I've been growing my orchids indoors for a few months pest free when I just noticed a few weeks ago that my den kept loosing its leaves (from the bottom to the newest top leaves). Just last week I realized that I had flat mites (red dots that don't move) and it's spread to my phal. Well, at least it sounds like flat mites from reading here.
Here are the states of my plants:
1 Den: All my canes are bare except for a baby cane (3 baby leaves)
1 Phal: 4 mature leaves and 1 baby leaf (but there is damage/pitting on the 2 mature leaves)
2 Catts: No signs of damage
2 Onci: No signs of damage, but 1 is officially dead, I think, due to bad caretaking.
I wiped down the leaves, then sprayed with water and mopped them dry with a paper towel. Over the weekend, I uprooted ALL my orchids and thoroughly sprayed them with insecticidal soap (roots and all). I also cut the flowers off my phal.
Did I do the right thing?
What do I do now?
Maybe I shouldn't have sprayed the roots? But I really want those mite GONE!
I suppose I should respray next week? How does one spray the underside of the leaves without unpotting?
Is the spray safe? I have a cat and a baby at home. The insecticidal soap has a rather strong odor and I'm concerned the fumes might be toxic? I sprayed outside, waiting a 15 minutes, then brought all my plants back into my bathroom because it's too cold outside.
Do I leave the chemical to "soak" on the leaves? If I touch the leaves, would it "come off" onto my fingers?
I'm worried about crown rot. Do I need to blow dry the crown or can I leave the soap on to make sure the mites stay dead?
There were a few plusses to this problem:
My plants have never looked better. The leaves are so green and glossy with the cleaning.
Also, I found so many new roots on all my plants. Some of the roots were growing new off shoots. On a sad note, one of my other Oncs. didn't make it.