how to get rid of the outside nasties?

[Orchid126]

Always treat the medium. Eggs and larvae lurk there. You can use dish liquid, Murphy's Oil Soap, or Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap at the rate of one tablespoon to a gallon of water.

[Becky Jo]

I brought in some really cool moss I found outside and I am worried about those little outside bugs. Could it be soak in coffee or a soapy stuff to get rid of them? I currently have it in a plastic bag.

[grasshopper]

How long should you soak/submerge the plants? 5 minutes or so?

Nevermind...I just re-read all the previous posts and saw Quiltergal's suggestion of 30 minutes.

Thanks!

[Masdyman]

I suppose soaking for 30 mins or so to seek out the bugs is a good idea ,but if you have a collection with a number of orchids is not practicable . So i would use a bug killer ,slugs & snails are the ones that worry me as they are difficult to remove .

[Call_Me_Bob]

old thread, sorry, but it was mine to begin with. haha. its that time again, and i have way more plants now. and i dont want to use the same water because im afraid that ill infect them all if one has avirus or something

[florafan]

I only have a few plants to be brought in at this time. I soaked the pots in water with some dish detergent and from one pot about 1/2 dozen slugs crawled out. I also sprayed the entire plant with the dish detergent water.

[Call_Me_Bob]

i soaked each plant individually in water and neem oil. took forever! i have 10 catts left to do.

[RosieC]

Just thought of another one. I put slices of potato on top of the pots when I brought them in. I caught a couple of slugs and a small snail that way.

[jrodpad]

Rosie,

I'm sipping coffeee and eating some French fries while reading this post. Feeling rather sluggish myself.

[Call_Me_Bob]

good thing your not a slug!