It sounds like mites to me too. Just went though a bout with them. It was
recommended to me to use an insecticidal soap according to directions. You
will need to treat at least three times a week apart to get them all. The
soap seemed to work for me.

If there is a greenhouse near you they might have a microscope and could
verify their presence before treatment. Call them first though.

Bob

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
The red "dust" sounds like mites.

The white/brown, harder to say. Could perhaps be scale, and/or scarring
from past damage??? You could probably get a more definitive answer if
you could post a picture on abpo ...

Kenni


"OrchidPop" wrote in message
oups.com...
I've been having a problem for a long time on my thick leaf orchids
(mostly phals, but now a dendrobium and another one). When you wipe the
leaves with a wet paper towel, red "dust" comes away. The leaves can
show this red dust too, but often on the bottom (and sometimes tops of
the leaves) there is white/brown stuff that can't really wipe away.

The leaves look really sickly.

Any ideas what sort of creature or virus I might have, and more
importantly, how I can stop this short of getting rid of all of the
beautiful thick leaf orchids?

Thanks.