Two NOID orchids

[Mandy2705]

I decided to visit my favorite orchid store, Island Orchid to tell them how the show was and buy some seaweed extract. Well I happened to pick up another orchid ($5 only so I couldn't resist) and she said I could have two free orchids. She picked them up from a lady she repotted her orchids for. She said the lady told her one was a maxillaria tenulfolia and the other looks like a twinkle or some kind of tiny oncidium. Unfortunately, I will have to break the beautiful pot the maxillaria is potted in. They are handmade pots that the lady who gave the orchids made herself

http://flic.kr/p/qJ1pQz

http://flic.kr/p/rEGrCM

http://flic.kr/p/qJ1pUH

http://flic.kr/p/rEFZoU

[Pat'sCatt's]

What a surprise! The maxillaria looks great in it's tiny little handmade container, but the other one looks a little bit like trouble in a pot, with the black spots on the leaves and is it also possible that some extra guests came along with it? All the fluffly white spots and dots?
Maybe put it in isolation to start with, just to be on the save side! Good luck with cracking the flowerpot!! 😁

[Mandy2705]

Omg that oncidium is covered in buuuuggs!!! I was so happy I got them for free I didn't even notice??! Thank you Pat's Catt's!

[Mandy2705]

Pat's Catt's I think it's scale and I heard that they are extremely hard to get rid of? I unpotted it and am soaking the WHOLE plant in soapy water with hydrogen peroxide. I got this plant for free so if that kills it oh well no financial loss for me. The maxillaria looks good but it was together in the box when it was in car. I will keep that one separate till I am positive there is no danger.

[RandomGemini]

After you get done with that... remove all of the old medium from the pot. Isolate this plant from others in your house.

Pick up a bottle of bayer rose and flower. Spray the new medium for the pot with this before potting the plant. Then spray the whole plant once, every other week for six weeks. You should not see any more mealy bugs after that. I have killed mealybugs several times with this method and the chemical used in Bayer Rose and Flower is the same one used in many flea medications for dogs and cats. So if you have household pets, it should be safe around them unless they have a reaction to flea medications.

So... what I do when I spray the stuff, is spray it on the plant outside in the very early morning, before the bees are awake. This product will harm local bee populations if you do not use it correctly. So remember that. Spray it on early in the day.

I leave the plant outside to dry for an hour or so. You could also let it dry in a garage, as long as it doesn't get too cold for the plant out there, but do spray it outdoors.

I hate using the stuff, but I so rarely see mealy bugs that I have only had to use it on plants twice. If you get right on top of treatment, you should kill them off pretty fast.

Good luck!

[Tindomul]

Great acquisitions!

[Leafmite]

The pot is very nice. Personally, I would try to avoid breaking it so I could plant something else in it. Just a thought.
Usually I am very careful when potting up my orchids but Max-ten's are extremely tough and root damage isn't too much of a problem because they keep putting out new growths above the older ones and those growths send their roots down into the medium through what looks like a dried, braided area. Some people mount them and let them grow up a piece of wood. I buried my max ten in red lava rock and for a while, I had what looked like grass growing in the pot. Now, of course, it is once more a monster. :|

[Mandy2705]

Good to know Leafmite, I don't want to break it either. I will get it out one way or another! If you say the roots are tough and the plant can take it, I will do it. I will update you on when that happens. Thanks for the advice RandomGemini, I will go get some of that tomorrow. Ooo I had this plant near my others for like 10 mins when I saw Pat's Catt's comment, I removed it immediately. I am keeping an eye on those too 😩

[Leafmite]

If you destroy the roots of the lower bulbs, there are good roots from the upper growths and you can just bury the lower bulbs and, no problem.
I just started a max alba from two pieces a vendor sent me. No roots were on the bottom but I buried the lower part and the upper growths' roots are supporting the orchid just fine. These are just really tough, cool orchids.

[RandomGemini]

Wow, tough and cool? Now I want one! BTW, I would try to save the pot too. It is beautiful. Someone clearly loved these plants enough to make pots for them. There's a story there. You should keep it going if you can!