Jo,

My eyes are pretty bad, but I can see mites. In very bright light, check the
midrib and leaf edges. Move the plant around so you are checking at
different angles. At the right angle you will see them and their movement.
A 10X loop is very helpful but not necessary except for ID.

If you have mites, you might want to try nontoxic sprays such as oils,
pepper wax, soaps, and alcohol. People in this group know more about these
options then I. I would recommend getting trays and carrying everything
outside for a real spray. If it comes to this I can make some
recommendations.

Pat


"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