problem with my cymbidium....

[gummie_sourball]

i recently got a califorina cymbiduim for valentine's day and i was able to repot it without any problems and i cut the spike off when the flowers were done blooming. but the last few days i noticed that it hasn't been doing too well. the leaves are a bit of a dark green with darker green spots and some of the tops are actually a wilted brown. (i now open my windows in the afternoon and the light seems to be helping the leaves lighten up but it still has the sploches and wilted bits.) and then today i wanted to check the roots to see if i was over watering it and i found a few very tiny white bugs crawling around on the roots! what are those and how can i get rid of them before they kill my orchid? (also the roots are a bit brown and gummy, will they go back to being healthy if i don't water it for a while?) any help will be greatly appericated.

[PhalPal]

Hi gummie -
Where are you?? First and foremost isolate your plant if you have any other orchids. Cyms are high-light requiring plants and much easier to grow outdoors then in unless you have them under some high output supplemental lighting. Your plant sounds very stressed due to lack of what it needs. If you re-potted into coco chunks (probably what it originally came in if from Ca) it may be suffering from too much salt in the mix. Coco needs to be rinsed and rinsed several times to leach the salts before exposing roots to it. Rotten roots will never get better; you need to cut them off, soak the remaining healthy ones in some physan solution and re-pot. Sterilize your pot (scrubbing and 10% bleach solution will work) and use new medium. Let us know if you need some advice on media. The white things are probably mealy bugs. I have never had this type of infestation, but one of my books says this: You can use a q-tip with iso alcohol (like from the drug store for $1) and remove as many of the bugs as possible manually, roots too. Soak the root ball in an insecticidal soap for a few hours, and then spray the entire plant with Neem oil and re-pot. You will need to repeat the spraying with Neem every 2-3 weeks. If another member has experience with growing cyms indoors - please advise. Good Luck gummie and let us know how it is going!

[gummie_sourball]

i'm living in florida near panama city. i've been keeping the plant indoors because i didn't want it to get bugs....though i guess now it dosen't matter much. the orchid mix i was using is this stuff.

which is a mix of western fir bark, horticultral charcoal and ceramic nuggets.
and what exactly is neem oil and physan solution? also the iso alochol, is that just regular rubbing alochol?

[arleneg]

Hi gummie,

Please post a pic if you can. This way will help us better give you the proper treatment for ridding the pests from your orchid.

So far, my experience in growing orchids (except Cyms) indoors is that mealy bugs tend to be more evident on the plant (i.e. above the potting mix) and they're slow moving. If the pests you see is on the roots and within the potting mix, then that can be something else. Are they really tiny and silvery and move rather quickly?

Please give us a better description of the pests if you can't post a pic.

[PhalPal]

There is one type of Mealy that does attack the roots; the treatmemt is the same. The potting mix you have seems okay. Cyms don't like to dry out completely. In Florida they would do great outdoors if not in direct sunlight.
A regular nursery would have insecticidal soap, just start with that and see what results you get. Some soaps actually have some Neem in it. (called Bon-Neem) And yes just regular rubbing alcohol will do for manual removal.

[Anton]

Gummie_sourball if you are not sure what a mealy bug looks like go to this link, I photographed one on my indoor Phalanopsis pot.
Is This a Mealy bug ?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

That mix you used looks like it may have been for Cattleyas and Phalaenopsis. Such a mix is a little bit course for a Cymbidium, but it justs means that you will probably have to water more often, as Cymbudiums should not dry out conpletely. So, the good news is that you probably did not over water your Cymbidium. First, you really need to know what the bugs are. The alcohol thing is not practicle for a Cym. Too many leaves anf too difficult to get into the base, so just skip it. A thorough spraying of neem will probably solve the problem, but keep the plant out of the sun and high temps for several days after the spraying. I don't use insecticidal soap, so can't comment on its use. I would not worry about the Physan. It is a general anti fungal, but it is not systemic, and can be over used. I think the only problem you have is the bugs, and depending on what they are, may or may not really be a problem.

[gummie_sourball]

well the bugs don't look like the ones in the link from anton. they're white and really tiny. (smaller then a grain of rice) and don't move too quickly or above the potting mix. i've only seen them under and around some of the roots. my husband says that they look like grubs or something wormlike. does that mean they're larva for something else?