help ! white fluffy patches ?

[garyorchids]

hi all, one of my beloved plants, well 2 in one pot, has suddenly started developing tiny white spots of what looks like little bits of cotten wall ! is this a sign of infection of some type and what should i do next ?
i have allready quarentined these plants as i suspect a bug. i live in england, any help advise would be greatly appreciated
thanks
gary

[psyc1210]

That sounds like mealy bugs. Do you have a picture you could upload?

[garyorchids]

what are meely bugs and where do they come from, i've had the plant for about 8 months and this is the first time i've noticed these white spots. pickies to follow
sorry there not the best, i've rubbed off most of the "cotton wall" spots.
if it is these bugs what do i to get rid of them ?

[psyc1210]

They seem to hide in small crevices of the plant, along with hiding in the potting mix. I have manually picked them off of a plant that I had a few on, and then followed up with soaking in dish soap and water mixture, with some cinnamon extract.


let me see if I can find the thread that had that mixture for you....

[psyc1210]

Here try this.....

The Best Stuff Ever!!!

[garyorchids]

thanks i'll try it, cinamon seems to cure a lot of things with orchids !
will these bugs harm my plants if left alone ?
when you say dish soap, is that what we call washing up liquid ?
i'll bin the current medium, give them a thorough soaking then re pot.
thank you

[psyc1210]

If washing up liquid is the liquid soap you use to wash your dishes, like Dawn for example, then yes.

You don't want to leave the mealies on your plant, as they can feed on the plant.

Here's a link with some nice pictures of them so you can see for yourself.
Mealybugs on Orchids

[-k-]

Are your certain they are bugs? meallies that are that visible in the photo are large enough to be clearly identified, are the spots stagnant or moving about? If not bugs could be mold...

[tangers40]

my mom has an orchid that developed some fluffy white patches like this, and we were told to follow the regimen for mealybugs, despite the fact there were no actual bugs visible. when i later saw a plant in a store that DEFINITELY had mealies (i could see the bugs themselves), i know her plant was not buggy infected. we never did figure out what was causing it, but a mold or fungus was the likely culprit. she sprayed with brookn's recipe several times, and kept the plant a bit dryer than normal, and it went away on its own. the plant has now recovered, grown a new pbulb, and is throwing a sheath on it.

long story short lol, i'm not convinced the plant in question has mealybugs, either. but a good dousing with the magic potion should work either way.

[amchu3]

The fluffy white cotton is a common case made by larvae of insects to allow them to mature in safety. If you see it, kill it!!

[garyorchids]

the white spots definately aren't bugs, they're like little bits of cotten wall, they do seem to appear after watering but only on this plant and do not appear on my other 12 plants after watering. perhaps it is just a mould that appears on this particular plant after a good soak ?

[Brooke]

Take some rubbing alcohol, dip a Qtip in it, then touch the white spots. If they turn a dark gray instantly, then it is mealies.

If they appear after you water, the bugs are crawling out of the media onto the plant.

Brooke

[garyorchids]

they aren't bugs, there a white fluffy, cotton wall like substance. after watering yesteday i wiped them off and they have not re appeared so fingers crossed it is not mealies

[11Orchid126]

If the cottony creatures reappear in a week or so then it's a sign their eggs are lurking in the medium. If that's the case you must treat the whole plant, leaves, bulbs, roots and the medium. These bugs are born pregnant!

[garyorchids]

i have got to the bottom of the problem, it turned out to be spider mights. the cotton wall type deposits were the web they spin which gives them there name. a regular squirting of a water and vegtable oil solution soon saw them off. a tip aquired from an internet search.
thanks all
happy growing