Scales? And something else?

[LoveOscar]

This is my pink/yellow noid mini phal., purchased on the 10th of this month.



What first caught my attention was the tiny, TINY, little black moving things. I was checking roots and moss to see if they needed water.



We have yellowing roots too. I have no idea what that means. They were not yellow two days ago.



Now I'm eyes pealed and searching, and I find this.



And the leaf damage previously not there.





And then this little lady caught my eye, sitting on the new growth from my Wisteria vine. NO idea where she came from, unless she was buried in one of the pots that was outside last year.





I will repot, blooms or not, if I must. How do I kill them?

I already checked the white mini phal. and I have found no such animals. Although I am paranoid about the new succulents too, purchased at the same time as the pink phal., but they're so closely cropped I can't see snuff.

[Bud]

Lady bugs are good. There are some growers who buy them by the bulk....also mantis ....

I don't know what moving bug you found at the bottom of the cache pot but its not scale.
The leaf damage is mechanical not from fungi or bacteria.

You need not repot yet. The yellow roots must have it coming from being dehydrated on the store shelves or it is really old like some of the shrinking old roots it has= yet the plant have new robust pencil thick healthy new roots by looking at your pictures....maintain Phalaenopsis culture and watering regimen then you will manage to grow more roots and leaves when the flowers are all gone.

Soak your pot in a mixture of 2 cups of tepid water and ten drops dish soap for five minutes to kill whatever bug that is....if you have Physan20 spray the whole plant to rule out any fungi or bacteria.

[LoveOscar]

They're really tiny,tiny, black bugs. I'm near sighted, and they're so small I can barely see them. They move, that's the only reason why I saw them.

What I thought might be scale is in the fourth picture, looking down in the leaves, there is a yellow, upraised, waxy spot. I have no idea what it is, which is why I am asking if it is scale or not. It looks like it to me, from what I have seen in the bug/pest literature.

I don't have any pesticides/fungicides yet. I didn't use them last year because I had no indoor plants last year. This is the first year I'm really bringing stuff inside, like the orchids, succulents, and I plan on keeping my seedling avocado (left outside only to get enough sunlight to sprout roots and first true leaves) inside this year too.

Thank you for your input Bud! I'll soak it in water/soap solution and see where that gets me.

[Bud]

scales appear under the leaves and can be scraped with the aid of a plastic knife.... your bug is above the leaves and can easily get flicked by a finger....

[LoveOscar]

I didn't know scales were under the leaves. It wasn't flicking off, but I will try scraping with a knife.