The Orchid Garden

SpiderMites

Question:

I was soaking a Cat the other day when I saw tiny little spider looking things running around on the bark. I am guessing they are Spider Mites but I’m not sure. Since I knew they were setting up shop in the planting medium I decided to remove the orchid and wash it completely and repot with new medium. I noticed that most of the roots were gone – disappeared and were kind of mushy. Were they eaten by the mites? Did I do something to cause the roots to die and then attract the mites later? The orchid leaves have turned a sort of purple color. What gives ?? Doug —    Doug Snowden, N4IJ

Response:

Guess I should read your entire posting, first:

If you have no roots, it’s because they rotted in the mushy mix.  The coloration is definitely a stress response.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was soaking a Cat the other day when I saw tiny little spider looking things running around on the bark. I am guessing they are Spider Mites but I’m not sure. Since I knew they were setting up shop in the planting medium I decided to remove the orchid and wash it completely and repot with new medium. I noticed that most of the roots were gone – disappeared and were kind of mushy. Were they eaten by the mites? Did I do something to cause the roots to die and then attract the mites later? The orchid leaves have turned a sort of purple color. What gives ?? Doug —   Doug Snowden, N4IJ

If you could see them clearly with the naked eye, they were probably "just" spiders, not mites.  Spider mites are usually seen on the leaves, and spin very fine webs. Potting media provide a nice place to live to all kinds of creatures. The purple color of the leaves is likely to be due to high light levels.

Response:

d dI was soaking a Cat the other day when I saw tiny little spider dlooking things running around on the bark. I am guessing they are dSpider Mites but I’m not sure. Since I knew they were setting up shop din the planting medium I decided to remove the orchid and wash it dcompletely and repot with new medium. I noticed that most of the roots dwere gone – disappeared and were kind of mushy. Were they eaten by the dmites? Did I do something to cause the roots to die and then attract dthe mites later? The orchid leaves have turned a sort of purple color. dWhat gives ??   dDoug d d– d   Doug Snowden, N4IJ Doug, judging from the description you give of the leaf color, this problem has probably existed for some time. The purple leaves are generally a sign of Zinc deprivation. You may or may not have spider mites. I can’t see them ..but the description fits. My guess is that more than likely the plant was root rotted first, and somewhere along the line the mites took advantage of the weakened plant. Both problems would have contributed to the Zinc condition. I wouldn’t even want to guess as to what future this plant might have, if any. -Rod- Rod & Susan Venger, Venger’s Orchids Orchid Culture ftp: usa.net (or earth.usa.net)   /users/vengers —

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was soaking a Cat the other day when I saw tiny little spider looking things running around on the bark. I am guessing they are Spider Mites but I’m not sure. Since I knew they were setting up shop in the planting medium I decided to remove the orchid and wash it completely and repot with new medium. I noticed that most of the roots were gone – disappeared and were kind of mushy. Were they eaten by the mites? Did I do something to cause the roots to die and then attract the mites later? The orchid leaves have turned a sort of purple color. What gives ?? Doug —   Doug Snowden, N4IJ — Jonathan She laid her hand on mine and said, "Klopstock".–Goethe,                            The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Ooops… sorry about that… What I wanted to write was: Roots: probably caused by watering too frequently or a deteriorated potting medium. Epiphytites’ roots need to dry out between waterings… You will probably want to encourage root growth. One way to do this is to unpot the plant and to stick it in a clear plastic bag with a bit of damp sphagnum moss and put it in a shady place for a while… watch it regularly and if it seems to get too dry, moisten the moss again. When roots begin to for3m, wait a bit then pot it up carefully… But first deal with the spider things: there are a lot of things this could be… I would try some sort of miticide or poison that is says it will kill mites and is safe for orchids… finally, the purple coloration: again, it could be a lot of things, but usually plants, such as cattleyas,  which are getting just a bit too much light will produce anthocyanin in the exposed tissues. This can cause a reddish-purple coloration. You might want to re-evaluate the amount of light that your plant is receiving. NB: too much light can also cause a plant to be stressed which is not too good a thing. — Jonathan She laid her hand on mine and said, "Klopstock".–Goethe,                                 The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Response:

Spider mites are seldom easily visible to the eye. A quick easy way to check for mites is to rub the underside of the leaf with a white cloth or paper. If it has red or dark streaks, it is almost certainly a mite infestation. Mites are less likely to infest healthy plants in high humidity. House plants are particularly prone because humidity is so low. Good luck, Marg. "Orchid Species Culture" – Timber Press. Vol.1, Pescatorea, Phaius, Phalaenopsis, Pholidota, Phragmipedium, Pleione – ISBN 0-88192-208-0 Vol. 2, in press, Dendrobium

Response:

Filed under: Dendrobium Orchid

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