Soil mites on new orchid that is potted in soil

[astrid]

After reading all the great reviews about Seattle Orchid, I was excited to receive an oncidium type orchid from them.

However, I have purchased this exact plant from other places, and they all are potted in dirt!! I expected Seattle Orchid would have repotted in some better media, which I found pretty annoying.

On top of that, I noticed today that there are damn little soil mites in the dirt!! Argh!!

By soil mites, I mean these little teensy bugs that look like a light brown or silvery sliver, and crawl throughout the dirt. I had a bad problem with these in a terrarium I made last year, and in spite of spraying the soil like mad with an insecticide/fungicide/miticide spray, they stubbornly remained! How irritating!

So here are my concerns:
1- Will this spread to other plants on the same shelf, or do they need direct contact to spread?

2- Will these guys spread to bark media, or is it too dry and inhospitable for them?

3- Are these known to damage the plant, or are they just an annoyance to look at?

I'm so grumpy to receive such an inappropriate potting media that is also infested with soil mites from a company that has such good reviews overall.

EDIT:
I now think these are springtails thanks to randomgemini's advice.

[RandomGemini]

It's not dirt. It's Promix, which is a REALLY great media for growing these plants.

Contact Seattle Orchid. No, really. Send them an email. Take pictures and include them in your email. They will make this right. Every time I have had an issue, even if it wasn't their fault, they have made it right for me.

EDITED TO ADD: Reading your post again, I suspect you are not seeing soil mites. You are probably seeing springtails. That's just an indicator to me that a plant needs to be repotted because the medium is broken down. Repot it as soon as all of the blooms fall, if it is currently in bloom.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I can't think of any Oncidium that should be potted in soil (?!?)

I would re-pot into a more suitable medium. Wash off the plant & roots thoroughly, let it dry. Inspect again. Only re-pot when you are sure the mites are gone. If you see evidence of mites, wash again.

Some mites are bad some are not, but I would err on the side of caution. Goes without saying, but keep this plant isolated from others until you can repot.

Added later: It appears I was typing at the same time as R G. I have no personal experience with Seattle Orchids or Promix, but since R.G. does, I would try the advice given by R.G.

[astrid]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

It's not dirt. It's Promix, which is a REALLY great media for growing these plants.

Contact Seattle Orchid. No, really. Send them an email. Take pictures and include them in your email. They will make this right. Every time I have had an issue, even if it wasn't their fault, they have made it right for me.

EDITED TO ADD: Reading your post again, I suspect you are not seeing soil mites. You are probably seeing springtails. That's just an indicator to me that a plant needs to be repotted because the medium is broken down. Repot it as soon as all of the blooms fall, if it is currently in bloom.

Hmm, well thanks for the info about promix!!
I don't think it's an ideal medium for my growing style and I worry it will stay too moist in my home setting, but that's interesting to know that it is actually a good mix for orchids.

I am not sure about emailing them. I emailed them about bud blast on my plant, pictures included and they have yet to get back to me a week later. Obviously it's cold out so it's reasonable that the buds would blast even in a shipment that is 4 hours away from them by car, so that didn't bother me too much, but the non-response is not the best.

They've been wonderful on the phone in the past, but I've been too busy to call, and I'm a little miffed that my email doesn't have a response yet.

As for the bugs in the soil...
I don't think they're springtails. I was under the impression that springtails jump, and these bugs just crawl about. They look like a tiny tiny sesame seed or something. The google image results for springtails show much bigger bugs than I am seeing.

I would take a picture to show the bugs, but they are so small I don't even know if I can photograph them!

[RandomGemini]

Springtails are not big at all. They are nearly microscopic in size. I suspect the images you see on the internet make them appear bigger than they actually are. They are silvery and I have never seen them jump, though I do believe that they do. I have only just seen them crawl about and only because I happened to have held the plant in the light at the right angle to see them move. I removed the plant from the rotting medium, tossed the old medium, let the plant dry out for a day in my laundry room with no light, then repotted it. Haven't seen them since. They aren't particularly harmful, but when you see them, you know the medium is old.

[astrid]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Springtails are not big at all. They are nearly microscopic in size. I suspect the images you see on the internet make them appear bigger than they actually are. They are silvery and I have never seen them jump, though I do believe that they do. I have only just seen them crawl about and only because I happened to have held the plant in the light at the right angle to see them move. I removed the plant from the rotting medium, tossed the old medium, let the plant dry out for a day in my laundry room with no light, then repotted it. Haven't seen them since. They aren't particularly harmful, but when you see them, you know the medium is old.

Hmm...
Well, great information! Thank you! I will repot this plant after the flower fades, and I'll be sure to let the roots dry for a day or two before repotting.

[RandomGemini]

Happy to help!