Good News Bad News

[Junebug]

The good news is my Onc. has three 3" spikes and a 4th newly emerging spike. This will be it's first blooms produced under my TLC.

The bad news is she has an approximate 1/2" deep hole in a spike producing pseudobulb. I'm suspecting a slug or snail, but am not familiar with their damage or how to treat if that is the case.

She's currently in s/h culture and grown outside on a table well off the ground. Recently we've received alot of rain and the s/h pellets are very moist at the top of the pot. She has one yellowed leaf at the junction of a spike on a different pseudobulb. I'm suspecting too much moisture for this ailment and emptied the reserve today to let things dry out a bit.

I read up on slug damage and found an OB post that suggested submerging the entire plant in water. Under normal circumstances I would do this, but the plant has been exposed to alot of moisture recently and I don't want to cause more harm than good. I've thoroughly checked the plant and can find no evidence of any other fresh damage or pests. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

[Royal]

Awww... Looks like the sign of a caterpillar to me. He's probably still inside munching away! Get some insecticide and spray it up in there.

I HATE those hungry little caterpillars!!! Watch out, they love unopened flowers!

[priz_m]

Wow! caterpillars? and to think that when they are grown up are better behaved

For future reference, I read somewhere you can put pieces of apple/potato around your pot and top of the media and the snails/slugs will sitck and stay on them you can discard of them easily, and you must check on them daily.

Keep us posted!

[Junebug]

Being anxious, I went ahead with a water bath soak. The only thing that came out was a Palmetto Bug. He was about the same circumference as the hole in the pseudobulb. I was unable to catch the little bugger and was afraid to use a spray insecticide. After removing the plant from the water it was placed on a slatted chair directly under a ceiling fan on the back porch. Hopefully this will dry out the crevices between the leaves and pseudos and prevent more leaf damage.

The bug is probably hiding somewhere in or on the plant. I'm considering spraying a Q-tip with insecticide (Raid Max) and swirling it around in the bug cavity of the pseudo. or possibly enclosing the plant in a plastic bag that has been sprayed in hopes of fumigating the beast. Has anyone ever tried these methods? I'm looking for the best method to prevent damage to the plant and her new spikes.

[Royal]

Don't use Raid on your plants, even if just on a q-tip. It wasn't made for plants, so who knows what it may do.

Get some flower/veggie pesticide and use that. If you want to avoid chemicals, probe around with a tool. You may get lucky and skewer the sucker. Good Luck!

[justatypn]

Junebug, Royal is spot on, don't use Raid. In due time those nasty critters in which living in Fl have inherited will eventually come around. I have never heard of them being vegetarian so with that note I am not so sure its the roach causing this type of cavity.

Take a close look and see and or feel around gently, is it soft/mushy? hard outside cavity? A good remedy not knowing exactly what the problem is get original (gold colored) Listerine has anti-fungal, and probably anti-bacterial qualities. The high alcohol content makes it also effective against bugs. Since it is fairly weak, it is largely used by the growers on this site as a preventative, particularly when potting, or as something in a pinch until you can get something better. It is used full strength as a spray on, and should not be used for prolonged periods because the alcohol may have drying effects on your plants. Using it for 2 – 3 days consecutively is not a problem. Just my until somthing more concrete comes up as to what the problem might be. Otherwise its extremely healthy looking and to flourish you with spikes and blooms you are doing right...gl

[priz_m]

ewww! Palmetto Bugs are one of the thigs I just can't live with. I remember living off the Gulf of Mexico and they were everywhere

Could you get it out with tweezers? maybe annoy it so it leaves? how about a roach trap near the pot? or those sticky mouse traps?

Hope you get it resolved soon, it would be a great shame to see your Onc suffer through it.

[Royal]

Oh c'mon. "Palmetto bug" is just a fancy name for a ROACH!

I doubt that a roach (or palmetto bug) made that hole. They don't munch on fresh, green, live plants do they?

[priz_m]

yuck! roach or palmetto bug... yuck!!!!

And Royal, according to most sources online they will eat "anything" plant or animal material

how's strange is that?

[caseydoll]

At the pet store where I used to work we occasionally got in hissing cockroaches and we used to feed them lettuce, various vegetables, and crickets. Ewwwww! I used to hate those things!