in, even new root. There are several different species and
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subspecies of mealybugs, but our objective here is to eliminate them all. So it really doesn't matter
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to classify them. We're going to get rid of them. So in this video, I'm going to give you six
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methods to eliminate them because we all live in different parts of the world. And some of these
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methods I am going to cite are not available to you. So I'm going to list six, find the method that works for
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you. Before I get into the methods, let me just go into a little bit of what is the mealy bug itself
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Now, mealy bugs do not exactly like to fly, but they do meander around. They do not like to
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stay on one orchid. So they will start on one orchid and then they'll just walk across to the
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next orchid and then walk across to the next one. The main orchid they like is the phalanopsis
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So if you have a phalanopsis, it will probably attack the mealy bugs will probably attack it first
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but they have this wanderlust in life. They don't like to stay in one spot
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So they'll move across your entire orchid collection. Now the male mealy bug is different from the female mealy bug
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The male mealy bug will have wings. So it can, I wouldn't say fly to the orchid next to it
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but it can transfer from orchid pot to orchid pot. So if you have mealy bugs, push them away
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They can't fly long distances, but they do get around. Now, the purgid
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Purpose, sadly, for the male, is only for reproduction. So it's actually the females that will destroy the orchid
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What's wrong with the mealy bug, well, just one isn't that bad
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But the mealy bugs, when they lay eggs, she can lay around 600 eggs
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So that's the problem. It's not just one mealy bug, it's because when they come, they come in numbers
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Our main objective here is to eliminate the female melebug. mealybug. Another thing is when you first see that sign of a mealybug on your pot, which is like this
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drunken spider web type thing you need to remove that orchid from the entire collection The young mealybug since they are so tiny they are windborn So yes they will transfer from pot to pot So get this orchid out of your collection move it to the
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furthest window that is possible and keep it there until the treatment is over. Now, remember
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they lay 600 eggs at a time. So that means that treatment will be continual. You have to
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apply a method, wait a few weeks, and apply it. it again and wait a few weeks and apply it again until you actually remove all these mealy
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bugs if you pot in bark orchid bark then mealy bugs are a higher probability to be found inside the
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potting media because mealy bugs love nitrogen and orchid bark has a lot of it whatever you do
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whatever method you have the first thing you will do is repot get this orchid clean it out remove all of
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its potting media, get rid of it, throw it away, do not reuse that potting media because these
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eggs will hide in there and they are extremely hard to get rid of. So you can't bake them, soak them
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fry them, put them under a heat treatment that doesn't work. Just get rid of that potting media
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and start anew. So method number one is alcohol, 70% alcohol, that same rubbing alcohol that you
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have inside your home to clean utensils or to throw on a barbecue, that same alcohol you can use
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to wipe the orchid leaf. Now, your orchid leaf will not like this, but I guarantee you that
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it will like mealy bugs a lot less. So this is a manual method even though you are using alcohol
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because you're going to get a small cotton ball or cotton swab and you're going to manually remove them
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from the top of the leaf. This will not kill the mealy bug. It will not kill the young eggs that will
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fly on our airborne. So remember, if you use this method, you will have to repeat it often. And when you
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wipe, wipe the top of the leaf. And remember, the bottom of the leaf is extremely sensitive. So if you're
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wiping the bottom of the leaf, do not wipe the entire leaf. You'll use it as a spot method. Like here's a
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Mealybug, here's a spider web, I'll get rid of this colony here, and here's another one
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So do not take it and wipe from one end to the other. The second method, if you do not have alcohol at home, you can use soap and water
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You will dilute the soap like you have a liquid detergent soap at home you wash your dishes with
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It's going to be a stronger dilution because you're going to have three cups of soap with one cup of water
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Dilute that down. Another option if you do not want to use dish detergent is you can use baby shampoo
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You will mix the baby shampoo and this you do not have to dilute it as much because it's already diluted for the baby
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And that soapy substance will easily take off those mealy bugs. But you have to reapply it a lot
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A good thing about the baby shampoo and the dish detergent is you can take the orchid pot and dunk it
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The soap will actually kill the meat. mealy bugs and alcohol does not. But if you want to make a more powerful solution, you can add
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alcohol to the soapy dish detergent. And that just makes it stronger. And why would you want to do
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this if alcohol doesn kill the mealy bugs Well see mealy bugs they create this web and that waxy web keeps them safe It like a dome of protection around them So the alcohol is going to come in and break those bonds and remove that waxy protection that keeps them safe
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So the dish detergent can then come in and kill them. That's what we're aiming at here
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The third solution is what we call neem oil. Now, neem oil stinks to high heaven and or the other way
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It's available in most countries. It's usually under $10. It depends on how much you are going to use
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It is extremely efficient, but I warn you, it does have a strong smell
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So if you're going to use neem oil, take your orchid outside. Now, here's the thing about neem oil
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Does it kill mealy bugs? No. And you might be wondering, well, why am I saying to use neem oil if it doesn't kill mealy bugs
