You don't actually need a microscope -- a jeweler's loupe or even a good
magnifying glass allows me to see mites.

If your weather is not too hot, an oil spray [Neem, Ultrafine, whatever]
might be your best bet. But if you're having the kind of heat wave we've
been having here in south Florida, oil can be dangerous. [Think about
stir-fry :( ] Rubbing alcohol [cut 50/50 with water] or soap [any kind --
"insecticidal soap" is a redundancy] are other possibilities. But all of
the above are only "contact" killers, with no residual effect on the
critters. Which means it only kills the mites it gets on -- if you miss
any, they'll just start up again.

Because you say this has been going on for "a long time," I suspect the
critters are thoroughly entrenched, down in hard-to-reach places like leaf
axils, under old "sheathing" on the den(s) and other(s), and maybe even down
in the potting media/roots. So if possible, I would recommend that you
follow up with a systemic miticide -- Floramite, Avid, Kelthane, Pentac ...
All getting harder and harder to find, esp. in hobbyist quantities. OFE in
Miami did have Avid in relatively small bottles, last I looked, and they do
ship. Or possibly your closest local orchid nursery has one of these on
hand and would sell you a small quantity [BYOB to put it in G].

Otherwise, repotting may be required ...

Good luck, 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.