Is it bugs or a fungus?

[Demeter]

I'm a beginner. I have these two orchid and one (the phalaenopsis) has wilted leaves, the other has something more serious. They are both indoor only. Can anyone please offer advice about what may be wrong and how to fix it?

I've taken them to a couple of nurseries to ask what's wrong, but they don't seem to know much about orchids. They just tell me I'm overwatering, but changing the amount of water given and frequency had no effect after 2 weeks.

Here are the photos:
Mtssa. Shelob
Mtssa. Shelob 2
Mtssa. Shelob 3
phalaenopsis

[Ross]

The Miltassia may have spider mite or thrips. It's hard to tell from these photos. Usually occurs when environment is too dry. Plant looks healthy though, so I am not sure what to tell you. Phal looks like it was kept too wet. If you've backed off water, then it will take more than 2 weeks to see an improvement. If it were mine, I would get rid of moss and repot in coarse bark mix (or the equivilant.) That's just what I would do. It'll probably pull through if you don't get tempted to water too much.

[reinbo15]

I agree with Ross. The photo isn't close up enough to show if there are any insects there. If we could see them in a photo, you surely would yourself. If you had been over-watering, the roots would be rotten. Changing your watering habits is good, but it won't bring back the rotten roots. You should pull those plants you suspect were over-watered out of their pots and trim back any dead or rotten roots, then re-pot in fresh medium. If all the roots are dead, then we have a whole other topic entirely, and that would be a rescue mission! Hope that is somewhat helpful.

Lisa

[Demeter]

Thanks for the feedback. Well, this morning I tried both solutions. I repotted both orchids, trimmed off what I supposed were dead roots (which, for the most part, were), and sprayed them with a mite pesticide designed for flowering plants. There weren't many dead roots, from what I could tell. It probably wasn't a good idea to repot the phalaenopsis while it was spiking, but I don't have anywhere to store extra repotting bark until it's finished flowering.

Unfortunately, those photos were as close up as my camera gets. I can't see any actual bugs, more of a tiny fluffy white substance. Based on browsing the net, I thought the fluffy white stuff might be boisduval? scale. Could that be right?

[reinbo15]

Boisduval scale is a type I have no experience with, so I can't say if that is what you have there. I would recommend you search powdery mildew and mineral deposits, though. Those are two things that can create a white substance like the one in the photo. Usually mineral deposits build up in the potting mix, but that is kind of what it looks like. It's a little isolated for powdery mildew, but I can't see it that well either. Maybe those searches will bring up a photo that looks like what you have. If what you have IS scale, you can just wash it off with soapy water. Then check again weekly.

Lisa