I know I already posted a closeup photo of Dend. rigidum flowers, but I realized today that I should have also posted a photo of the very unique foliage. So since the plants are in bloom again (which they do intermittently throughout the year it seems) I took a few new shap shots. Here it is in all its pebbly, succulent glory.
5 comments:
This is a totally unrelated question: what do you do for scale?
Hi Leslie
It depends on the type of scale. Are you asking in general or after a specific problem?
Just brown soft scale. Sadly, the sap on all the orchid flowers attracted the ants, who then discovered a touch of scale somewhere and are now farming it in way more places than I'd like. It is a non-stop battle.
I checked your blog and I see you're dealing with greenhouse proportions. First order of business is to eradicate the ants through mass repotting, sevin dust, sprays, whatever you got. If you can figure out where the little buggers are coming in, squirt dish soap in the cracks. You may also just want to bug bomb your greenhouse. I've never done this, but if you want to go that rout I can make some inquiries with a buddy of mine who has done it.
Obviously there are as many options for dealing with bugs as there are orchid growers.
I'd say unpot everything that either has ants or scale. Wipe off any visible scale with paper towels and isopropanol. Dust liberally with sevin. Allow to sit 1-5 days in a dark, cool location. Dip in some systemic pesticide, such as Merit (imidicloprid or whatever the spelling is). Pot up. Spray everything with systemic.
And by spray everything, I mean spray everything. They bugs may have spread to other plants without you knowing it, so treat everyone.
Re-treat in a couple weeks, then as necessary.
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