Mealybug or aphid. All bugs that are not welcome on orchids. Of course, you hope your orchid will never suffer from it, but unfortunately it is a common plague on many types of plants. If it does happen, in this article we give tips on what you can best do about it.

What to do with mealybugs?

Does your orchid suffer from lice? Then here is a useful tip! To combat the lice, mix 90 ml of spirit, 140 ml of water and 3 drops of detergent or green soap. Shake well and spray on the lice. Be careful with the flowers, though, as it may stain them. You can also buy lice control products at the garden centre. Usually you have to repeat this a few times, as lice are stubborn.

Also read: Care tips from the orchid growers

How do you recognise mealybugs?

Mealybugs can be recognised by small white bugs of about 3 to 5 millimetres that secrete a substance that looks like cotton wools. Like almost all lice, mealybugs also secrete sticky honeydew. You can recognise this by the shiny speckles on the leaves of your orchid. The bug feeds on plant sap. It causes unsightly puncture marks on the leaves, but can also weaken the weakened one, making it more susceptible to other pathogens.

What causes mealybugs?

Mealybugs are strongly attracted to moisture. So if you have mealybugs on your orchid, it could well be that the plant is getting too much water. Aphids often appear in the winter months when the humidity in the house is too dry and the pot and roots too wet. Draughts can also be a cause. When fighting mealybugs, it is therefore important not to water the plant too much in order to further repel the aphids and eventually deprive them of nutrition.

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