Mealybugs, spider mites? - Cymbidium

[Tephrochr]

My mother bought me this gorgeous cym from Costco for my birthday and as I've searched up about it, I've come across various pests I wasn't aware of, having only had a phal for a year, and not having experienced too many issues with it. Bugs have never been much of a concern since I grow my orchids indoors, however, as I've only just gotten this cym, I've got my share of concerns. In any case, I've found various little webs on it, super small webs, along with it having mottled leaves, where the a few of them have turned yellow, from tip to halfway down the leaf.

At the moment all I've done with it is clean the leaves with a damp cloth, but I wish my biggest concern was that my cat can't keep her eyes off of it; I dug around the roots a bit and found one root that is completely shriveled, another that's quite yellow (not greenish at all), and a big silvery mess of web in the media. Before washing it down I found strange little gray balls on it, most of which crumbled when I squished them between my nails.

I'll include the webage among the roots, as well as a shot looking down at the bulbs (?) in the middle of the plant.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L1JSS8vd7v...0/DSCF2166.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L1JSS8vd7v...0/DSCF2167.JPG

[lmartiny]

Spider mites do have fine webs in the pot. Someone will know better than I but I really had trouble with a nice big plant that now looks very sad. They turned up in a couple of others too and I'm trying to get a handle on it. Costco is very good with returns. I'd take it back and wait for a new batch to be delivered.

[Filb]

Are you sure that's not mold?
That was my first thought when I looked at your photos. *shrug*

[Tephrochr]

Hm, hadn't thought of mold, my mind just jumped to the worst possible explanation. It may be, and looking at it again, the media is pretty broken down, looks like there's dirt mixed in - should I re-pot it now, or wait until it's finished blooming?

Maybe one of you could give me a heads up on cym grower tricks?

[Filb]

Well, my suggestion would be to flush a dilute solution of bleach through the media. It might take care of the actively growing mold until you can afford to repot.
I've never grown cyms so I don't know if it's okay to repot while flowering.
My gut would tell me to repot now and take my chances with the bloom to save the possibly rotting roots (and crown).
/twocents

[katrina]

As for the yellow roots. That could very well be normal. Not all roots are white. I doubt that's anything to be concerned about.

The little "balls". Most likely granular fertilizer. Nothing to be concerned about.

The white, hairy stuff does appear to be some sort of mold. I've seen those plants in Costco and they are most often in a big, plastic bag w/the top kind of open...perfect environ for mold to grow. Especially if the medium is breaking down.

If it were mine...I would repot. This might cause the plant to lose some flowers and/or shorten the life of the entire bloom. IMO, the long term health of the plant is more important.

Hope that helps.

[digitalgate]

This look like mycorrhiza fungus, sometime they are bad for plant . But some variety is very very very good for plant! Some lab in Uk use these to germinate orchid seeds! If your plant look healthy and leave is not dropping then you should avoid using fungicides . As some of you know, i am a "everything" fungicides guy. Just can't live without fungicides.
If you are so luck having mycorrhiza fungus you might want to infect your other healthy plant with it. It certainly means less watering and less chemical to use. Having a good fungus growing on plant will crowd out other bad fungus.

[Tephrochr]

For anyone who cares

I re-potted my cym, 'cause it's only got three or four flowers left, and found such a sad sight; it was super root-bound, which I understand they like, but there was hardly room for any media! The media that was in there was so mouldy, too... So I put it in a pot that's a bit bigger, mixed up my own media and set it up in my room (north-facing, quite dark)! Hopefully it won't mind the media I mixed for it - first time for everything though!

[koshki]

We care!!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Tephrochr

...it was super root-bound, which I understand they like,

Ragarding the root-bound issue, give this thread a read: Pot Size

Originally Posted by Tephrochr

mixed up my own media... Hopefully it won't mind the media I mixed for it ...

The choice of media is only good or bad in so far as it helps (or doesn't help) you give the plant the conditions it wants. So for example if you use a medium that dries out faster you'll have to water more in order to keep the cymbid moist. If you used the drier mix but didn't water more your orchid would end up being underwatered. Does that make sense? Do you see what I'm getting at here?

Originally Posted by Tephrochr

and set it up in my room (north-facing, quite dark)!

This could be a problem. Cymbids take fairly bright light. A north-facing dark room will probably be too dark. If you have not already done so you should take a look at a good cymbidium culture sheet. You can get one at AOS | Members Only Area. Give it a read and let us know if you have any questions.

[Tephrochr]

Question: How on earth do I cut back the flower spike on this cym? I've looked all over the place and cannot find any instructions... Any help? I'd love it!

Originally Posted by kmarch

This could be a problem. Cymbids take fairly bright light. A north-facing dark room will probably be too dark. If you have not already done so you should take a look at a good cymbidium culture sheet. You can get one at AOS | Members Only Area. Give it a read and let us know if you have any questions.

I just mentioned it was dark because I read that it's good to put them somewhere dark after re-potting. I wouldn't dream of keeping an orchid in my room, it's not nearly bright enough to keep one happy.