need some help

[brazilianfernie]

I'm so depressed. I found out that my most awesomest, healthiest Phal has the beginnings of what seems to be a spider mite infestation.

It all started the other day when I was moving my plants around. I had my phal pot sitting on a piece of white paper which was sitting inside of another larger plant pot so it could get some better light from the window it's sitting in. I had moved the phal and saw a bunch of small bugs moving around on the paper which was under the phal pot. The bugs were whitish and greyish, which when I did some research I found out they were spring tails. BUT as I took a closer look with a magnifying glass, there was a small orangish colored mite. Yep. So I freaked out, took the infected phal away from my other plants and got some stuff together to repot it.

I mixed up a batch of that "best stuff ever" and soaked all of the roots and some of the leaves in it for about 1/2 hour. It was in flowering so I didnt want to submerge the whole plant. As I stripped the bark away, there were TONS of webs in the bark. I thought spider mites are usually on the leaves? What would cause webs in the bark?

I repotted it in leca pellets and waited to see what happens. I was closely inspecting it today and there are now bunches of webs on the leca pellets near the roots of the plant. Of course, I get out my light and trusty magnifying glass and look closer and see some small moving things. so now this time I cut the flower spikes off, mixed up a huge batch of that "best stuff ever" and am now in the process of soaking the plant again. this time it is completely submerged and has been soaking for an hour. I am about to remove it from the mixture but I dont want to repot it until I am sure this infestation is under control. I've read that you can leave your plant bare root for a little while, which is what i want to do for at least another day or two as I want to do another complete soak in a couple of days.

so my question is- how do I take care of this plant when it is bare root? Do i put it in a bag? or just mist the roots every once in a while? Did I go about this correctly or is there something else I should do? Unfortunately I am unable to buy any chemicals due to $$ issues. If there is a better natural option I can use, it would be cool.

Sorry for the huge story, I just dont want to lose this plant. I mean if there is no other option I will gladly dump it because I dont want to risk my other plants getting infected. The plant that the phal was sitting in is also quarantined, Its a large palm tree potted in soil, I just watered it with tons of water that had dish soap mixed in.

[brazilianfernie]

nobody has any advice for me???

[willowbanks]

How about some photos?????

I don't think you really know what spider mite looks like, the webs you say that were in the bark could have been a fungal issue.

If it were spider mite the leaves would show evidence of it, you haven't mentioned leaf damage.

We do need to see some clear photos of the problem.

Bill

[Anton]

This is what Spider Mite looks like.
Ever Wonder What Spider Mite Looks Like ?

[dounoharm]

palms are notorious for holding spider mites....so i would move it away from the palm in case that is where your problem originated....brookens recipe should help some, and keep washing the plant down....it can stand bare root for a week or so....keep us posted...

[brazilianfernie]

I've checked all of my other plants and there is no evidence of spider mites. It took me a while to get a picture as i had the plant bare root and also had soaked it twice in the best stuff ever mixture. I repotted it in S/H and about 3 days later the webs are back. They are mostly at the base of the plant and on the Leca, and now a small web has moved up on the left side of the pic near the lower leaf. one of the lower leaves is now also turning yellow but I do not see anything moving, even with a magnifying glass. here is a pic, let me know what you think. Is it bugs or mold?

[Amblnc38]

I think you need to break out bigger guns....insecticide/fungicide. Bayer 3in1 maybe?

[Brooke]

It looks like snow mold and the spores need to be killed. Some say Physan20 will kill it but a 10% bleach soluation will also kill it. You will need to also to the media and the pot it was in.

Read more about it by googling snow mold on orchids.

Brooke

[pikkumyy]

mum used to run a palm nursery and she swears by "natrasoap", she said it was great for everything that would eat the palms except for the grubs in the bottoms of the pots, and i went to an orchid meeting last night and there was a man their that knew WAY TOOOO MUCH ABOUT CHEMICALS and he said natrasoap would be fine for orchids, so im about to start using it and i thought you might be interested

[nybz]

I think I was having the same thing happening to my very new collection. I lost two of four(one of which I expected to die when I got). I don't have any fungicides so tried h202 but no luck either. I lost all the roots on the third before I even had a chance to try bleach so that one is now trying out a water culture. If you find a way to get rid of that let me know!!!

[brazilianfernie]

So if I use the 10% bleach solution, how would I go about doing it? Do I soak the whole pot and plant in it for a bit? do I just spray it down? Thanks so much everyone for your quick replies!! Im thankful it is not spider mites!

[nybz]

What I was intending to do before I lost all the roots was soak the phal in the solution and then let it dry before repotting. and also soaking all my medium. I think I may actually still use an even weaker bleach solution on my last really healthy looking phal. I thought I saw some threads of the fungus but it hasn't been spreading. For that one I think I'm just going to water with the bleach solution then flush it out a few minutes after.

[nybz]

I hope you don't mind me posting a picture in your thread brazilian. But this is my mold after a few days of growing on pure sphagnum. When it was growing on the roots there weren't any colonies but a lot of the threads. I am really hoping somebody can recognize it and help with the treatment of it.

[jessicalee]

as Brooke said above:

Originally Posted by Brooke

It looks like snow mold and the spores need to be killed. Some say Physan20 will kill it but a 10% bleach soluation will also kill it. You will need to also to the media and the pot it was in.

Read more about it by googling snow mold on orchids.

Brooke

there was also some mention of Bayer 3 in 1...
good luck.

[brazilianfernie]

thanks everyone, I'm going with the Physan 20. I mixed up a batch and have soaked the whole pot and some of the plant in it. I'll let you all know how I make out. Thanks so much for all of your quick responses and incredible knowledge!!

[Brisbanite]

Michael, where do you purchase the Natrasoap from in Brisbane?