Cattleya with White Bugs on Roots

[zaza]

Hi everybody,

I've just joined the forum because I'm worried about my Cattleya orchid. I've had it for three weeks, keep it indoors and have gotten 3 blooms since it arrived. I'm new to the orchid world and am worried about two things that might be symptomatic of the same problem (or just paranoia):

1) There are tiny white bugs running on the edge of the pot and media. There are also small white flecks on the roots. Are these bugs living in the roots? The bugs only come out when I water the plants. I've checked the rest of the plant (stem, leaves, flowers) for bugs and can't find any.

2) There are reddish brown spots on the spike and leaf of flowering stem and none on the rest of the plant. Could this be related to the root problem?

If I need to treat my orchid with a pesticide, are there any natural (home/organic) pesticides to use? How do I go about applying it.

Also, which fertilizer would you recommend? I'm trying to be as organic as possible. Any other tips for a new comer?

Thanks in advance,

zaza

[dounoharm]

get rid of the bugs!!! to do that you need first to repot, and remove the infested media completely...i suggest using a systemic insecticide and not messing with the 'home remedies'....the systemic will get into the tissue of the plant and kill the bugs when they chew on it...also, the bugs natural cycle of reproduction will hatch out new buggies after the original were killed...you need to spray once a week for 4 weeks then once a month after that to insure they dont get a foothold again....kill the boogers!

[zaza]

Thanks dounoharm,

I re-potted it, swabbed it with alcohol and used an insecticide spray. That was 3 weeks ago, no sign of the boogers yet, and I've noticed new growth in the roots so I guess it wasn't too traumatizing.

[Tindomul]

It sounds to me like you had some springtails. Harmless insects that were probably eating dead or decomposing organic material in your pot. When you repotted, were some of your roots dead? If so, thats probably what they were eating. Or the potting material that was tired. In which case you can thank them for eating the rotting material before harmful fungus and bacteria had a chance to do it.
Most pests don't run around the way you described it. They stick to the roots and leaves for dear life not matter what you do.
So I think the culprit was something else, perhaps you were keeping too wet or it was too wet from where you bought it. Re-potting it may have been what saved it.