urgent-phal with three spikes has pest!

[BigRed]

just bought a gorgeous phal on a whim at trader joes today. It has three gorgeous spikes with multiple branches each. Healthy leaves and seemingly healthy roots. I was looking it over and some antenni popped out of the medium. It looks kind of like a brown thing with antenni 8 or so ugly little legs and a tail. Disgusting! Also, it looks like there's little spiders underneath the leaf. Is there any way to avoid a repot? I have a way of killing plants when I repot at in-oppertune times. I feel so grossed out and violated.

[Ranchnanny]

Boy I would try the 50-50 solution of alcohol and 409 cleaner spray leaves and medium then rinse. If that doesn't work neem oil or you may just have to repot. Sounds like maybe an earwig and spider mites.

Good Luck
Sheridan

[Sandy4453]

I re-pot all the Phals I buy as soon as I bring them home, doesn't matter if they're growing spikes or about to bloom...they can handle it without setbacks. I tend to think that if you see one bug, there's lots more. You definitely want to re-pot if it's in bark which can harbor a host of critters very easily. You want to clean the plant and put it in fresh medium.

[cb977]

Sheridan and Sandy covered all the bases before I got here!

Definitely repot...you don't know what's down in that pot at this point

[Becky15349]

I know this isn't what people like to do, but I would take the plant back to TJ - I hate to have you risk your other plants getting mites too...just my opinion

[Cym Ladye]

Red,

I agree with Sheridan on the earwig and the red spider mite. At this point, however, I would remove the plant from its decorative container and soak the whole pot in tepid water in the sink for about 1/2 hour. Try to cover the potting medium.This should flush the earwigs out. You can also add a dilute amount of water soluble balanced fertilizer while you are at it.

I would also clean both sides of the leaves with alcohol soaked cotton balls after washing them thoroughly with water spray.

Allow the pot to completely drain before putting it back in its decorative container, if it was in one. If you are not averse to a pesticide, Cooks and Ortho each make earwig control granules which I have successfully used in the past. They can safely be sprinkled on top of the medium. You need only a little, maybe 1/8 teaspoon to a 6" pot. It will work into the mix, be effective for about 7 days and will stop the problem of earwigs and sow bugs on an "as needed" basis. Do not let it get on the phal leaves as it will leave tiny white marks.

All this does not mean that you should repot your plant but it would allow you to wait until it is past its primary bloom period. The presence of earwigs often sends out a red flag that the mix may be broken down and that there are dead roots in the pot. BE CERTAIN THAT YOUR POT DRAINS. Many of the indoor orchid plants sold by TJs are in non-draining decorative pots.

Good luck,

CL

[CoolPhrog]

I would take the plant back up to the seller and show them that they are selling plants with pests...

[quiltingwacko]

I'm with Becky on this one! Take it back. Carol

[BigRed]

Thank you guys for all the awesome information. I tend to have trouble re-potting plants that aren't activley growing roots.

I think I'm going to try what cym ladye says and soak it to try to get the bugs out. I'm concerned the medium is degraded and the roots are beginning to rot. But its a $13 gorgeous three spike phal in bloom. So if the roots rot at least I get to enjoy the blooms for now.

I'm curious. lots of you say you repot when your plants are in bloom. Does that usually mean that it also has active root growth? My problem is that when I buy a phal with bad roots or medium and I repot immediatly, I end up having to cut off a lot of roots. Then the plant will tend to decline and I loose my pretty flowers. Am I doing something wrong? I feel like a failure when it comes to repotting. Any tips for healthy re-potting would be appreciated.

[camille1585]

I've never had any problems with repotting phals, even in bloom, even with no active root growth.
This is what I do when I repot: The night before, I leave the bark in a bucket of water to soak. Before repotting I soak the pot a few minutes to soften the roots, it avoids breaking them while repotting. Then I cut off all the mushy roots and stick it back in the pot with the fresh (soaked) medium. After repotting I take it easy with the watering for about a month, letting the roots get quite dry between waterings. After that, I start normal watering again. I have yet to lose a phal due to repotting. In fact, they seem to like it! Most of my phals have a huge growth spurt soon after repotting.

Hope that helps