Jewel Orchid Leaves health

[JaneEyre]

I purchased a small Anoectochilus albolineatus cutting at the San Francisco Orchid Expo. The orchid had few leaves and was in poor shape (it was on sale). I wasn't sure what the holes in leaves were but didn't think they were a problem. But now, few new leaves have grown and some of them have holes as well. Is something eating this orchid? I looked though a magnifying glass but couldn't find anything. Anyone knows what those might be caused by or, perhaps, the holes are normal?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Quite possibly tiny little snails that are dark brown in color and have flattened ram horn type shells. The animal itself is dark charcoal in color.

Those holes aren't normal.

[JaneEyre]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Quite possibly tiny little snails that are dark brown in color and have flattened ram horn type shells. The animal itself is dark charcoal in color.

Those holes aren't normal.

I haven't noticed any but I will examine the plant thoroughly tonight.
Thanks for advice.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try luring them out with a small piece of potato, apples, or bananas, idk. Basically whatever you think will lure a snail out, try it out.

These snails are tiny and cryptic. They're easy to miss. Most of them are about the size of a pinhead.

Sometimes you can spot these crawling around during the day too.

[ezil]

Isolate this plant as well. They are travelers and are hard to get rid of. You may want to consider repotting it in fresh medium as well. Make sure there is nothing hiding among the roots. I don't know the incubation time for the eggs, that's why isolation is important .

[JaneEyre]

I think I found something
I examined the whole plant with a 10x loupe and didn't see anything until I looked under one of the leaves. Not sure what those are, they don't look like snails to me. I only see those on one leaf though like a small colony. I isolated this and another jewel orchid that was purchased from the same vendor. I also put some apple pieces on top of the media but not sure those things will travel there. Any thoughts what those are and how to get rid of them?

[eggshells]

A small caterpillar maybe?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Perhaps they are as "eggshells" says, insect larvae.

What kind of insect I have no clue. Maybe they're moth or butterfly larvae, idk.

They don't appear to be fungus gnat larvae though. Fungus gnat larvae have black heads and rarely if ever venture that high up on a plant. They prefer to stay much closer to the root zone where the plant tissues are much softer.

[JaneEyre]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Perhaps they are as "eggshells" says, insect larvae.

Funny, as soon as "eggshells" posted about caterpillars, it got me thinking... those do look like "egg shells" of some sort... and i wonder if they are empty and whatever has hatched is living in the roots. I picked up the apple core and saw something move. It was about 3mm long, super skinny and squiggly, but by the time I got a flashlight it was already gone. It may have had lots of legs but it was so tiny, I didn't get a good look.

I cut off the leaf with "shells" and put it in a zip-lock bag for further investigation. I plan on re-potting the orchid tomorrow. I am hoping that thoroughly washing the plant and its roots will get rid of those things.

[eggshells]

Hi Jayne, according to an article at the AoS website you can make your own repellant for this type of crawlies. Water and some sort of herbs. Like onion, or garlic or jalapeno peppers then spray. I will pm you the link to the article since I do not know if I can link here.