Dendrobium orchid from Thailand looses leaves FAST

[ro0ter]

Thank you very much, Philip. At least I know my enemy now. I need to grab some good weapons against these swarms.

The isopropyl alcohol did quite some good job, but i still see some solitary mites on the stems and leaves and also in the crowns... That concerns me most... The ("still" I should say) "healthy" orchid has now 2 base keikis, but their crowns seem to have those ugly red dots...

About the insecticides I have, here they are:
1) some room spray against all sorts of bugs, ants, mosquitos, moths and spiders (general purpose like, brand AROXOL) which contains D-TRANS-TETRAMETHRIN and CYPHENOTHRIN (both 0.15%). when I sprayed it on the orchids, I noticed some root burns (dark, woody) - maybe the (iso)butane/propane frost bit them (saw it bubbeling on all the surfaces, maybe i was too close)
2) some general purpose insecticide (brand AMIA) against moths, aphids and (lol, here it comes, driple coincidence) vinegar fly... I have bought this one as I thought it will help me get rid of the "fungus gnats" which I took as mealy bugs... The active ingredients are PIRENONE and PIPERONILE BUTOXIDE. I noticed no adverse effects on all my orchids.

Yet, I will search for insecticide containing what you suggested and read further on this forum about these freaky "pets"...

Have a great day!

[ro0ter]

Allright, I have read some more on these mites, and I have three solutions (out of which I guess only 1 will eventually work):
1) 0.15% D-TRANS-TETRAMETHRIN and 0.15% CYPHENOTHRIN -- for indoor flies and spiders -- will probably not work very good
2) PIRENONE and PIPERONILE BUTOXIDE -- for vegetable pests -- will also probably not work (at all)
3) 0.012% DELTHAMETHRINE and 0.012% MYCLOBUTANIL -- it states that it is an acaricide, so I`m almost sure it will work (just bought it today)

I have not found anywhere neem oil, anyone from Cluj-Napoca, Romania knows where to find it locally?
Also, where may I find better miticides (acaricides), what brand should I look for?

[ro0ter]

Update!

Hi everyone, here comes the updates:

I have used successfully the 3rd alternative (0.012% DELTHAMETHRINE and 0.012% MYCLOBUTANIL - fungicide, acaricide and insecticide) and will still use it this week as well to be sure of total eradication.

Thank you for all your help,

[Chatbud]

ro0ter, did you get these seedlings from the Bangkok Chatuchak weekend market?

I'm sorry I may not have read your 1st post properly. Were all these pests already present on these seedlings when you bought them or they came on to the plants thru out these past 12 months?

[ro0ter]

Hi Chatbud,

These pests were not present on the plants when I have received them (hotel staff were very kind and when we asked where may we buy living orchids, they gave us 3 orchids from their nursery). The orchids are not from Bangkok, but from Koh Samui island (Rocky`s Boutique Resort; the kindest people of all I`ve seen in this world).

The plants were free of bugs for almost a year (except for some fungal mites which were already living in the soil of my other orchids; as these Thai orchids had coconut husk and I watered them the same, no evaporation caused some root rot and the fungal mites went to these as well). When my godparents brought us an orchid in the colors of our living room sun blinds (~Pigment Indigo), I did a stupid thing and didn`t separate it from the rest.. I`m 99.(9) positive that the red mites were living on this phal.. But the phals have some thick leaves which won`t go that easy for the red spider mites, so the spider mites jumped to the next orchids: the most thin-skinned were the Thai ones.

Thank you for the care!

[ro0ter]

Good news, everyone:

I have two keikis (or simply shots) in the "healthy dendrobium" and a single one in the "ill dendrobium" (the one with no leaves). The later one develops quite slow, but the first two already have a couple of small leaves. Photos to follow if anyone is interested.

Thank you for all the help!

[Island Girl]

Glad to hear that everything is going good! keep up the good work!!

[Cactuseed]

the picture looked to me instantly like spider mites. Not sure how someone could see this as scale. generally , Scale is going to be a bump outgrowth. spidermite is small yellow holes.

[ro0ter]

Originally Posted by ro0ter

Good news, everyone:

I have two keikis (or simply shots) in the "healthy dendrobium" and a single one in the "ill dendrobium" (the one with no leaves). The later one develops quite slow, but the first two already have a couple of small leaves. Photos to follow if anyone is interested.

Thank you for all the help!

So, here follows the update, after some very long time (I owe you some details).

Both wild dendrobiums were eaten by the spider mite. I was too late with the cure, I have lost the keikis... I wish to kill the owner of the flower shop from where my godparents purchased the purple phalenopsis (infested with red mite).

The wild Oncidium Twinkle thrived and flowered, but in the last months it started to decay (I believe root rott... need to check its substrate, but now I am quite busy with putting together a baby room...).

It is very strange that all its keikis (or little springs) are somehow crumbled/packed.. don`t know the problem (may it be lack of humidity?)...

I have attached some pictures (dated 24th of November, 2014... about a year ago) with the Oncidium Twinkle flowering, should someone be curious . To me these flowers seem to be little angels .

Regards and thank you for all your help!!