Tiny bugs ate my phal crown

[Jenna376]

Can someone help me out? About a month and a half ago I had a miny phal with a sick leaf. The leaf seamed to be rotting from the tip down to the crown. I cut the leaf right below the rotted area and it seamed not to continue to rot so i assumed it was fine. Then the top fell off tonight and the crown was black with what appeared to be a powdery mildew. However, I walked away to do something and when i came back the powder was gone. So after stearing at the "powder" on my glass table I could see very slow movement. The roots were green and plump and seemed very healthy though but i discarded it anyway.

So my questions are what bugs are they? Do they spread quickly? And should I treat my other 7 phals just to be safe?

[pychou77]

It's hard to tell from your picture. You can google search for "orchid scale pest" and compare it with what you have on your orchid. Scale looks like white powder, and mature females hide under waxy bumps on leaves. If you see that kind of bumps on the orchid, it's scale almost for sure. Scales usually spread by wind or plants in contact.

[aliceinwl]

To me it looks like you may have had some crown rot get started and had a bunch of opportunistic inverts move in and start feeding on the already decaying plant tissues. But, unless you can get a shot of the inverts, it’s just guesswork.

I would check your other plants, but not rush to treat.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Inverts = invertebrates = insects, I'm assuming.

[aliceinwl]

Yes, short for invertebrates. I wanted to encompass mites and springtails which aren’t insects ;-)

[WaterWitchin]

Just to the right of the crown, I see what sort of looks like teeny little miniature white objects shaped like rice. Can't tell for sure, but if that's the case it's one of the first stages of scale.

Who knows whether your chicken (crown rot) or egg (buggy pests) came first. Regardless, that part's done. You might be able to salvage it with sphag and bag, or water/vase culture. Dispose of all potting medium for sure.

[Jenna376]

How do i treat the scale?