How to deal with scale insects on orchids

Experts know how to get rid of scabies on orchids, share recommendations with lovers of indoor flowers. Destroy pests mechanically, folk remedies, professional drugs.

The appearance of the pest

Orchids are infected from other indoor plants or through an open window. You can find out about the presence of insects by appearance. Having looked closely, they find small bugs.

In nature, there are several types of scale insects, false shields. They differ in color - from white to black, red, brown. Scalp body size is about 2.5 mm. A distinctive feature is the presence of a durable carapace in the form of a shield.

The female is absolutely motionless. It looks on orchids like a tubercle, a wart. The male is mobile, can even fly, but lives a little - about a week. After fertilization, the female dies.

The female lays eggs either on the back of the leaf or drags along in the flap. After a while, small bugs appear from there - larvae that immediately begin to parasitize. The scabbard sucks out the juices, and the Royal orchid, Phalaenopsis, is especially attractive to her. Adult insects do no harm, but larvae feed plants, the soft parts of which are rich in nutritious juice.

On a note!

The presence of a pest can be determined by the appearance of the flower. The leaves begin to curl, lose their elasticity, the edges dry. A careful examination of the back side of the leaf reveals small bugs, tubercles, dark spots, sticky pad.

Photos of scale insects on orchids are presented below.

Emergency measures

If pests are found on one indoor flower, it is necessary to carefully examine all the others to determine the degree of infection. You can fight the scab on orchids mechanically, using chemistry, folk remedies.

• Isolating a sick orchid from healthy flowers.
• Rinse leaves under a stream of warm water.
• Wash the leaves with soapy water using household, tar soap.
• Put on top of a plastic bag. Create a greenhouse. Scabbards cannot tolerate high humidity. The larvae in the eggs die. Ventilate the orchid every day for 30 minutes.
• Or daily spray the leaves, maintaining high humidity.
• Treat the soil composition with any broad-spectrum insecticide.

To fight with a scab on indoor plants You can use solutions prepared according to folk recipes.

Quicksilver funds

Fighting is carried out with professional drugs, but with a small degree of infection, alternative recipes can be used. During treatment, the flower should remain isolated from other indoor plants.

• Dilute the green soap in water at room temperature, wash with the composition of the leaves, or spray from the bottle.
• Add red pepper, black, cinnamon, mustard, a little laundry soap to the water. Process leaflets in any convenient way.
• Grind garlic, add water, insist a day. Strain, spray the plant, paying particular attention to the bottom of the leaf.
• Add wood ash and soap to the water. Sprinkle orchid leaves, soil.
• Mix 2 tbsp.tablespoons of olive oil with water, process the leaves.
• Moisten a cotton swab with alcohol, apply to places of accumulation of insects.
• Prepare a tincture of fern. Use a dry, fresh plant. Pour boiled water, leave for a day. Spray daily for 2 weeks.

During the treatment of orchids from scale insects, you can not use fertilizers, growth stimulants. Nitrogen favorably affects the development of larvae in the egg.

Professional processing

The remedy for scabies on orchids can be bought in a specialized store. It is not necessary to purchase drugs that act by contact. The guard reliably protects both an adult insect and eggs from an insecticide. It is necessary to buy insecticides of systemic action or intestinal. The poison enters the body of an insect through the juice of an orchid. Larvae die immediately after the birth of an egg.

• Actellik, Aktara, Arrivo - intestinal drugs. To completely destroy the scabs, the plant should be treated twice, after 15 days.
• Phosphamide. Systemic drug. Available in the form of a spray. Spray the plant 1 time per month. Two treatments are enough for orchid treatment.
• Fitoverm. Biologically active drug. Safe for humans, animals. Spraying is allowed indoors. It is necessary to process the orchid every week for a month.

Getting rid of scabies on orchids is much easier than on garden plants, such as currant, grape, lemon. It is necessary to monitor the situation daily. If desired, you can get rid of pests mechanically, without using insecticides. If there are a lot of orchids, you should use professional preparations. To get rid of pests of indoor plants, it is necessary to process infected flowers and healthy for prevention.

To prevent infection with scutes of orchids, it is necessary to periodically inspect the plant. Especially in the summer, when the windows are open in the room, the orchid is placed on the balcony, loggia. In this case, the infection occurs by accident, the larva or an adult brings the wind.