Is this a pest!? First cat orchid so I need help.
Lowe’s rescue and packaged. Still learning about what cats need vs phal. #HappyPlants #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantAddict #CattleyaOrchid #OrchidLovers #OrchidOrg #PestControl #IDKwhatIdidButItsWrong #help #TropicalPlants
3ft to light, indirect
2” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 year ago
6
Best Answer
Yes, it is. A vicious one. Mealy bugs can multiply really fast and hide really well.
Isolate your plant and check all neighboring ones (and isolate them as well or check them for a few days following that). Then get down to cleaning. Cats aren't as prone to rot as phals (except for the new pseudobulbs, be careful with those!), so you could spray them down or use horticultural oils - I've heard others use them against mealies on their less sensitive plants. but my experience with mealies is that rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl) spot treatments and pure unadulterated stubbornness work best. Dab every mealy, every speck of white dust, every nook near white dust or dew with isopropyl. It kills them on contact. Be very thorough. They can hide like nothing else, and the babies are extremely small. Then place it away from other plants and check it almost daily. On my last infested phals I had them reoccur months later, so I would really keep it isolated if possible until you are very sure, especially in winter as cooler temperatures means longer life cycles. They most likely are also hiding underneath those old sheaths, so I would get rid of the dried ones. I do that with all my catts even without an infestation because pests like to hide there.
Also wipe down every surface near your plant with alcohol. They like to travel and, again, hide very well.
In general they are very easy to kill, but hard to get rid off . And once there are some left and you drop the ball they multiply like crazy and wreak havoc on your plants
Isolate your plant and check all neighboring ones (and isolate them as well or check them for a few days following that). Then get down to cleaning. Cats aren't as prone to rot as phals (except for the new pseudobulbs, be careful with those!), so you could spray them down or use horticultural oils - I've heard others use them against mealies on their less sensitive plants. but my experience with mealies is that rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl) spot treatments and pure unadulterated stubbornness work best. Dab every mealy, every speck of white dust, every nook near white dust or dew with isopropyl. It kills them on contact. Be very thorough. They can hide like nothing else, and the babies are extremely small. Then place it away from other plants and check it almost daily. On my last infested phals I had them reoccur months later, so I would really keep it isolated if possible until you are very sure, especially in winter as cooler temperatures means longer life cycles. They most likely are also hiding underneath those old sheaths, so I would get rid of the dried ones. I do that with all my catts even without an infestation because pests like to hide there.
Also wipe down every surface near your plant with alcohol. They like to travel and, again, hide very well.
In general they are very easy to kill, but hard to get rid off . And once there are some left and you drop the ball they multiply like crazy and wreak havoc on your plants
@Petite_Eureka yes, Mealybug! Thats one of the main things i learned when i started researching them because i got my first one in September...they love the tight spots on these orchids! You should peel off the pseudobulb casing stuff when it dries because that is one of their favorite hiding spots.
@MusicalRedmint thank you! So I took care of it last night, and probably went overboard 😬😪 I used tweezers to gently remove the pieces of the medium stuck to the roots, and I used q tips to get the pests off with rubbing alcohol. All I had was 91% though. I didn’t get any on the roots but I’m worried I really hurt the leaves😩 I hope I didn’t kill it. I spent a few hours working on it and putting together another orchid mix. I cut up the large bark pieces in the better gro special orchid mix to fit the roots a bit better and then added mini pumice, and the horticultural charcoal that’s a bit smaller than the large chunks.
The leaves are very robust. I would not worry about them too much. And as far as I know, most of the alcohol should evaporate. If you are still unsure, you can also wipe them down with water afterward. Cat leaves do not root as easily as phal leaves and there is no crown to destroy. (As mentioned above only the new growths are more susceptible to rot).
And tweezers are great. I find they help minimize the damage to the roots when removing bark. And who knows?
The orchid seems well hydrated for now. And many hybrids have some species in them that let's them grow more than one pseudobulb per year. As long as it doesn't drop *all* its roots, but maybe leaves some, it might as well be okay until the next roots come in 🤞
I also have repotted some veritable babies at the wrong time when they came in, a while back, because I was going through a rough pest scare, but even they have made it till now and habe had a chance to grow some roots.
I would still try to use a bamboo skewer to stabilize it though. That really helps against the wobbliness after a complete repot, which in turn helps those roots that might make it actually make it.
And tweezers are great. I find they help minimize the damage to the roots when removing bark. And who knows?
The orchid seems well hydrated for now. And many hybrids have some species in them that let's them grow more than one pseudobulb per year. As long as it doesn't drop *all* its roots, but maybe leaves some, it might as well be okay until the next roots come in 🤞
I also have repotted some veritable babies at the wrong time when they came in, a while back, because I was going through a rough pest scare, but even they have made it till now and habe had a chance to grow some roots.
I would still try to use a bamboo skewer to stabilize it though. That really helps against the wobbliness after a complete repot, which in turn helps those roots that might make it actually make it.