No picture but what are these? - Orchid Board

orcdfrk · #1 04-29-2007, 12:02 PM

I notice these every time I water my chids. I usually water by placing the pot in a bowl and watering so that the medium/pot is almost totally submerged and I notice these bugs that the best way to describe them is they look like round black pepper. They don't jump and they're about the size of a pinhead with antennae that stick straight out the side of their heads. Anyone have any ideas? I'm especially hoping that someone else from my area might have noticed these if they water this way; like Oscar or Smartie. Thanks for the help.

daemondamian · #2 04-29-2007, 12:42 PM

An invasion from Mars?

Sorry I know that's not very helpful at all... I just couldn't help myself

smartie2000 · #3 04-29-2007, 03:47 PM

hmmm...I am unsure at the moment. They might not be dangerous to the plant. Are they a bug that likes to hang out in the media?

Ross · #4 04-29-2007, 03:52 PM

I would ask an entemologist at a University nearby to identify the culprit.

Tindomul · #5 04-30-2007, 11:01 AM

Are these what you see?

orcdfrk · #6 05-01-2007, 12:27 AM

Thats close Tin but these that i see have definate separation between their head and the rest of the body. BTW, what are those?

Tindomul · #7 05-03-2007, 11:38 PM

Some sort of mite that once infected the wood mount of some of my orchids.

Junebug · #8 05-04-2007, 11:38 PM

From the photos and your description it kinda looks like some type of snail. Have you picked one up, turned it over and checked to see if its a shell with a snail inside?

justatypn · #9 05-05-2007, 10:34 AM

Do they crawl, jump or just hang around and make you wonder what the heck they are?

I remember having some sort of critter, teeny tiny guys, used soapy water to rid the infestation...but for the life of me can not remember what critter it was...but the way I look at it, I hate to injest soap so I figured it wont hurt them to injest it...rid the buggers

dave b · #10 05-05-2007, 11:22 PM

I think i have the same thing in some of mine. Im convinced they are a type of mite. I do not find them on the plants, and root health is OK. they seem to be living in the bark mix, and are probably eating decaying wood matter. Ive sprayed the pots and mix at times with a general purpose orchid pest spray i got from Lowes. They will disappear for a while after spraying, but return after a time.

I tried researching the web to find out what species they might be, but never found an exact match.

Good that you are observant to things like that.