Ahhhh....help....my orchid has started getting cotton like spots!!!

[FenixVA]

Someone please help! I love my oriental orchid and don't want to lose it. I just noticed that there are tiny cotton like spots starting to show up one the leaves. Please can someone tell me what they are, how they got there (there are no other plants anywhere near it) and how do I deal with this without harming the plant? I have pics but don't know how to include them yet.

[BluPeaches]

It sounds to me like mealy bugs but I can't be sure without a picture. Search on this forum for " the best stuff ever" and you will find a recipe that helps get rid of them.

Welcome to the forum!

[mayres]

Probably mealy bugs. You can spray it with a systemic pesticide - a good one is Bayer Rose and Flower Spray - a ready to use spray that is available for about $5 at home improvement stores. Of course there are MANY options with sprays too - safers soap, and lots of others. If you are just talking one plant the easiest way to deal with it initially is to just remove the critters and see if you can deal with them this way initially. Look at it daily and remove all of them with something like a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. Just remember that once established they are also in the media - so to totally get rid of them in a semi-natural way you may need to repot with fresh media too.....
Good luck!

[NiNiDazzle]

You will know if it's mealy bugs if you touch it with rubbing alcohol and it turns brown.

[FenixVA]

Wow!! Thank you so much all of you for you help 😃

[orchidea]

Yep, sounds like mealy bugs to me too....
Please, don't worry, you can save your orchid.
But keep in mind these nasty bugs are usually hiding very deep between the leaves and the body of the plant. You have to spray ALL OVER!!!!! Then you will have to do it again about 10 days to 2 weeks later if you want all the bugs gone.
They most likely came with the orchid. The place you bought it from or the vendor took care of the problem before selling, but not all of the bugs were killed. So, now you have a new generation of them.....
If you touch one of the cotton balls and it starts moving, it's a mealy bug. If you look closer, you will see a tail and legs and everything elce......
Most of us have this problem here and there, and we have learned to live with that. Just make sure you inspect your orchid every week or so, to make sure you don't see anything unusual....
If you have only one orchid it's really easy..... Imagine some of us who have many, many more () dealing with bugs.....

[1joyceh]

One note, as they fooled me...they hide in the spike clips and stakes...grrrr...thought I was going crazy on a particular plant....isolated it....would treat time and time again....repotted when in bloom, thought I tried everything...
when the blooms were done...and I removed the clips...sure enough...it was their nursery inside.....I was so mad at myself for not looking all that time...enjoyed soaking the clips in alcohal, have to tell you!

[orchidaddict789]

I have a few of them appear here and there, and I wipe them off with a towel and spray. I find them much easier to get rid of then, say, scale.

[FenixVA]

You guys are all awesome. I am 100% certain they are meely bugs. I did the Qtip with rubbing alcohol (I must say it was rather fun, even though I usually don't like killing things). I think I got it pretty early 'cause there were only 10 or 15 of them. I actually did find their hiding spots in the clips and posts totally by accident (lol). I am going to go get the safer soap today as I have an outside plant that has aphids so I want to kill all pestles at the same time. I am lucky that I only have one plant to care for (there is five plant in one pot).

Can someone explain to me how to post pictures in here? Then I can share my orchid with everyone.

Thank you again to each of you. I am not feeling so panicked now.

😄😉👍

[Fishmom]

Hello FenixVA, and welcome to the Boards. You will be able to post pictures when you have 5 posts, so just comment on a couple of different threads and you will be fine. Then there is a sticky post at the top of the photography thread (Taking and Processing pictures) that explains different ways of posting pictures. Many people use a photo-hosting site (like photobucket or imageshack) to post. I like to upload my pictures into the photo gallery on the board, and then put the thumbnail image into my post, by copying the BB image code into my post.

Have fun, and put up lots of pictures! We all love pictures!