Orchid in good health but with not desired guests.

[Adrianna]

Hello everybody,

My name is Adrianna.

I have one of the orchids that has small,very small white spots beasts that run all around only at night, i treated the plant with " sabon noir"(black soap,but it is not the right term is a soap make from olive oil that works very well to kill all pests) but it has not worked out so i bought "pyrethrum" something that in theory has to paralyze the insect but i think they really loved this and now i am using a universal pesticide that kills also mites and i don´t think it is working.. so i do not know what to do.. the plant is in a very good health but those things they have to feed them with the sap,don´t you think??.

The minuscule white spots those are the pasarites!!!.

I am gonna try to put a picture but i don´t know how!!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Underneath the reply box, there is a button that says "Go Advanced". Press this button. It will send you to another page.

Scroll down the new page. You will see a button that says "manage attachments". Click that button.

A small window that allows you to choose a picture file pops up.

Note: There are limitations on the file size and the resolution size of the photo according to the type of file the photos were saved as.

There is a list of those requirements on the little pop up screen, underneath the area that allows you to choose a file.

[RosieC]

There are some detailed tips about photo posting here.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ng-photos.html

[Adrianna]

Here they are !!.

As you can hardly see those are the parasites..

[Eyebabe]

I can hardly see them you are correct.
To me the most likely thing I can think of that "moves around fast" and is hard to kill are fungus gnat larva.
I use mosquito bits/dunks in the water for the plant and have even shaken some mosquito bits into the media.
That will kill fungus gnat larva.
The sprays and soaps only kill the adult flies.

Pyrethium kills most everything else at least to the extent of seriously decreasing the population (aphids, mites, mealies, scale etc)....so that is why I am thinking the fungus gnat larva if truly your methods have not put a dent in the infestation.

Furthermore, fungus gnats are a sign your plant needs to be repotted as they are attracted to rotting media. So even if your plant is healthy, I'd do a repot before that changes

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Too small to make out clearly as to what they are. Try this trick instead...

Take a photo by:

1. Using a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe to magnify the animals.

2. Then adjust the distance between the camera lens and the magnifying glass/jeweler's loupe to focus the camera on the subject.

3. Snap photo.

4. Magnify it further using something like Photoshop.

[Adrianna]

Thanks a lot, the plant was bought two months ago and i repotted then and i can see a lot of the roots and they look like very well and green..but i will take another look.

I will see this kind of larva but i have never seen any mosquito or animal flying around the orchid or running around it or among the other orchids,what i observed is that they don´t like hot, they prefer the cold weather,well, we have an AGA so always at 24C, but now that It is hot outside we turned off the AGA and the nights are colder than usual (18-20C) and is then when those things go around and only in this orchid.

Thanks a lot.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It's not fungus gnat larvae. Fungus gnat larvae are tiny translucent caterpillars with black heads.

While I still can't see what they are, I'm guessing they're springtails or something related to those. Not sure without a clear photo.

The trick for getting photos of small objects without a macrolens can work adequately. I do realize it's not the same as a macrolens though. This method is worth a try one of these days.

[Adrianna]

Thanks i watched some pictures of them (Fungus gnat larvae and springtails) but i don't really know ;they are so tiny,to me they are round and white but today i saw some of them running around and i am so tired of that i sprayed malathion all around and i do not reqlly whqt to do; i hope not to kill the orchid; it looks like fine.

[Eyebabe]

Springtails are harder to get rid of
I am doing some reading on them and not liking what I read.
Not so bad for the plant but as one who is anti-creature with the exception of a cat or dog, it seems these little buggers can be invincible!