How to deal with mealybug on orchids
Content
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- Mealybug on orchids
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- Mechanical way to eliminate pests
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- Chemical method of dealing with the b heart
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- Mealworm folk recipes
Potted flowers not only decorate the apartment, making it more comfortable, but also contribute to the purification of the air. However, like all living organisms, they also have diseases that are caused not only by improper care, but also by the attack of harmful insects. Not the last place in the list indoor plant pests takes a mealybug.The insect uses the juice of a houseplant as food, causing the latter significant damage. In addition, the nectar, the composition of which contributes to the appearance of moldy fungi and attracting their relatives, causes no less harm to a green friend. Therefore, the question of how to get rid of the mealybug on orchids is far from idle for florists.
What it looks like
Mealybugs have encountered many lovers of orchids. The insect is a representative of the family of hemiptera, having an external similarity to shields. Oval slightly flattened body of adults reaches 5 mm. The surface of the body is covered with white, sometimes with a barely rosy powdery coating with fringes at the edges, which is why the pest got its name. Mealybug is the owner of a sucking oral apparatus. What an insect looks like can be seen in the photo.
Insect-infected areas of the plant are marked with white fiber, resembling cobwebs or cotton. Under it, females usually lay eggs. Therefore, the presence of shaggy balls on a green pet means that a mealybug has appeared on the orchid.
On a note!
Pests rarely infect a plant with proper care.Therefore, the appearance of mealybugs on orchids is evidence of insufficient attention and poor quality care for a green pet.
Signs of infection
The fact that a mealybug appeared on orchids is indicated by the following symptoms:
- the presence of flour on the sheet plates;
- the appearance on the leaves of the paddy - sticky secretions;
- the formation of light spots in the damaged areas of the sheet.
Orchid-infected orchids begin to turn yellow, wither, and then fall off the leaves. The buds of flowering plants and already blooming flowers are also affected. A large number of pests contributes to the deformation of young shoots.
Causes
More often than others, orchids are strikingly bristly and citrusy in the appearance of worms. The causes of these pests are the following problems:
- poor lighting - insufficient light creates favorable conditions for insect habitation;
- excessive soil moisture as a result of frequent watering helps reduce orchid immunity;
- contaminated substrate - most often with such a surprise in the form of mealybug larvae may be of poor quality soil;
- non-compliance with the rules of plant hygiene - the orchid will not be subject to attacks by harmful insects during regular showering, spraying and wiping the leaf plates;
- if the rules of quarantine are not followed, the mealybug can strike your favorite orchids by entering an apartment in a flower purchased at the market or in a store.
How to expel a pest
You can fight with mealybugs by various methods.
Mechanical method
To cure an orchid from the effects of crawling pests, it is necessary to resort to hygienic treatment, which includes the following manipulations:
- all affected peduncles must be trimmed;
- Insects can be removed from the leaves with a cotton pad soaked in soapy water, and pseudobulb can be removed in a similar way.
- using a cotton swab or tweezers, they clean the leaf bosoms from the insects;
- thoroughly washing the orchid under the shower, wash it from the leaves with a drop.
On a note!
Before rinsing the flower under the shower, you must ensure that there are no insects on it. If even a small amount of pests remain on the plant, it will not be possible to achieve a positive result.Under the pressure of the water, the Screws will end up in the substrate, after which they will need to change the soil in order to extract them.
Chemical method
With a large cluster blackflies on orchid applying one mechanical method is not enough. Ideally, in such a situation, the use of chemicals containing insecticidal components. Many housewives are wondering how to process an orchid, finding on it, unpleasant-looking insects. Experienced flower growers emit the following remedies for the mealybug:
- Aktara is a systemic insecticide that kills insects during the day. If the toxic chemical is mixed with water for irrigation, it will penetrate into the plant tissue and will affect pests within two months;
- Phytoverm is not less effective insectoacaricide, affecting not only adults, but also their larvae;
- Mospilan - the distinctive advantage of the drug is the ability of its composition to destroy an insect at all stages of its development;
- Bankol - in addition to the effectiveness of the drug is an advantage and the lack of smell in it, which is very convenient for use at home.Death of pests is observed already after 2-3 days after the application of this contact-intestinal insecticide.
For maximum effect funds from midges an insecticide-treated plant is put on a plastic bag and the flower is left in this condition for half an hour.
Important!
Despite the fact that all of the above listed pesticides are slightly toxic, you should use personal protective equipment when working with them. At the end of treatment, you should wash your face and hands with soap and water. When the toxic composition on the skin using a soap solution.
Folk recipes
You can also get rid of mealybugs folk remedies. In addition, they are much safer than toxic chemicals, the use of which is undesirable for people suffering from allergies, asthma and other chronic diseases. Below is a list of the most popular folk remedies with which you can get rid of black flies in room flowers:
- Pyrethrum (infusion of Dalmatian chamomile). 200 g of finely chopped plants pour 2 liters of boiling water, and then insist for 12 hours.The resulting infusion is filtered, diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 3 and used for the treatment of infected orchids.
- Garlic. An infusion is also prepared from it, pouring 5 crushed garlic cloves with 1 liter of boiling water. After a day, the composition is filtered, used for spraying plants.
- Pepper. Effective against mealybugs and broth of chilli. At 0.5 liters of boiling water it needs 50 g. The mixture is boiled for 5 minutes, then cooled and filtered. Use the decoction as prescribed.
- Bow. Onions have similar repellent properties. It is finely cut, poured a glass of warm water and left for several hours. Strained infusion process infected mealybugs an orchid.
Some flower growers lovers offer to get rid of mealybugs on orchids using alcohol or vodka. However, this method can lead to burns of plant tissue.
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