# Imidacloprid on Paphs?



## Happypaphy7 (Sep 2, 2015)

So I had a very disturbing discovery last night that one of my Paphs have quite a few mealy bugs. 
It is Hsinying Alien. I know it's common but this is one of the five Hsinying Alien plants I have kept out of so many because the flowers are very unique and nice. 

I never see mealy bugs except for a few newly bought plants in the past and I usually sprayed them ( ends up killing the plants or horribly damaged them).
The good thing is only about three or four plants out of so many I have bought over the years ever came with mealy bugs. 

Anyways, I left the windows open two weeks ago before the heat wave when I saw one mid sized mealy bug on the underside of this same paph. I thought it was blown in from the outside.
I had a close look on the plant every day and night.
I did not see any more of them until last might I saw a very small one hiking up the spike. I took a flashlight and pulled slightly away the leaves. 
At the deep crevice in between the leaves, there was a decent sized white colony. None were adults so I assumed it was a cluster of eggs or juveniles. There was not any individual bug but just a white mass. 
I scratched off the white mass with a tooth pick as much as I could, and then I poured in some bathroom cleaning liquid ( hydrogen peroxide based). 
Now, I am thinking there might still be there hiding somewhere and who knows those little juveniles have been crawling around or being flown around by the wind ( of the fan) onto other plants. 
My head started to hurt thinking of this possibility. 
Now, I don't want to spray anything as I had bad results before. 

I do remember seeing this product at a garden store here. 
It has 0.22 % imidacloprid as an active ingredient. 
It's something you put on the pot, gets dissolved and absorbed by the plant roots. 

I wonder if anyone tried this product before and if there was any damage to the plant. 


http://www.gardenersedge.com/bonide...mt=&plc=&kc=&gclid=CJPUpsXr2McCFVMXHwodSOQJ8Q


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## Ruth (Sep 2, 2015)

I have used it, and didn't see any problem with the plant. In my experience, you have to make sure that there are not mealies on the plant when you use it, because it takes a couple of weeks to take effect, and in that time you can have an explosion of mealies.


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## Justin (Sep 2, 2015)

i did not find it effective on mealies. get something with pyrethrin in it like schultz houseplant and garden spray. 

also you can spray with a mix of rubbing alcohol and a drop of dish detergent. and kill individual mealies with rubbing alcohol on a q tip.


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## Gilda (Sep 2, 2015)

I have used it, and wasn't impressed . my best results with killing mealies was with Safari.


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 2, 2015)

Ruth said:


> I have used it, and didn't see any problem with the plant. In my experience, you have to make sure that there are not mealies on the plant when you use it, because it takes a couple of weeks to take effect, and in that time you can have an explosion of mealies.



I also read about how using certain chemical proliferate their numbers, which seems very odd to me. ??? 

But I usually have no bug issues so don't really want to use it as a preventative measure.


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 2, 2015)

Justin said:


> i did not find it effective on mealies. get something with pyrethrin in it like schultz houseplant and garden spray.
> 
> also you can spray with a mix of rubbing alcohol and a drop of dish detergent. and kill individual mealies with rubbing alcohol on a q tip.



I have used a spray ( aerosol type on metal can) product whose main ingredient was pyrethrin ( actually something similar, forgot the name) and it was useful against thrips. 
I saw one, a different product at a garden store with pyrethrin. 
I might get that, but I have fish (more than one in seperate containers) andovijg them out of the area is rather a problem. 

Hmmm


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 2, 2015)

Gilda said:


> I have used it, and wasn't impressed . my best results with killing mealies was with Safari.



What's safari??
Is it safe for home use?


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## musa (Sep 2, 2015)

Hi,
I wonder that Imidacloprid harmed your Paphs. I also use it preventively on new plants (I bath them in it). Products you put in the pot, powder or sticks are not very effective on orchids, and btw be aware that lots of these products have fertilizers added what could really harm your paphs.
Michael


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## Gilda (Sep 2, 2015)

Safari is a systemic insecticide similar to Merit which is a Brand of immacloprid. 
Safe to use inside??? Prob not recommended, but spray them outside,let dry bring back in.


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## SlipperFan (Sep 2, 2015)

Immacloprid is a systemic, but it also kills the bugs on contact. I had very good results with it for about 3 years, but then the bugs got resistant, and it's not effective anymore.


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## abax (Sep 2, 2015)

Orthene 97% wettable powder that you drench into the
potting media. You can also spray the ones you can see,
but there's really no need. Orthene works fast as a drench.
The smell is awful so drench outside and then bring the
plants back in after the liquid stops dripping out of the
bottom of the pot. 1 tsp. per gallon.


