What is eating my orchids?

vrmarkii · #1 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 05:43 AM

The other day I noticed some holes on the edges of the leaves of all my orchids. I also saw what I thought was snail trails on the glass but after looking closer they are just tiny white specks about half the size of my spring tails. I think they are some kind of mites. I was going to put some wood lice in there but I read they will eat the roots of my plants. How can I kill them without hurting my frogs?

jeffdart · #2 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 06:03 AM

Woodlice should be fine, they eat decaying or dead material.

roxrgneiss · #3 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 03:17 PM

Do you have any pictures of the damaged leaves? What kind of orchids are being eaten? Most jewel orchids are prone to slug damage, and you won't see slugs eating much during the day, unless they have a big population.

If there are mites on your glass, either the condensation (drowning) or frogs should take care of them. Have you looked at the spots under magnification? I checked some spots on the leaves of a plant the other day with a hand lense and found they were actually Ca dust...

Mike

Frogtofall · #4 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 05:10 PM

I'd just like to say something about mites... There are many species of mites. Some harmful, some harmless and some are even helpful. I've seen 2 spot spider mites eating Jewel Orchids and these types of mites are bad enough that you really need to remove the plant b/c they are quite resistant to just about anything. There is also a red spider mite that is practically identical to the 2 spot but they are red and have no spots. The bodies are the same shape and they are the same size. These too are no easy task to remove.

If you have holes, its probably snails and/or slugs which are also a pain to get rid of without a CO2 gassing.

Post some pics when you can.

vrmarkii · #5 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 08:50 PM

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure they are mites they look like really small white spiders. I haven't seen any spots on them but I haven't looked at them under magnification. They don't seem to congregate in any one place but where there is damaged leaves there are mites. I have Anoectochilus roxburghii, Dossinoides Indra's Web, and ludisia discolor that all have damage. They don't seem to be bothering my broms just the orchids. I'll try to get some pictures but my camera doesn't do to good with macro shots.

Frogtofall · #6 (**permalink**) 06-15-2009, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vrmarkii

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure they are mites they look like really small white spiders. I haven't seen any spots on them but I haven't looked at them under magnification. They don't seem to congregate in any one place but where there is damaged leaves there are mites. I have Anoectochilus roxburghii, Dossinoides Indra's Web, and ludisia discolor that all have damage. They don't seem to be bothering my broms just the orchids. I'll try to get some pictures but my camera doesn't do to good with macro shots.

Your best bet is to remove them and soak the orchids in clean water for like 20 minutes, then give them fresh air, then do it again after a while. Hopefully this will drown the lil' bastids!

vrmarkii · #7 (**permalink**) 06-18-2009, 09:21 PM

Thanks I'll give that a shot. I just got my first frogs the day I posted this and so far there hasn't been any new damage to the plants. They're pretty cool little dudes all they do is hunt all day. Hopefully they will keep the mites in check.

paulrust · #8 (**permalink**) 06-18-2009, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vrmarkii

Thanks I'll give that a shot. I just got my first frogs the day I posted this and so far there hasn't been any new damage to the plants. They're pretty cool little dudes all they do is hunt all day. Hopefully they will keep the mites in check.

That's interesting, I had little bugs on some new plants in a new viv once and my tinc got a hold of them and I never saw them again

...Thats a good little froggy...