Phalaenopsis with white stringy substance on underside of leaf

[brandiloring]

Hello all,

I have Phalaenopsis orchid that has about a dozen of finger like white protrusions with white chunks on the end of the protrusion on the underside of only ONE leaf. I have 5 orchids total and no other orchid has this on them. My orchids are sharing a large bay window sill space with other orchids and plants. I have moved this orchid with the mystery substance away from the other plants just in case it’s contagious.

I did let some of my orchids spend some time outside this summer. I did not use any spray on them. They have been inside for several weeks now but this hasn’t been there until a few days ago.

Has anyone had this on their orchids and if so what did you do to remove them?

[metazooa]

Looks like the fruiting body of a fungus

Do you have any pictures of the topside of the leaf? Any unusual discoloration or patterns?

[Benno]

They are insect eggs. You can just wipe them off before they hatch.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Lacewing eggs. A beneficial predatory insect which will eat pest insects.

[ponderingjunkman]

Spandex, you need to park that in the greenhouse! I'd love to have lace wings to eat the white flys we have had!

[camille1585]

Agree, those are lacewing eggs! Their larvae are ferocious pest eating machines with an unsatiable appetite for fresh insect flesh.

[Mountaineer370]

Fascinating! I love how I learn so many things from this board. Lacewings sound like something I would definitely welcome around my plants outdoors, but I don't suppose I would be happy having the adults flying around inside my house, even though they are kind of pretty and quite non-scary for insects.

[brandiloring]

Thank you everyone!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by ponderingjunkman

Spandex, you need to park that in the greenhouse! I'd love to have lace wings to eat the white flys we have had!

"spandex"??? Now we need to see a picture...