When I'm actively looking for them on a plant that's having problems, I can
see spider mites without a magnifying glass. I think I've had another kind
of mite too that must have been smaller, but they also left easily visible
damage (silver stippling on the underside of leaves, yellowing leaves,
general decline in the plants.) It's not all that unusual to have a web
from a real spider on one of your orchids. And it is extremely common to
have honeydew on orchids. Get a magnifying glass and look for either pests
or damage on the plants before you panic. If you do find a problem, treat
it immediately because mites can spread throughout a collection and cause a
lot of damage.
-danny

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:koZag.7292$Go6.5195@trnddc04...
Ok, unfortunately I am beginning to suspect that my orchids do have mites!
:-(

1) the honeydew -- I have seen some on the corners of the leaves of the
one that has had lots of honeydew in general
2) there was a spider web on this orchid as well

What do I do now? Please remember that I live in a condo, so spraying with
pesticides is not an option. Also how quickly do I have to act? I do not
know whether I will have time to treat all 51 orchids + the bay leaf tree
in our condo this upcoming weekend (not sure whether I ever will have the
time to do it come to think of it, given my 5 months old). The orchids
generally appear healthy for now, but I know that if they indeed have
mites this won't last. Yikes!

Given the two points above, is there any chance that it's not mites after
all? Even a remote one? How do I tell for sure? I would so like to avoid
having to treat my entire collection, but I don't want to loose it either.

Joanna