Rescue phal with mites
 

I rescued 2 bleak looking phals from the store that were on clearance for $4 each. Both of them have mites I believe, tiny tiny bits of cob web looking stuff on the spikes and around the buds a bit. Both of the phals have lost quite a few buds but the remaining ones are about to open and look like they'll be really pretty if they pull through.

I've never dealt with mites on an orchid before so any advice on what to do to treat it would be greatly appreciated. Also, one of the phals roots are looking super waterlogged and soggy, i do see a few healthy roots in there but majority seem either dried up or soggy. It has 7 leaves but all but the top 2 are really wilted. I'm wondering if i should repot it right away, or treat for the mite issue before repotting? Should i not repot at all while its in bloom and just pull out some of the soggy spagh to loosen it up a bit and get more air flow for now?

I attached a picture, quality isn't the greatest, of the wilted waterlogged phal in it's pot. Any feedback would be great, thanks!


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Tried to attach! Hopefully it works now..http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/18/unegypyt.jpg


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Hi Emerald, there are a number of things that you could do to treat/prevent spidermites.

1) You can make a mixture of rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl alcohol) with water in approximately 1:3 alcohol to water ratio and spray the leaves and roots with this concoction and let it dry. Spray about every other day for about 1 week or so. There are many different recipes for this type of spray that include adding some ground cinnamon and/or liquid dish soap.

2) Increase the humidity of your growing area. Spider mites do not like to be wet! They normally will show up on plants that are being kept in a dry, warm environment. *This is more of a long-term treatment/prevention method*

3) Spray your plants with the Isopropyl alcohol alone, making sure to get into all crevices. This is a stronger version of option 1, but it also can be a little more harsh on your phal because of the inherent desiccating nature of the alcohol- can affect your leaves negatively if done too often. For this, I would suggest no more than once every 3-4 days MAX.

4) There are various products out there that contain all sorts of miticide agents- some are stronger than others, but at the same time the chemicals that they contain can actually be dangerous to YOU as well! For this reason, many growers tend to lean towards neem-oil or soap based products because they are less likely to harm you in any sort of way. * I personally have discovered "Mighty Wash" from BrewandGrow.com. I have used this on my orchids and also on my vegetables (same growing area)! This product is safe to apply whenever in the growing cycle and is organic= NO NASTY CHEMICALS FOR US! The only instructions for use are that you just need to spray extremely throroughly when the plants are not going to be in any sort of strong light- best applied at night or after grow lights turn off because this solution can cause the leaves to burn if exposed to light before drying. It only took 2 applications and all of my spider mites were gone! Easiest thing ever!Mighty Wash

Of course, everyone handles mites a little bit differently. But everyone agrees on this- they are a PAIN and it can sometimes take persistance and vigorous observation to make sure that the infestation does not come back.

I wish you luck in your battle against the dreaded mite and if you have any other questions, please feel free to post them here! We all love to help each other out!

If it were me, I'd take it out of it's potting medium and rinse the heck out of it. Mites hate water. Orchids are great in the fact that they can be out of soil so it makes it really easy to wash them off. I'd also just lop off the spike and call it payment for a rescue orchid...but that's me. Water with some soap also works well. Spray everything even the undersides of the leaves. Whatever you do, don't get them anywhere near any other plants and mites can hang onto your clothes so be careful or you will end up with a nightmare!

When my Phal has mites I took it out of the pot and put the whole plant in soapy water for about 10 min. and then rinsed it well, repotted it in fresh mix and never had any more mites plus the plant looked better after a good bath.