How to care for my new orchids miltonia and cambria and how to check their shape

[Catharina]

So I did it again, I got some new orchids while I visited IKEA, for some reason they are the only place I can find anything other then phalaenopsis and denodrium nobil.
I have never had a miltonia or cambria before so if anyone could give my any advice on how to care for these beauties and how their conditions are.
The miltonia seems a bit dried up and of curse as I´m writing this I saw a bug of some kind moving in it, I found some thing looking like spider web, green colouring and some texture on the bark that looks of to me. I can’t see a lot of them on top where it’s dry, but I took it out from its pot and can see a lot of this spidery looking web the bugs in this seemed white or silvery but was to small to get a good look.
I got a closer look on the cambria and think I can se some of the same ”web” there and the brown bug I found on that plant. I cant get a good look on the bug or how many there is but the insects I saw was 1 mm or less. Should I report or do I need to treat them?

[Catharina]

So ive seen about 20 bugs after poking in the bark and all the others are white/silver, they seem to only be on the bark other then that i found "web" on a leaf.

[Discus]

those white/silver bugs are probably springtails; they're usually a sign the potting medium is quite broken down; repotting may be wise. That thick white stuff in the bark looks like fungus from your pictures rather than web; another "let's repot!" sign.

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Springtail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The web on the leaf looks like an old spider web, I think the spider is gone now; spider mite webs look quite different and would be something to worry about. Actual spiders, not really!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Well said by "Discus".

There are other countries where you can order the plants online and have them shipped to you, if that is an option for you.

[Catharina]

Thank for the answer! Im soaking them in water and malation 5%. I rescued a phal a week ago that had bugs, the more a watched the plant the more it looked the same other then the “web”. All of them had sphagnum moss that I suppose was the first medium they were planted in.
The cambria really needed to be repotted, the bark was broken down to tiny bits, it has a lot of roots too! The miltonia don’t have many roots unfortunately. I only have some pots in the same size that they already were in, but I cant get my hands on any bigger clear once in the near future so it will have to do, I’m thinking brown once will be hopeless to follow and see if the bugs come back.
Really hoping the stress don’t kill the flowers, but I guess I would rather have them die then the rest of my collection getting the bugs or the orchids dying.
I put leca in the bottom of the miltonia to help with drainage and filling up the pot. The other orchid with bugs I’ve been holding of water to help kill the bugs, but im afraid water shortage would kill the orchids buds especially those who hasn’t opened yet.

I’ve never thought of ordering orchids online, might have to check that out!

[Skayc1]

Those roots look dead...are cambria roots normally this badly brown looking?

[Catharina]

The first pic is of the roots of the cambria the second is of the miltonia. They are showing a bit more tan colored in person and I´m seeing a few green roots on the top. I had no idea how the roots of these plants should look, but the didnt seem dead to me, but then agin i have no idea about these types.

[james mickelso]

Easy to tell if dead or not. Squeeze the roots gently between thumb and forefinger. If soft or hollow, dead. If firm no matter the color they are alive. Roots aren't necessarily white or green. The outside velamin soaks up the color of the media after awhile so it can be brown. Black and squishy is not good either. See my current post to the thread ...Oncidium care today. That will show you how to repot.

[Catharina]

I had a chock looking at the cambria yesterday. I ha noticed it loosing flowers, but since i was expecting it after re-potting I only tossed them away.
Yesterday I got a closer look at I almost ran out of my apartment. I´ve never seen that many alive and dead bugs in one place. I think they must be aphids, but how they can have gotten that out of control I´m not sure, there must have been tons of eggs. So I through it out, I don’t think I ever would be able to get the of that plant, witch sucks, the flowers was beautiful and it was growing a good-looking new bulb. After looking closely all the remaining flowers were covered in then, I also found live once on my window blinds, some on my sofa and a on the orchids that was closest. I´ve sprayed all my orchids with a solution on malation 0,5% liniment and water hoping it will kill them and removing those I can see. That was also the solution I’ve used for treating the silver tails before, so I think ill spray them everyday in the morning and ad the malation when watering the orchids.
Hoping some of you might have more tips, my favourite den. Nobil with to keikis had 3 that I found so I’m sure there are more.
I´ll never buy an orchid from ikea again! I did contact them and I’ll be mailing them pics and hopefully get a refund.

[RosieC]

Does look like aphids

I find simple soapy water can be very effective on aphids. Wash the whole plant, flowers and all and come back and do it again over several days.