If a white coating spreads on your orchid, the horticultural alarm bells should ring. It is almost certain that your flower beauty is infested with mealybugs. You can find out here how you can act correctly and combat pests using ecological means.
How to treat a white coating on orchids?
A white coating on orchids indicates a mealybug infestation. To combat the lice ecologically, isolate the plant and treat it with a mixture of water, spirit and soft soap or water, olive oil and dishwashing liquid, applied with a brush.
All symptoms at a glance
Before you take countermeasures, please check whether the white coating is actually mealybugs using the following symptoms:
- In the early infestation stage there are numerous, tiny cotton balls on the leaves and bulbs
- As it progresses, the cottony bumps combine to form white, greasy webs
- The mealybugs underneath suck out the plant sap, causing the leaves to wither and the shoots to become stunted
In the end, the orchid is completely covered in the white webs that serve as a waxy protective shell for the pests.
Fight mealybugs effectively – this is how to work in harmony with nature
Orchids generally react sensitively to the concentrated load of chemical insecticides. This is particularly true for thin-leaved species and varieties. In practice, the following ecological means have proven effective for gently removing the white coating from the plants:
- Immediately isolate the affected orchid from other houseplants
- Treat the plant in the quarantine room with a solution of 1 liter of water, 10 ml of alcohol and 15 ml of soft soap
- Alternatively, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to 1 liter of water and 1 drop of dishwashing liquid as an emulsifier
For the sake of caution, please do not spray the solution on the orchid. Rather, apply the product to all infected parts of the plant with a fine brush. The spirit dissolves the waxy protective shell and has a quite aggressive effect. The control agent based on olive oil should therefore be used on orchids with very thin leaves.
Tip
In most cases, mealybugs are introduced into the collection with a newly acquired orchid. Even experienced and highly competent specialist dealers are not immune to the pests. Therefore, when buying an orchid, take a close look at the plant. Don't be afraid to examine the plant with a magnifying glass. Once the scale insects are in the house, you often won't be able to get rid of the plague for years.
