help! what are the little bugs in the medium

[lilsoy]

Hi everyone, i bought a den recently (does anyone know what kind of den it is?) and found it has little bugs in the medium!! they are creepy little crawlers, very small but visible to the eye, light grayish in color, and they run around pretty quickly. they come out in force when i water the orchid, once i finish watering, they are running all around the top of the medium, ugh!!!

I have seen these bugs in the medium of another orchid before, I tried spraying pesticides on the medium but suspect the bugs just went to the bottom of the pot or maybe their eggs survived as they were back again in no time. eventually, i had to repot with all new medium

This time, i am keen to avoid repotting if possible. The den is new and in full bloom, to top it off, it is potted in large thick chunks of tightly packed cocunut husk and the roots have already woven themselves into the husk. it would be very difficult to repot without tearing the roots (see picture)

Does anyone have any advice on 1) what these bugs are , and 2) how to get rid of them?!?! If anyone knows what kind of den i have, i'd like to know too!

[BillC]

Hi Lilsoy, it would be much easier to ID the bugs if you could supply a pic. of them, or even an acccurate description. You say that they move aound quickly and that tends to rule out mealy bugs which are quite slow creatures. You may have spring tails which do move quickly but without the pic the ID will be difficult.

Bill

[katrina]

Even w/out a pic...I'm going to bet Springtails. There are sooooooo many different types and it's very common to see them in potting mixes. Google springtails and you can see a lot of different pics.

FYI -- they can be a sign of a healthy eco-system in soil. With that said...they do tend to prefer constantly moist environments and that type of environment might not be ideal for an orchid....depending on the orchid.

Provided a moist environment is OK....if the numbers are small -- no worries. If the numbers are significant then they can begin to feed on the roots once their regular food supply is gone in the pot. A few = no big deal. A lot = you might want to take some control measures.

If my guess is right...it'll be awfully tough to get a pic of one of the little buggers. I suggest do a search and compare to what you see in the pot.

Hope this help.

[lilsoy]

Hi Bill, I can't get the camera to focus on the bugs, they are too small and my camera can't zoom in that much... they are very small, around the size of a pencil point, smaller than half a piece of glitter... they don't fly but i think they can jump. Its also hard to get them to stay on top of the medium. They only come up for an instant after i water the orchid. They run around a bit and then burrow back into the medium again...

[lilsoy]

it does seem they like very moist and humid environments. I have only seen them in the new orchid i have bought where the medium looked like it had been very moist for some time. i am going to do some research on springtails. in the meantime, if anyone has advice on how to get rid of them, let me know!

[markclkk]

Maybe a dead one is easier to set your camera focus on? Just move some media onto a piece of white paper and spray household insecticide. That should kill it while still retain its basic body shape.

[Sassismom]

Lilsoy, they sound exactly like what I have in some of my pots, or should I say had. Brookn's recipe: 10 drops dishsoap,1/2 tsp. cinnamon extract, and 2c. tepid water.
I soaked the pots I'd seen them in for 10 min. or so and they seem to have gone, so far anyway. I've only used this on my phals. so far, for these bugs, so not sure about a den., maybe you'd want to rinse it back out after the soak. Hopefully someone else with more expertise will be able to help you out, with that part.

[mgfree]

They sound like little wood mites. If they are they will eat the ends of your roots. I had these on an old piece of bark that I'd mounted some dove orchids on. Everytime the roots were about to come into contact with the bark the ends would be eaten up

[BillC]

From what has emerged in the thread I would vote for springtails and as far as I am aware they will not cause damage to youir plants. Katrina has it all!

Bill

[FLaCo]

I have a healthy Dendrobium that have these little fellows . I notice them only when I dip the plant in a fertilizer bath ...they scramble. They are only in this plant...the plant is in a 100 % bark mix..meaning it is in constant moisture most of the time. The plant is doing well i must say and the roots are even crwaling outside of the pot.