Bugs in my Orchid's Roots?

[RandomGemini]

Ugh... I knew that I was going to end up heartbroken over this orchid...

I went to water today and when I pulled my phal out of its decorative pot and looked into the clear one to check the condition of the roots, I saw little teeny bugs crawling all over the roots.

I know this isn't good. How do I get rid of these suckers?

Thanks for helping this beginner out. I've already become attached to the poor thing that started out life in a grocery store. There's got to be something I can do to keep it alive.

[Island Girl]

Can you post a picture?

EDIT: I think you'll need one more post (to make 5) to be able to post a pic... You can post once more here to get that number

[RandomGemini]

Post number 5!

Not sure I can get a useful picture because they were very tiny. They were whitish in color. I'll give it a shot.

[RandomGemini]

The bugs are VERY tiny and I can't get a pic close enough with my iPhone, but there is one in the image, it's on the piece of bark, that's above the curved root at the bottom of the image.

[WhiteRabbit]

Fresh potting media. And/or soak the pot un some soapy (dish soap) water - rubbing alcohol can also be added.

[RandomGemini]

I can do that! Is there a particular kind of dish soap that works best?

I've never potted an orchid before. Do you happen to have a link handy to an article or a thread here on the forum about how it's done?

Thanks much for your help!

[Island Girl]

Here is one I noticed the other day, and saved for just such a moment (otherwise, it would take a long-winded explanation, and pics are soo much better at this than my words would be )

Orchid Repotting Clinic - Phalaenopsis

Oh, and yes, any dish soap will do, Dawn, Ivory... etc. That is a good mixture to get rid of pretty much any bug, the soap & alcohol dissolve the shell, and dessicate the pest. Yay!

[Wynn Dee13]

Are you sure they are bugs? Do you see them moving? If not, it could just be some kind of mold or something. I had a bag of orchid bark that I used to repot a few plants and the bark developed white stuff on it and at first I thought they were bugs but I never saw them move. It ended up being something growing on the bark. Just wanted to make sure. Just in case you don't have to go through all that trouble! Good luck!

[RandomGemini]

Yes, I'm sure they are bugs. I did see them moving when I lifted the plastic pot out of the clay one.

I'll try the dish soap treatment tomorrow and see about getting some new potting media in there. I was considering changing the potting media when the orchid was done blooming, because the climate here isn't very humid here, so I'll research that tomorrow.

Thank you again! You wonderful people are just awesome!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

They're most likely springtails.

https://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg1.html

Springtails are harmless.

But...

Springtails in your potting media means there is vegetation rotting. That's part of their diet - dead plant material. They don't cause the death of the roots, they feed on what's already dead.

If there isn't a whole lot of rotting vegetative material, and the potting media is dry, they won't be present in noticeable numbers.

They live in dark and moist places because that's usually the same type of environment that causes rot for some plants.

If you or your friends have thumbnail dart frogs, thumbnail dart frogs love these guys. They eat them like candy!

---------- Post added at 09:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 AM ----------

In terms of your orchids, it is probably time to repot into fresh media and check the health of your orchids' roots.

---------- Post added at 09:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 AM ----------

Btw, use a jeweler's loupe and take a photo of the enlarged image in the lens of the jeweler's loupe.

Someone who posted about this same problem did what I described.

Here's a link to thread with the set of photos he posted. The one you want to pay attention to is the 1st pic on the bottom row in the very first post:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...aves-fast.html