You're welcome
 

I figured out two things today. One, why no one else is posting about mites every other month, and two, that I've been involuntarily (but selflessly!) providing an invaluable service to other OB members.

Yep. You have no mites on your plants because they are all at MY house. On MY plants. It makes sense now that even with proper humidity and lots of airflow, not to mention spraying, I'm still finding mite colonies every time I turn around. It's a random act of kindness for my fellow orchid lovers and, I guess, for hungry mites.

See below my latest victim. If my eyes were better, it wouldn't get this far. It's embarrassing that it got this far even with the eyesight I have.

Ugh! Are they little bugs that you can actually see move, or do they burrow into the leafs?

Some people can see them with just their eyes-- I need at least a 10x lens. They are sucking creatures, and eventually leave pitted areas on leaves that are silvery on some plants. They prefer the underside of leaves, but mine have gotten bold (or overcrowded) and started hanging out on top as well.
I grow under lights exclusively and water by hand, so my plants' leaves aren't getting soaked at every watering. I think that's why I've had more trouble with them than most seem to.

Beth, Sorry to hear of your mite problems.

Get yourself some Tetrasan and your mite problems will be a thing of the past. It's kind of expensive but worth every penny.

I bought some a few years ago and still have most of the 2oz package left. So even a packet that size will last a good long time.
It can be used as a dunk or foliar spray (I find the dunk works better) at 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. If you have a smallish collection spraying might be the way to go for you.
Ebay is the cheapest that I could find when I bought it and still is.

Tetrasan 5 WDG Miticide Mite Control in Conifers Valent 2 Oz | eBay

They offer free shipping!!

Get some, you'll be glad you did, trust me.

Judi

Thanks for the tip and the link, Judi. I hadn't heard of Tetrasan before now.

I'm so paranoid about mites that I take an "optivisor" and look at all my plants. Luckily I haven't seen any yet, but anything suspicious got a wipe with alcohol just in case. I'm just a newbie but so far so good.

Thanks for playing hostess to the little effers!