What were the white bugs in my medium?

[Orchids&Unicorns]

I've had my phal Arctic Dawn for about three weeks. It was one of those Lowes plants that comes in a glass cube packed with moss. I repotted it in the Better Gro mix that has bark, perlite and charcoal in it. Amazingly the roots were pretty healthy and everything seemed fine.

Yesterday I noticed one of the bottom leaves was looking very limp and since I'm an orchid newbie and killed my first orchid from over watering, I thought I'd better pull it out and do a root check. To my surprise all the roots looked healthy except for one or two which I trimmed. However the limp leaf fell off. I think I had potted it a bit low and when I was misting that leaf was staying wet.

I was getting ready to repot it when I noticed some tiny white bugs in the bark. They were so small you could hardly see them and there was only a few, running around. They didn't have wings and there were none on the plant itself. What could they have been? Freaked, I chucked out the mix, soaked the plant in soapy water just in case and repotted in fresh mix. Where could these bugs have come from? This plant is kept indoors and has been kept seperate from my other plants. I'd like to know what they were in case they come back. I tried to get a picture but they were too small.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I've been lurking here for a few weeks and thought I'd take the plunge and join in

[Dendian]

First off - Hello and to Geeks!

I saw I had some little buggies in my pots when I first started with orchids, I freaked out about them too... but they ended up doing nothing that I could see. I was told they were probably fungus gnats - they eat decaying material - and they could have come in with the bark. I don't worry about them any more... although I did what you did - soaked the plants in the soapy water mixture to kill them.

[ARodney]

Hello and welcome. Since the plant is kept inside, it could have been in the mix. Question, did you pre-soak your mix. What is recommended by many is to soak the mix at least 15 minutes in water with a fungicide/bactericide/insecticide such as physan or RD20. Even putting a little bit of bleach would do the trick. When this is done, you lower the chances of making the orchid get a fungus, bacteria, etc. Hope this helps.

[Orchids&Unicorns]

Thanks for the warm welcome

Sounds like maybe I over reacted but after reading about all the little bugs that can kill my orchids, I wanted to be sure. I did soak the potting mix but I didn't add anything to it. I guess I need to invest in some kind of pesticide, although I hate chemicals so if soapy water works just as well, maybe I'll add that when I soak it instead.

Thanks again. I'm sure I'll have lots more questions. After my first orchid died I got a bit carried away .... I now have nine

[bearded orchid]

Originally Posted by Orchids&Unicorns

Thanks for the warm welcome

Sounds like maybe I over reacted but after reading about all the little bugs that can kill my orchids, I wanted to be sure. I did soak the potting mix but I didn't add anything to it. I guess I need to invest in some kind of pesticide, although I hate chemicals so if soapy water works just as well, maybe I'll add that when I soak it instead.

Thanks again. I'm sure I'll have lots more questions. After my first orchid died I got a bit carried away .... I now have nine

More knowledgeable members feel free to chime in, but I'm pretty sure you could soak your bark mix in some cinnamon-infused water and get the same benefits that ADRodney mentioned but without the synthetic chemicals.

[katrina]

Most likely Springtails. Fungus gnats will fly.

Google Springtails for pics. They are part of a healthy eco system and feed on decaying matter. As long as the population doesn't get out of control, they're nothing more than annoying.

Google them...see if that matches what you have.

[Mira-Claude]

Before I use medium other than sphag I boil it over for 5 minutes wait till it cools down than drain. (When I'm the one preparing the medium that is XD)
Thrust me it will kill almost anything!

[E-Jag]

Agree with Kat, probably springtails. I don't even try to get rid of them. They hurt nothing. Live and let live (at least in this case).

[Orchids&Unicorns]

Yes. I think they were springtails!

[brazilianfernie]

i use the better gro bark and also have springtails. you'll know for sure if you put your finger near them and they jump away.