Translucent worm in Paph medium

[Suzanne17]

Hi, all- my Paph Pinocchio which just bloomed and has a second bud forming has been doing fine but leaves have been looking a little peaked and I thought I saw crown rot and then I saw a tiny black bug...all of which led to me repotting today. Well, no crown rot- just an old leaf that hadn't come completely off, and one bottom leaf on the second (newer) growth broke off. But otherwise ok, roots were decent. However! When I checked the old medium which was not broken down at all, there were three or four little translucent worms. From research, it seems these fit the description of the larval form of fungal gnats but I haven't seen any flying adults or any other pests. I did isolate the Paph yesterday when I saw the little black bug (which I did not find today- it was extremely small, pin sized almost, roundish, black and fast). The Paph got a good rinse in the sink before getting repotted. What can I get to control this? It would have to be something pet safe (cats and dogs) and I won't be able to make it to the orchid store for a month ish so I will have to be able to get it at Lowe's. Thanks in advance!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MrHappyRotter]

Looks like an immature millipede. They are detritivores, and wouldn't typically harm a healthy pant. They live off decaying matter in organic potting media (moss, bark, etc).

You can get rid of them, or at least reduce the numbers, by soaking the pots for awhile in water.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Not a true worm.

Neither is it a fungus gnat larvae, or any larvae for that matter.

It is most likely a millipede as was mentioned.

[NYCorchidman]

I have a few of them on three of my paphs bought this year.
When you soak the mix for a long time, they crawl out. You can pick them out by tooth pick.

I squeezed one out of curiosity, they are quite hard. You can actually hear the cracking. lol
they smell really bad when crushed though.

[Suzanne17]

Oh, good. I won't worry about them then. It did crack when I smushed it. I don't like smushing bugs as a rule unless I know they are harmful but I also don't really want anything flying around here if I can help it. So sounds like I don't need to do anything more and I guess I can move Pinocchio back to the main room.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk