RLC question

[Halcyon24]

I bought a large division from an RLC Chia LIn "new city" and Im not 100% sure of her care requirements. She was not blooming so I repotted her in orchid bark, charcoal and a bit of perlite. I keep her outside in bright indirect light in south florida. She has two new sheaths that are opening and here's my question: little ants are going in and out of the new sheath and i wonder if that's a problem? IF so, how do i get rid of them? They might be red ants, not sure, so i dont want to touch them.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

The time to repot Cattleyas is when new root nubs are just forming, perhaps 1-3 millmeters long. It's not a good idea to repot at other times. Cattleyas tend to make new roots only once or a few times per year. if you repot at the wrong time some damage to old roots is unavoidable, and the plant might have trouble taking up water until the next root growth phase.

Your plant has flower sheaths. If those grew under your care, you are growing it well.

Many orchids secrete sugary sap on flower buds. This attracts ants, which protect the plant from other insects. Ants are very common on orchids. Especially in Florida, I wouldn't treat the ones only there for sap, since they protect the plant from many bugs you have that damage flowers. However, some ants bring aphids, mealy bugs or scale insects to your plants, in order to farm them for sugary secretions from the bugs. If that starts happening I would control the ants. And you don't want ants nesting in the pot.

Spraying the plant will kill the ants on the plant, but they will come back. I have noticed a lot of Florida growers put dishes of soapy solution under the legs of their plant stands, so various pests can't crawl from the ground up to the plants. Flying insects aren't deterred, but the pest-farming plants are excluded.

If you have ants in a pot, you can submerge the plant in a bucket of water for a few hours.