What Are These Things!?!?!?!?!

[Royal]

I voted for insecticide, but repotting wouldn't hurt, especially if it's just starting to spike. I would do both. Just try to remove all of the old medium and try to be really careful with the roots.

[Soonix]

Please do not think i'm crazy in any way . I use water and a bit of amonia to get rid of everything from the little black flies to mold and anything else i think i have seen on any of my chids. The solution repels the pests and the plants seem to be happy with it. You can also add a bit of soap in it but i never bother.

S.

[Karma2383]

Ah, I see. Where on earth might they have come from?? I've had the orchid for months and never seen any bugs until now. It's an inside plant.

[moogiemama]

I really think they were in the orchid bark as eggs that eventually hatched and took over!

[jason woodrue]

Hi,
dont panic.

I had something like that in a paph which is now growing nicely , a dendrobium that has a mad growing cane!, and in a dwarf phalenopsis that was spiking and has since bloomed rather well!
I neem oiled the situation and the bugs are gone. i didn't replace the medium. someone told me they were spring tails, but i never saw them springing.
I cant remember my neem oil ratio exactly, but i added say a teaspoon to a gallon of water with a small squirt of organic dish soap (google for other recipes). i dipped and watered with the mixture. I tried not to get the liquid on the leaves. i know neem oil is in leaf shine, but it made me nervous. i have heard of too much neem oil suffocating leaves - so just get the mixture in the medium. it smells wierd. the oilly mix is kindof messy
I neem oiled the paph once and it took care of everything.
the dendrobium took 2 neem oilings: i neemoiled, then a week later i did a regular watering, then a week after that i neem oiled again and no problems.
the dwarf phal i neem oiled 2 waterings in a row. one of the waterings i had both neem oil and fertilizer and the plant has done fine. the spike continued to grow and has bloomed and is still in bloom.
Neem oil can be ordered i guess. it is kindof expensive, but i acquired it thru a different method that is probably not available to most people. (i was at an indian spice and grocery store in manhattan called Kalustyans and they have so many strange herbs, spices, condiments, chutneys, sauces, lentils, dried fruits, oils...And i got to wondering if they had neem oil and there were 3 different varieties of pure neem oil. i dont know what they use it for, but i knew what i wanted to do with it. The nice thing is that i was able to buy this small 6 dollar bottle that was good for about 4 teaspoons - you probably didnt need to hear about Kalustyan's but oh well. )

mike smith
the floronic man

[moogiemama]

I bought neem oil right in the local True Value hardware store. You can also get it in Lowe's and probably HD as well. It is a bit pricey, but a little goes a long way and you can use it on many other critters, too.

[AHAB]

Toss the pot.
Start fresh!

[sparverius]

The wee beasties appear to be springtails (Order Collembola). Springtails are detritivores, feeding on dead and decaying plant material, and will pose no harm to living plants. If any of them are still alive try nudging one with a small wire. It should jump. They have a structure folded under the abdomen that acts like a spring on a hair trigger and these little guys are world class jumpers. They're kind of fun to watch if you are into minute, six-legged acrobats. Eggs could have been in the roots of the plant or in the medium or a gravid female could have leaped over from another plant. They are common in most soils. Wood lice tend to be somewhat larger and have much longer antennae and are equally harmless to live plant material.

Dave C.

[Tindomul]

No they are too large to be springtails.