Little white bugs, not very fuzzy, look like rice.

[PaxTea]

Ahhh!

I came back from being out of town for a week, and found my orchids infested with insects! Noo! Worst of all, they especially seem to love my healthy little guy!

They're white, they look like grains of rice (not fuzzy I don't think), they clump up under leaves, and one of my sick orchids has a new hole sort of chewed into it.

They need to get off my healthy baby right now! He's growing a new leaf and he doesn't need this nonsense.

What are they? How did they get into my fourth-floor urban apartment?! Is rubbing alcohol + the GetOffMe spray going to do the job?




---------- Post added at 06:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:05 PM ----------

I think they're white flies.

Are they going to be hard to eradicate?

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------

They might not be flies, unless they're larval. I plucked them off with tweezers and they didn't have wings.

[Gage]

Not sure what that spray you're using is. But you can dilute 2oz (4tbsp) of regular dish soap (Ajax is best, Dawn is fine) in a gallon of water, or 1tbsp per pint. Spray the soap solution all over the plant and roots, and then do it again in a week. It was good for you to manually remove the bugs, but it would be wise to treat with soap to get any hiding or emerging larva. You should probably look over all your plants to see if anything else needs to be treated. Old luck!

[PaxTea]

It's this stuff, which is basically cinnamon-infused water with a drop of soap. GET OFF ME! Natural Pest Control Spray - Quart Spray Kit


Yeah, the other two had bugs too, and I removed them as best I could. The bugs seem to like that tight little crevice where the leaf comes away from the base. I plucked them out of there, but I'd believe something was left behind.

How do I treat that area with soapy water without inviting crown rot?

Do you know what it was? They were like little grains of rice with a black tip where it attached to the plant.