Hi there, This spring I purchased a couple of orchids at a Vancouver Orchid show. The other day I was watering the Brassolaeliocatltleya Chia Lin 'New City' and noticed a couple of very small, very fast moving bugs come out of the bark medium. I had set the plant in water just to below the rim of the pot, so I presume the bugs surfaced to avoid the water. They were sort of beige/rust colored and looked rather like a centipede and were about 1/4 of an inch long. Does anyone have any ideas what they might be and how would I go about getting rid of them? They moved very fast and if I had not been paying attention I would never have seen them. Will they spread to my other plants and orchids? I hope someone knows about these little critters? Thanks Mistral
A pic would be necessary for any conclusive ID.... also keep in mind that they may not be orchid-pests at all or they could be a predator of a smaller orchid-pest that you haven't noticed yet....at any rate such a large 'pest' that doesn't like water should easy enough to loose... just repot using uninfested medium give the plant a bath making sure all the old medium and bugs are removed...throw away the old medium.
