Alcohol is a good way to get rid of scales. Neem Oil will also do the trick as it covers and suffocates them.

If you want a drench use something with Imidacloprid in it like Monterey's once a year insect control. Or Compare and Save Systemic drench. Bayer makes the stuff as well. It will also get rid of Mealybugs, Aphids and other sap sucking insects. You can purchase these through your local Gardening Centers.

Here's an excerpt from St Augustine Insect site:

"Quote": With product containing 1.47% Imidacloprid, add 1.5 tsp into a quart of water and pour it through the mix to thoroughly drench the potting mix. The orchid will absorb the chemical through the roots into the leaves and kill the scales from the inside out. "Unquote".

Hope this helps.

I like Orthene, powdered. It is a systemic that kills on contact also. Relatively benign to humans. Stays with the plant for several weeks. Frequently if you have sucking insects you may have ants that are moving them around. The ants eat the secretions. Controlling ants is a good thing for orchids...The ants should be dealt with beyond the perimeter of your orchids. The bigger the ant free zone the better.

Due to invasive ants, they can only be managed. They can't be eliminated like the domestic ones. They eat different. I require a spray service due to the invasive. The get on ships and land in Miami. There are various invasive bugs due to the port. A very big price for globalization...

Orthene is banned in Hawaii because it contains acephate. It was my choice of insecticide when we could get it. Then they came out with something called Othenex and Isotox which are all banned in Hawaii.

Oli can get it I think?

Thank you both for your suggestions.

I have never been a big fan of 'killing anything with lungs and legs." But, right about now, I don't give a rats a$$. I have read all about scale on previous posts. I want the ba$tards dead, dead and more dead. I'm thinking that the Orthene is the way to go.

Thank you so much Kauaiguy and Harvey, as always, your recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Oli

Oli, do you have any ants issues?

Harvey,

Not right now, although I guess that's a really stupid thing to say. In the past we have had these little ants, just about the size of ground black pepper. Sometimes they're in the lanai. I've done my best to get rid of them and I haven't seen them in weeks. I'm hoping that the tenting for termites will get rid of them for good. But they will still be in the back yard.....ack.

Oli

If you only have a few, you could use alcohol on q-tips and wipe them off. If its a bad infestation, you'll have to go with the big guns.

Harvey, I find your comment about ants interesting. I've always had them all over my orchids when outside. I never found them to have anything to do with scale. Aphids, yes, but not scale or any other insect.

My plants have ants, I don't worry about them. The lizards seem to take care of them and they never come in the house. They are going after the honeydew the orchids make when budding. Doesn't bother me.

Jane

Jane, I'm going with the big guns. Our lizards aren't eating the ants that we have and yes, sometimes we do have lizards in our lanai.

Harvey, please come back! I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz: "are you a good ant or a bad ant?" I don't think that any bug is good right about now. Please let me know the description of the ants that you are talking about.

Thanks guys,

Oli

crazy ants and white footed ants are the invasive ants we deal with in Florida. Can be found on google...