stciky white spots

[cindy]

I know nothing....other than I love orchids and want to grow more of them. I have the basic variety that you can buy anywhere. Anyway, There is white stuff (looks like cotton but is not soft & fluffy) on the leaves. What is it and how do I get rid of it (or do I need to?)

[Tobi]

Hi Cindy and welcome to the forum. It would be very helpful if you can tell us
what type of orchid you have or if you could post a picture of it and the leaves
with the "white stuff" on it. If you have a tag as to the name, that would be
great.

[Michael_Exler]

Hi Cindy,
you've got bugs.
I dont really care for pesticides cause I have young daughters that can't resist sniffing and closely examining the orchid flowers.
I use a mild dishsoap or Murphy's oil soap, about 4 tblspoon in a gal of water.
What this does is create a viscus spray that sticks to the leaves and SB and even roots that drowns the bugs (scale in your case).
repeat once a day for 3 days, do not allow dirrect sun light after spraying, my preference is to spray in the evening.
Be sure to spray the underside of the leaves, coat everything on the plant and even the medium it is potted in.
One last thing, look at the neighboring plants, they can from somewhere.
show us some pics if you can.

[fred]

Cindy
welcome to the forum
I hope that you enjoy your stay here with us
can you also go into your User Settings and update your Profile with your Geographical Location.
As we are members from all over the world this will help us to guide you with information.

May be you could also post a pic of your plant use the Manage Attachments.

we have a top bunch of members here that are all keen to help you with all your orchid growing questions.

happy chatting

[kmarch]

Mealie bugs sometimes create a cottony patch similar to what you describe. It's difficult to say without seeing it though. If it is mealies, they are fortunately easy to get rid of with a few regular applications of Safer's Insecticidal Soap, very safe for use in the home.

[BillC]

Cindy, check with my post in the ' chat ' threads, and you will know if you have mealy bugs. Kevin's method works well to get rid of them.

Bill