really tiny orange eggs
 

I've owned a NoID phal for about 1.5 months. I haven't seen any pests on it. Today I was poking around in the moss that it's potted in, and I saw something (barely) move. It was tiny, and maybe cigar shaped (so tiny, I can't be sure, but I do believe it was oblong) and of indeterminate color.

After I saw it I poked around some more looking for more, but saw nothing. Then I remembered that I had a jewelers loupe. That's when I found them, armed with a headlight and the jewelers loupe, tiny orange eggs. I checked the leaves (top and bottom) and stem and blooms and moss and didn't find anything other than the tiny orange eggs in the moss. I half expected them to be false spider mites, I haven't found any mites on the leaves or stem or blooms.

I don't know if these eggs are old, dead or are new and preparing to unleash hordes of something onto the phal and the missus' desk. I'm pretty sure the missus wouldn't like that.

If you like sushi, they remind me of masago but obviously much smaller. I suspect it would be tough to round enough up to make sushi and I'm not sure they'd taste as good.

So, any idea what these are and what I should do about them?

I don't know what they are but I'm sure they don't belong there. Get rid of them. Blast the plants with a systemic insecticide. Then repeat after a few days. And presume that they're on everything, not just one plant.

Any recommendations for a particular insecticide?

Is that on a dead root?

It could be some sort of fungus that is breaking down and decaying the dead root. It looks the "right color" to be one, to me. I see this color a lot in the woods on decaying things.. You could get rid of it by removed the root as completely as you can and planting in fresh media. That may not get rid of all the spores, but it would cut down on it.

If it's just a regular ole fungus that eats dead stuff, it's not too much to worry about, but may indicate there's too much moisture.

Anything is possible. I could repot, but would hate to get bud blast. The plant is full of blooms and has 3 new buds on a branch. The missus would be very disappointed. I really do think they are eggs. I have found them in a couple of spots in the moss that the plant is in. They are always the same size and color and spherical.

I think your issue may have been addressed in the past. Try checking this thread out and the link contained within.


Orange balls/bugs on phal's rotting roots?

From the description it sounds like what you may have.

It looks like you were right!
That sounds/looks about like it to me. There's very little. It is fairly tightly packed Sphag in the pot. I've been watering once a week, not letting it get quite completely dry. I have some new pots that should be arriving Sat, and I have some bark. I'm going to do a bit of research to see if I would be better off just trashing this plant or trying to rehab it. The one in the link that you sent seems to have rehabbed nicely, but the Dr that put out the pdf recommends trashing plants with Fusarium assuming you don't have a strong reason to keep them.

Phals do put up with repotting while in bloom, just be careful not to bang the flowers around. Bark would be better than spaghnum ... but no matter what, fresh media would be helpful if you want this to be more than a once-and-gone plant. With fresh media, you'll need to pay attention to watering, since it will dry out more rapidly (which the plant will also love) For pests, Bayer's Advanced 3-in-1 includes both insecticide and miticide and is systemic.

I do have some Orchiata bark (w/charcoal and sponge rock). I would love to be able to salvage this plant. I certainly don't see much point in buying live plants to just throw them away after they bloom. I started another thread in the beginner's section to get recommendations on whether I should try to save a plant with Fusarium or not. It seems like most folks hear or read the word and automatically go to "burn it with fire and then call in the nukes" mode.

I did read one other thread from a guy back in 2014 that had it, and a year later, the plant was healthy and reblooming. So it seems like it is possible to defeat.

UPDATE: FYI, I repotted this orchid into a bark/perlite/charcoal mix (local orchid shop sells it that way). It's been a week to 10 days. I just checked the orchid and media. There are new roots, the existing roots look good and I wasn't able to find any of the small orange fungus that looks like eggs. So I think going from the tightly packed sphag moss to a drier environment with the bark has helped.