Phal Bug infestation?

[Josh]

As of today very tiny bugs appeared on my Phal, mostly on the medium but also two in the plant itself. I would like to show how they look but they are so small that makes it impossible to photograph even with macro. They are light in color, like a dark white or light grey and really small. Almost like incredibly tiny spiders, and they move fast. There seem to be several of them on the top of the medium. The plant was doing fine but was recently repotted, so I fear if they came on the new orchid medium, although I have used it on other orchids and nothing appeared so far. Does anyone have an idea of what might this be? Is it dangerous for the orchid? I will probably try to take the whole plant to a greenhouse and ask for advice on treatment, although unfortunately they aren't orchid specialists.

[Fishmom]

It sounds like springtails, tiny mites that live in the planting medium and don't really hurt your plant. If you do a search, you will find more information.

[Josh]

Any idea how can I get rid of them?

[iluvorchids]

I think I've had the same bug in one of my phals. When I watered the plants, they all went scurring. Anyways, I don't like bugs of any kind so I dumped all the potting medium, rinsed the plant, washed the pot it was in and started over. Haven't seen any bugs since.

[Fishmom]

There's a recipe for "The best stuff ever", otherwise known as Brookn's recipe, that is good to have on hand for a variety of plagues. Read down a few entries in the following thread:
The Best Stuff Ever!!!