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## bullsie (Sep 2, 2015)

I've used Merit 75 - Imidacloprid - as a drench with good results. But it doesn't work completely on a first use. It has to be used 'in a row'. For the Merit 75 I used as a drench (because all my plants are in my home), I would drench one day a week for four weeks. Scale were totally gone by week three, but it took week four to actually be rid of all mealies.

This year, before bringing my plants in, I am using Orthene 97% - love ya' abax! I don't have the time to fuss with frequent bug battles. Just did my second batch of plants earlier today and they are now settled back into the house.


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## daniella3d (Sep 3, 2015)

It does kill mealy bugs very fast. I used it couple of times and it did great on my phrags and paph, phal etc... I use it inside, wear no glove and wash my hands after. I just try not to touch it too much, then let the plants dry. Never had a problem and the plants grow much better and stronger after the treatment.


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## My Green Pets (Sep 3, 2015)

I am using Bayer compete insect killer which is 1.2% imidacloprid on all my orchids. It is very effective--I'm finding dead bugs everywhere.


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

SlipperFan said:


> Immacloprid is a systemic, but it also kills the bugs on contact. I had very good results with it for about 3 years, but then the bugs got resistant, and it's not effective anymore.



Oh, wow~ 3 years??? No wonder! oke:
I thought a few months was long enough time to develop resistance.


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

CambriaWhat said:


> I am using Bayer compete insect killer which is 1.2% imidacloprid on all my orchids. It is very effective--I'm finding dead bugs everywhere.



Is that the full product name?
and is it a spray type? safe for home use?


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

By the way, the ones that I used that harmed or killed my plants were:

3 in 1 spray with sulfur or Pottasium Fatty Acid as main active ingredients.
then other product was neem oil based. 
I'm not sure if it is the main ingredients or the rest of whatever is in there (which is not listed on the label) that damage the plants.

So I do not want to use them any more. Plus, they smell funny which worries me.

All of these products say they are safe for organic gardening (so not exactly home use lol) but also says do not breath in, avoid skin contact, in case of skin contact, wash with running water for 20 minutes and blah blah...basically freaks me out. lol


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## musa (Sep 4, 2015)

I won't use a spray, for one because there are ingredients that I dont want, and for the other because it is much cheaper if you buy the product in a bottle and mix the sprayingsolution yourself.
Probably it was not imidacloprid what killed your plants but some oil added.
BTW: I don't think we have to be afraid to use such products even at home, but I strongly would advise to take some precaution in applying the solution, they can harm on long term, too. Long sleeves and Latex gloves are very conveniant and cheap...
Michael


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## emydura (Sep 4, 2015)

musa said:


> Probably it was not imidacloprid what killed your plants but some oil added.
> l



May have been the combination of the neem oil and Sulfur. I made the mistake of mixing white oil with a sulfur based fungicide. I did a lot of damage to my plants badly burning the leaves. They eventually recovered. I should have read the instructions more closely which said don't mix the oil with a sulfur based product.


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

musa said:


> I won't use a spray, for one because there are ingredients that I dont want, and for the other because it is much cheaper if you buy the product in a bottle and mix the sprayingsolution yourself.
> Probably it was not imidacloprid what killed your plants but some oil added.
> BTW: I don't think we have to be afraid to use such products even at home, but I strongly would advise to take some precaution in applying the solution, they can harm on long term, too. Long sleeves and Latex gloves are very conveniant and cheap...
> Michael



I know, I never even touch them without wearing gloves, masks, and long sleeve shirts even when I spray the "safer" stuff in the bathroom. 
Doesn't hurt to be too cautious. 

but still, I'd rather not use them at all. 
Good thing is I rarely have issues. It's when newly bought plant comes with bugs or disease, which is also not that common, but mealy bugs has been the most common hitchhike since last year. I never even saw them prior to that. grrrrrr!!!!!!


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## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

emydura said:


> May have been the combination of the neem oil and Sulfur. I made the mistake of mixing white oil with a sulfur based fungicide. I did a lot of damage to my plants badly burning the leaves. They eventually recovered. I should have read the instructions more closely which said don't mix the oil with a sulfur based product.



It was crazy just how much damage it caused.
It was not even summer time as hot weather can make the damage worse according to the label.

I did save one venustum album which reduced from five growths with one spike plant down to two ugly little growths that survived, but I was determined to see the flowers on this one, so I kept it. It is now back to five growth with one spike. It flowered once in December too. 

I also saved two Ho Chi Minh, but one was just too badly damaged that I got tired and tossed it. I'm about to toss the other one too.
The recovery rate is just too slow on HCM. One year and nothing much going on other than two extra small leaves and no new roots.
I already bought a healthy seedling and a multiple growth plant earlier this year. Leaves are so shiny and healthy, plus they actually grow.


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