New leaves - white fuzz pictures

[ldk]

I am attaching pictures regarding my previous post about 'white stuff' on my newly sprouting leaves.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

The picture marked 'B' has no visible 'stuff', but a round hole appeared on the new leaf since yesterday - grrrr!

Thanks,

Laura

[LouisW]

You have mealybug, im afraid. You might let a little hydrogen peroxide sit in the crown for an hour or so, and use a Q-tip soaked in hydrogen peroxoide to swab off any other patches of the bugs. Keep a very close eye on this plant because they often come back within a few days if there are eggs in the media. If this happens you may want to flush the media with something that will kill the eggs or repot and get rid of all the bad media.

good luck!

[mayres]

As Louis says, "mealybugs".
These little buggers are MY number one orchid pest. Yes, even after you think they are all eradicated they re-appear in a few weeks usually. I believe it is because they live in your media too - and eggs hatch and they crawl back up to "feast". Hmmmm. Don't forget to check UNDER all the leaves too!
Many people seem to do OK with just using alcohol on a q-tip to get rid of them. My choice of weapons is to use Bayer Rose & Flower Spray - comes in a ready to use spray bottle at Lowes or Home Depot for about $5 - use every other week for a few applications.
Mealies will NOT eat a hole in your leaf however - this would have to be something else. In Oregon the critter is usually something like a slug - maybe snails in Florida?
If there is any consolation - as the leaf grows the hole will not - so it will be less severe on the mature leaf than it appears now.