Question
Hi, i was looking through my plants and noticed my one of my orchids appeared to have scale.  aside to that i checked my neps and noticed they have small bumps on there leaves, but my question is they dont look much like scale as the bumps are just green and i noticed that the scale is like a bumb with a pale/white color on it.  should i treat these bumps or are they normal on nep leaves?  theres just a few of them.  and then i was wondering how to treat them for scale, if possible organically. (like aphids are easily repelled/killed when sprayed with a galic:water mix) Thanks for your help

Answer
Hi Dustin,

The bumps may be the start of them.  Just watch them carefully.  When I've had scale on Nepenthes, it usually has come from orchids.

You can try the garlic solution.  Scale are tougher than aphids, but it may work.  Other organic insecticides you can try are Pyrethrins, and Neem.  You would need to repeat treatment to kill new hatchlings.  Pyrethrins kills directly, but breaks down on exposure to light.  Neem causes insects to stop feeding, so it takes more time.  


Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com