Centipeeds n pill bugs! Need help!

[Purple_phal_gal13]

So yeah apparently when a plant looks sad it's not always a virus. I watered my zygopetalum this morning n boom like 5 centipeeds were crawling around the pot! They are small n brown speckled!

I watered intensely and it stirred them up. I dosed them with hydrogen peroxide and they did not like that. I have some neem oil I just need to get a spray bottle for it.

What else do I need to do? I know these lil pests have probably laid eggs. Same with a brassavola I have. Except pill bugs came out. Little rolly pollies.....

Advice? Anyone? I don't want these to spread. Good thing I have a wire rack. It must make it hard to move around to another plant. No one else is showing signs of invasion.

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[Cym Ladye]

Hydrogen peroxide does not kill or deter sow or pill bugs. Go to your local garden store and you will find several remedies.

[Purple_phal_gal13]

Does anyone have some natural remedies? My orchids are kept in my house so bad chemicals or obnoxious pesticides are not an option.

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[Leafmite]

I agree about being careful with pesticides in the home. You can just fill the laundry tub and submerge the entire plant under water for a few hours, twice, one week apart. That will drown the adults and any eggs that survive. I did that once to get rid of an ant community thriving in my citrus. Very effective. If you have a lightweight medium, put a layer of stones on the top to keep the bark from floating and acting as rafts for the bugs. Good luck!

[katrina]

As bothersome as they are to see...those 2 types of pests aren't usually going to harm your plants. It's not unusual to see either of them...especially if your plants spend any time outside and/or you just recently got the plant and it was grown in a greenhouse. Orchid pots and/or any other houseplant is a perfect environment for both of those little nasties...they like dark and moist.

The centipedes are predators and typically only go after insects...not plant materials. You can consider them beneficial, if you'd like. I hate finding them in my pots or on my mounts because they creep me out but there's no need to worry about them harming your plants.

The wood louse (be it roly poly or sow bug) usually only feed on decaying matter and not the plants. If numbers are extremely high they might do damage to seedlings but they aren't usually feeding on plants.

With all of that said...if you have wood louse...it could be an indication of your medium becoming old and broken down. It's not a definite indicator...but it's something to consider if you use bark or another organic medium.

[Vanda lover]

I have sow bugs that got into my hanging vanda basket. They keep breaking down the sphagnum and little bits of stuff, including poop are all over the windowsill below the plant. I have been flushing with water and submerging the basket whenever I water, and usually a few come out. I think they will chew the plant roots if they have began to rot, which could be the case if your medium is breaking down.

[Purple_phal_gal13]

I repotted my zygo and the medium had broken down. I found a good number more in the medium.

I washed the roots good so I'm hoping I got rid if all the clingers.

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[ALToronto]

Whenever I find a centipede outside, I bring it inside and let it loose in one of the orchid pots. Either it finds some nasties to eat, or it goes into another pot. Either way, I keep the pests under control. I have no problems at all with centipedes, ladybugs or spiders in my house. Might even get a praying mantis.

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by ALToronto

Whenever I find a centipede outside, I bring it inside and let it loose in one of the orchid pots. Either it finds some nasties to eat, or it goes into another pot. Either way, I keep the pests under control. I have no problems at all with centipedes, ladybugs or spiders in my house. Might even get a praying mantis.

I don't go that far, but I have no problem with them either. i love all living things and they are all important.

nancy

[WaterWitchin]

My experience with roly-poly bugs is if they exist, there was already a problem. Usually they go after dead/decaying materials. When I've had the pill bugs or whatever ya wanna call them show up, and I've decanted a plant, then find there was already root damage. I look at 'em as being indicators of something already awry... not being the original cause.

Now centipedes... they can stay outside. Because that's just the way I roll.