Black dust in and around pots?

[OrchidNut555]

Hi everyone

I grow my orchids inside a milsbo cabinet with t8 barrina led grow lights currently on for 12 hours everyday. temperatures are aeound 21-23 degrees c. humidity i have yet to measure as i don't have a devuce for that yet.

All my orchids (mostly mini cattleyas and latouria dendrobiums) are doing perfectly fine: new growths, new roots, everything as good as can be. I do have some algae formation though.


I give all of this information because inm extremely puzzled by something: there is a sort of black dust collecting inside the trays/ pots i keep my potted plants in and also around them. it genuinely looks like black dust. The milsbo cabinet is black, but i see no colour flaking off. the dust doesn't move , i see no harm on my plants. under a magnifying glass i don't see much. it either looks like dirt or seems to have a spindlty leg or two but since NONE of the specs move at ALL i am unsure if this is some kind of weird mite or genuine dirt and i have no clue where it came from.

again, i see NO infestations of ANY type of pest or bug or anything at all on any of my plants.

Woulf any of you know what this is? i attachef a photo to show whqt the black specs look like

Thank you in advance!

[Dimples]

If your plants are in bark, it’s likely bark dust/bits. The bark breaks down slowly and little pieces fall off and eventually fall out the bottom of the pot. I often find springtails hanging out in the saucers of my plants. No biggie.

[OrchidNut555]

Originally Posted by Dimples

If your plants are in bark, it’s likely bark dust/bits. The bark breaks down slowly and little pieces fall off and eventually fall out the bottom of the pot. I often find springtails hanging out in the saucers of my plants. No biggie.

i thought of this as well, but it's also around the pots in quite a big quantity. there are no fans and i don't move the plants around a lot. would this still be bits of bark? i don't use an incredible amount of it anyway.

i hope i'm not coming off as dismissive, i'm just trying to convey my thoughts; the sheer number of it inside and outside the tray is just a lot and i'd wonder how it'd even end up outside of the tray.

i do hope it is this, though!!

[OrchidNut555]

im starting to think they are some kind of super tiny black mite? none of them move though


does anyone have a clue on this?

[Roberta]

If they don't move, I just wouldn't worry...just watch the plants and see if there is any distress. Observation is super-important, watch what is happening over time.

[OrchidNut555]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If they don't move, I just wouldn't worry...just watch the plants and see if there is any distress. Observation is super-important, watch what is happening over time.

I agree with you. I also checked the black stuff again and can confirm they are not bugs, let alone mites. Is it dirt? is it something else? no idea, let alone about how they got scattered like that, including on the vertical walls of the trays.

The plants are doing great, the black stuff isn't causing any harm and it doesn't move. i'll wipe it off, but i do hope it won't return as it's annoying, but i doubt that.

[estación seca]

Do you have a fan for air circulation in the cabinet?

[OrchidNut555]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Do you have a fan for air circulation in the cabinet?

not yet no, but i plan on doing that asap