Armies of ants.

[Winterwhite]

I bought a Schomburgkia myrmecophila thomsoniana orchid which has as its properties.....'armies of ants living in hollow pseudobulbs. Sure enough very tiny delicate ants have begun to appear on my plant stand. Should I be keeping this plant away from the rest of my orchids or are the ants something that all my orchids can live with.

Lastly, I noticed some very small black flies or insects flying around my orchids. Only one or two. Is this something I should spray?

Ok....one more question.....I planted a plantlet I think a paph or phal in a small vanda basket and packed it with spagnum moss. Another December acquisition. It has about 5 leaves but it appears to me that perhaps the moss is keeping it too moist. Perhaps I should take it out and put it in a pot with small bark medium. Any thoughts? I think it is rotting to death. Bittersweet

[mayres]

A few thoughts............
People who grow paphs around here like good aeration of the media - and typically use a mix of medium bark and perlite (I know some on this forum use sphag but this is not a media of my choice). They do like to be kept on the moist side.
Little flying bugs around your media commonly point out decaying media - possibly time to change?
Ants in and of themselves are no problem, but I can say from personal experience that you want to get rid of them - they often bring in mealies and/or aphids and farm these on your plants. Terro is a fairly good product available at many places for ant control.

[jerrymeola]

For Paphs, I prefer either sphag (which requires care to avoid over watering) or fine bark/pumice mix.

I do not like medium or large bark as the roots have tiny hair fibers that do most of the work. These break off if allowed to dry completely. Medium and large bark have too many air pockets that allow drying for my taste.

For insects, I am recommending Worm Tea. This is a totally natural organic product that builds the natural immunity of the plant as well. I recommended it before and as a result of my testing (a posting will come this weekend) I have switched my greenhouses to injecting Worm Tea into every months watering.

[Winterwhite]

Jerry....thank you again. The plantlets that I referred to is a dendrobium and not a phal or paph. My error. I went back and checked after I wrote my message. Question: can I mount this dendrobium? It doesn't like the vanda basket and I fear it is dying. I might be overwatering it. Thank you again. Winterwhite.
PS is your site up yet? As it gets warmer....I'd like to consider a purchase. Or two.

[BillC]

Hi WW, You may find the following extract from an article I found on Springer.com of interest :

Many plant species have evolved mutualistic associations with ants, protecting their host against detrimental influences such as herbivorous insects. Letourneau (1998) reported in the case of Piper that ants defend their plants principally against stem-boring insects and also reduce fungal infections on inflorescences.

So maybe your ants are careing for the plants!! Bill

Forgot to mention names of orchids of genus myrmecophila, means "love of ants" ...

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If the plant is a Den in the moss/basket, I would repot it into something that drys out fairly fast. During winter when Dens are not growing they like to be dry the better part of the time. If your Den is growing, it can take a lot of water. If your Den has been dormant for winter, you should start to see new growth any day now, then having to get it dry won't be a problem. Also, with the new growth will come new roots, which should perk the plant up. Remember to pot very small for a Den.

[jerrymeola]

Growing dens in baskets takes a lot of patience to get established. I find the biggest problem is they dry too fast. Even with daily waterings I lose more bare root dens then I like to consider.

The sphag has a double problem it that as you see it retains water a long time and second when it dries it becomes as hard as a rock.

I use sphag to mount dens on wood and this works similar to your basket. Water it heavy and allow it to almost dry out. You will see the color of the sphag lighten as it dries. It will not kill the den if the sphag becomes hard but I water just before it gets that far.