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First orchid and mealy bug

I got my very first orchid today. It's a Haraella retrocalla. It's very tiny and cute. It even had a little flower on it. Does anyone have any tips for caring for orchids?

Also, I noticed that it had a mealy bug on it when I was unpacking it. I killed the mealy bug, but I know I need to do something about that white fuzzy stuff in case there are eggs. What should I do about it? Can I just wipe the fuzz with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol? Could I just try to clean it off, or do I really need to go get and insecticide?

My very first orchid seemed to have brought my very first mealy bug along as a gift.
 
Alcohol's a good start. Now, about the plant ;) At least there're no othes plants to worry about. I'd think about unpotting to check for more bugs around the roots. Mealys like to hide out in crevaces, around roots, etc. With plants from greenhouses/nurseries, you usually only run into one or two beasties who slipped under the radar when the plant was selected for shipping/purchase. I wouldn't expect to find many more, but it's always good to squash one before you've got one hundred. Best of luck...
 
Orchids are a diverse group and that's an unusual one for someone to start with. I don't know it, so can't offer any advice other than this: http://www.orchidspecies.com/haerodorata.htm

Somehow that doesn't surprise me. I typically go about things in a strange manner. :crazy: I guess I like to have unique and unusual plants.

Alcohol's a good start. Now, about the plant ;) At least there're no othes plants to worry about. I'd think about unpotting to check for more bugs around the roots. Mealys like to hide out in crevaces, around roots, etc. With plants from greenhouses/nurseries, you usually only run into one or two beasties who slipped under the radar when the plant was selected for shipping/purchase. I wouldn't expect to find many more, but it's always good to squash one before you've got one hundred. Best of luck...

Thank you for the advice. I used alcohol for the infected area, and I've done a lot of looking around the plant, and can't find anything obvious. It's a tiny plant..potted in a 2 inch pot...so there aren't too many places for a mealy bug to hide on the plant, but I hadn't thought about it hiding around the roots inside the soil. I can't unpot it at the moment because I don't have the appropriate soil mixes lying around. Well...actually I do have LFS. Could I plant it in just LFS? This plant did come from an orchid nursery, so I doubt it will have too many pests on it, but I would like to know for sure.
 
I'm not a fan of LFS for orchids because of the need to tightly control watering. That one might be especially risky because the orchidspecies site metions it prefers being mounted. That's usually a sign that the roots like to dry out quickly. I wouldn't recommend trying that for your first orchid unless you can provide plenty of humidity year-round. Instead, you might try a small terra cotta pot (2" or less) with bark mix.
 
I wouldn't recommend trying that for your first orchid unless you can provide plenty of humidity year-round.

When you say "that", you're talking about mounting it, correct?

Thanks for the advice.

Another question:
What's a good orchid fertilizer? Sorry, I'm pretty ignorant of fertilizers.
 
Right; don't mount it unless you live in a place with year-round humidity. Such as Louisiana, now that I've finally noticed where you're from. As I remember it from my years in Mississippi, Shreveport is more East Texas than Louisiana, but you probably have more than enough humidity to try a mount.
 
Right; don't mount it unless you live in a place with year-round humidity. Such as Louisiana, now that I've finally noticed where you're from. As I remember it from my years in Mississippi, Shreveport is more East Texas than Louisiana, but you probably have more than enough humidity to try a mount.

I do have a lot of humidiy, but this plant is going to be inside. It's my understanding that modern a/c and heaters remove a lot of humidity from the air. It's currently in a shady spot by my leaky kitchen sink, so the local humidity is probably pretty high, but I am just assuming. Shreveport is more like East Texas, but I lived in Dallas for a while, and our humidity is noticably higher than theirs.

I read somewhere that if you are mounting it, you can put LFS around the roots to keep humidity up. Is that true? I would imagine LFS on a mount would dry out a lot quicker than in a pot, so it would be harder to over water it.
 
I put a a little pad of LFS over the roots (not between the roots and the mount) when I make a new mount. I wire the pad down, which holds the plant in place and, when a plant is well-rooted, I removed the wire and the no longer need LFS comes right off. I've received mounts in trades that had a lot of sphagnum, but I don't water frequently enough or have have enough humidity for that. I like to put Spanish moss on mounts (and in baskets & pots) because it seems to help plants deal with lower humidity. Probably by reducing airflow and creating a slightly more humid microclimate around the roots and any new growths. One other thing to mention is that I've had much more trouble with wood mounts than with cork mounts. I think the wood wicks moisture away from the roots, competeing with the plant for water. Also, because it's slowly decaying, roots seem to have more trouble gripping wood. So I think cork is much better.
 
  • #10
Thanks. I might experiment with mine soon. Right now I'm still searching for a spot that isn't too bright for it.
 
  • #11
If you are still having a problem with mealy bugs. Get some Bear Advenced from lowes. Rose and flower spray. Do not get the one with fertilizer just the bug spray. It contains merrit and is a systemic spray that works good on mealys and scale. It is also good for wasps. I hit a wasp with a spray and it is on the ground convulsing and dyeing quickly. It is the same stuff that is in frontline for dogs so it is safe to use indoors.
 
  • #12
If you are still having a problem with mealy bugs. Get some Bear Advenced from lowes. Rose and flower spray. Do not get the one with fertilizer just the bug spray. It contains merrit and is a systemic spray that works good on mealys and scale. It is also good for wasps. I hit a wasp with a spray and it is on the ground convulsing and dyeing quickly. It is the same stuff that is in frontline for dogs so it is safe to use indoors.

Ooo...thanks for the info. I hate wasps. I haven't seen any more mealy bugs on it, so I think it was probably just that one. I'm still watching for em though. I might pick up some of that spray just in case, it sounds like good stuff to have around.
 
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