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See, knee oil doesn't kill the mealy bugs, but it interacts with their hormones so they can
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reproduce. Remember the female's going to lay 600 eggs, not with neem oil because now she
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cannot lay eggs. So once she dies, the population is gone. Your colony has been eradicated forever
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until the next mealie bud comes along. So neem oil is going to interact with their hormones
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It might take a while to get this done, but it does do the job. You will need to reapply
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knee oil after seven days since the first time you used it. And again, take it outside, this stuff
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really stinks. If you do not have aphids right now, you might go ahead and get knee oil because it is
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also good against spider mites and affids. The fourth way to eliminate mealy bugs and this one is
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harsh. If you have pets in your home, this might not be the best option. If you have small children
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if, you know, just act, act accordingly. It's called diatomaceous earth. Now, diatomaceous earth does say on the bag that it is safe if you have household pets
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I mean, I won't go against them and say, yeah, I killed my dog
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No, it doesn't do that. But what actually happens, let me explain it and you can draw your own conclusions
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why I don't use it inside at least. So Diatomaceous Earth is actually a fossil dust
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It's beaten down to where it's a fine dust, but this dust has really sharp sides to it
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I mean, it's not like a smooth rock or anything. It's very pointed, very blade-like razor blade type thing
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And this dust, you're going to sprinkle around your orchid. Now, the Mealybugs think this fossil dust or this powder is extremely tasty
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So what they're going to do is they're going to do is they're going to eat it and once it's inside the mealy bug this is going to delacerate everything I mean
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it's going to rip open the internal organs of the mealy bug mixed I mean it's going to hurt
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the little bug and it is going to rip the exoskeleton and this mealy bug will
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dehydrate so it's extreme it works see and if you're using this outside
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well also honeybees are going to find this very tasty and so will butterfly
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and so will all the good insects, if that exists, just kidding
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will also find this dust extremely tasty, so they will also want to eat it
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That's why I really don't want to recommend this, but does it work? Yes, it works
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And protect yourself when you using this Remember this is a fine dust so when you putting it on your orchid this dust powder will go into your respiratory system and since it has full of razor blades you can really
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perforate your lungs so wear a mask before i mention the next one if this video is adding any
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kind of valuable information please give it a like because that really tells me what videos to do
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more of that you're interested in or what videos to stay away number five is my favorite now
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I thought diatomaceous earth was cruel. This one is not. And it is so cute. It is ladybugs
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Sia have not gone crazy. Ladybugs do eat mealybugs. And they're cute. So I mean, if you don't mind having, you can buy these on the internet
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I never thought that would be possible. But yes, you can. You know, why do I even mention ladybugs? Because a lot of
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of people here do not are not in favor of using pesticides, insecticides, and other harsh products
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So why not use what nature uses? Now there is another bug that will eat mealybugs and I have to
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read its name. I'll put it down here. It's called creptolaemis monster. It's here. Okay
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So this is like a beetle. And since I'm not a big beetle fan, that's not coming into my house
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So ladybugs it is. And if I'm going to use a bug to kill a bug, I might as well have a cute bug, right
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So what you're going to do, you're going to release two to eight mealy bugs on the orchid that's infested
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You do not need to buy a bag of 500 ladybugs. Please don't
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They do come in smaller quantities. So you just add a few little ladybugs around the orchid that is infested
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they'll get rid of those and keep your orchid pretty much healthy
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The last method number six is actually buying an insecticide. You'll probably have to go to your local nursery to find one that is in your area
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Not all insecticides are safe for orchids. That's why you need to go to your nursery and ask around what do they use on their plants
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so you can use it also on yours. I don't want to mention name brands because each country has the
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their own. You will know what other people use and use that to actually eliminate it
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A good way to find out what other people use is ask who grows citrus fruits because mealy
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bugs will also attack citrus fruits. So they probably have this problem. They probably know what
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it is in their area that will kill mealy bugs. If you have a suggestion to get rid of mealy
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bugs and I have not mentioned it in this video, please comment below because the comments just
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make this video even more rich or even more full of information because what works for me might not
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work for you. You know, we each have our own environment. We have our own products that we use and
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don't use. The only thing I cannot do is my anti-spam will cut links. So do not post a link because I might
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not even see the comments. Sometimes the comments go straight to the trash before I even see them. If I see
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I might try to react and answer back. Please don't stop watching videos because the more videos you watch, the more information you get
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And that is crucial for orchid care. So I want to recommend these two videos right here
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Take a look, check them out, see if they are appropriate for you. And if you have not subscribed, you can subscribe by pushing the button in the middle
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Thank you so much for watching and happy cultivating
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