I thought I would start an Orchid growing vent thread where we can moan and groan about the challenges we face to grow orchids. I'll start.

I'd rather have an infestation of scale than spider mites! Those mites are nasty little suckers and a PITA to get rid of!

I had to throw out 7 plants today that couldn't survive the spraying...I sprayed the Isotox 4 days ago and then a round of Malathion. I found live mites today and the plants were just looking like...

So into the trash they went...and a few were pretty pricey Cstm crosses that I had purchased from Fred.

Say this over and over: "I will ALWAYS quarantine new plants from growers that I don't know...I will ALWAYS quarantine new plants from growers that I don't know."

I sprayed one more round of Malathion on the entire GH today so here's hoping I don't find any live ones in 3 days.

I've had mites on my paph's but washing and then spraying this group did it for me. Now scale seems to like certain plants, treated several times this year but Den kingdium has a new outbreak. I think it may not be worth my time to keep it.

Scale has been my only insect problem. It seems to only be on the big Catts that are crowded together. Air movement seems to be my best defense.

Jim

I don't seem to have scale on any of my Cat. but I sure do find mealy bugs on my Phal. when they are in the greenhouses, overwintering. For me at least, my Phal. seem to be mealy bug magnets. I have to keep an eye out during the fall and winter months.

I agree, good air movement is everything.

Great idea for this thread, Melissa. I've got it all, fungus, insects and even the odd snail. As Jim says, lots of space between the plants for air movement seems to help the most.

But to be honest mites are the one thing I have not had any trouble with on my orchids. I think it's because up until last summer, I had a big Brugmansia growing inside the pool cage and it was an absolute magnet for spider mites. A sacrificial plant, so to speak. Recommend you get a cutting or two for this purpose, Melissa. They will act like the canary in the coal mine for you in your greenhouse.

This year I've discovered through another thread here on blessed ATP that to break the life cycle of mites, all it takes is a brisk hosing with water about twice a week for a couple of weeks. You need to do it at least twice in a row to get the next generation of mites that hatch out after the parents have been killed off. It's the same with the soapy water treatment I was using before, but this is even easier! The Brugs, now living outside in the jungle, have not had an issue with mites all summer! Just get a good bath with the hose at least weekly.

I've had much less scale this year, since using Ursula's treatment of dormant oil spray a few times in the spring. But . . . well it's been wet and humid now for at least a couple of weeks and the black rot is popping up left and right.

To make matters worse, I am going to visit the grandkids in Salt Lake for 10 days starting Monday, so I doubt if DH will be depended upon to spot 'chids with black spots. So, I may come home to a cage full of dead orchids.

Cheer up, Ken. I'll be buying new ones to replace those killed off, anyway.

Yeah that is one of the problems...spray with water too often...get rot...don't spray...get bugs. It is a vicious cycle.

I'm spraying most of my orchids with the hose twice a day throughout the summer. They seem to like it.

Jim

Yep, most of mine like all this rain too, as long as I keep on top of the black spot and other fungal joys. I do have all the Cattleyas pulled in to shelter under the plastic screen near the house for now. They really needed to dry out. If Marsh will agree, I'll leave them there for my trip and just get him to spray them a couple of times.

We are just now getting a little bit of rain, the trailing edge of that huge storm you've had all day, Jim. Never rains the right amount or at the right time . . . right?

A few days ago (everything seems to have happened a few days ago..............age?) I posted about going to Lowe's and seeing at least a dozen Phal. in solid, plastic pots, with those pots filled to the brim with water. Not only that, but the majority of those orchids were getting direct sun and the leaves were sunburned I went back today to get some large pots (to re-pot some plumeria) and I said something to the fellow in charge of the garden center. He was really nice about my criticism of them "drowning" and "baking" all those Phal. He asked if I would take the time and go over to those plants and show him what was happening. I first showed that the pots were still filled to the brim with water, even after (at least) three days. I then pulled one of the Phal. out of the pot and showed him the dead roots and what sunburned leaves looked like. He asked what he should do. He really seemed to want to do the right thing. I told him to get the plants out of the sun for starters and to take every single one of the plants out of those solid plastic pots and just throw them on a shaded wire shelf so that they could dry out. I told him he could just stack the pots beside the plants and when someone purchased these discounted plants, he/they could put the plant back into the pot. I said, alternatively, you could drill several holes in the bottom of each pot and then the water could at least drain away after watering. I asked if I had a card (always!) and promised to let me know what he was able to do. He said the store manager made him put the orchids out with the rest of the discounted (outside) plants and he knew he was doing wrong. He said he was going to take my card to the store manager and tell him what I had told him to do with the orchids. We'll see.

You can't save them all, Ken!

Hey, I gave a bit of education to the garden center fellow. That's a success story in my eyes. He may never view Phal. as before..........but then again, perhaps he won't give a hoot about them.

Even if he does, his manager may not. I've heard gossip in those places.

Vent - We lost 1/2 of our Den lindleyi specimen to a snail infestation on the mount. They managed to avoid the bait and went to town. We had to dispose of the mount and pull the surviving plant. We put it into a plastic basket for a couple of weeks bare root. New roots are showing so we added some Orchiata and it is trying to bounce back.

Dang...that was one of the few remaining original orchids in our collection.

I do the grocery shopping early morning on Sunday, before the crowds get out. I decided to drop into the Lowe's and see what happened with those drowning orchids.

It appeared that they were just as they were the previous week, still sitting in water-filled, non-draining vases. There was not a single worker in the garden center, so I proceeded to take every Phalaenopsis out of its vase and put them on a lower wire rack so that they could dry out. They would get shade from the upper racks of dying tropical plants and perhaps some of these plants will have a chance to live. I had several customers that were strolling through the garden center, stop and glance at me and I know they were thinking: "What in the world is that (old) man doing?" Even though none of them said a word to me, I simply said that I was trying to save the orchids from drowning. I have a feeling that none of these folks knew heads or tails about orchids but most of them smiled at me. I do think they believed that I was being a good Samaritan. At least none of them reported my actions to management.

I think I will go back by there in a couple of days, and though I don't particularly care about growing Phal., I might just offer a couple of bucks for each of the plants that still show some life. I have a feeling that the Lowe's employee who makes these kind of decisions won't accept my offer (I feel like they would just as soon throw the plants away), but at least I can try to save some plants. Gosh, I sound like a tree-hugger, don't I.

Guess the guy you spoke to about this last week was just being polite, huh? Such a shame. I am the same way though, hate to see a plant that someone has gone to lengths to grow for a year or two just destroyed. The waste of time, energy and resources is almost as bad as killing a nice plant.

Melissa, just a suggestion, we got some copper strips and put them flat across the doorways of our pool cage. Since then I've had hardly a nibble by a snail or slug on my orchids, where I was having a constant battle before we put it down. Copper is available in a tape as well from Gardener's Supply.