The leaves on many of my orchids (mostly catt family, dendrobiums, some
phals and paphs) are sticky to the touch. When I clean the leaves with
alcohol and cotton balls, a brownish powder comes off on some of the
leaves. At first I thought it was "dust" from moss or bark that had
become airborne when I squirted (I don't mist, I squirt the top of the
media) and stuck to leaves that had been treated with Neem oil or Safer
insecticide. (Previously, I had a problem with mites and mealy bugs.)

Many of the plants that have the dust are healthy, but a few are not. A
miltoniadium and some of the phals have ratty old leaves.

Now I'm bug free--visually bug free. And now that I'm doing a lot of
Ray's semi-hydroponics, I know that the brown dust isn't
splashback--many of my orchids are on humidity trays and in PrimeAgra,
which isn't dusty. However, even after I swab the plants' leaves with
alcohol, a week later, some plants' leaves are sticky again. So, do I
have another infestation of a new, smaller mite? Something else? Any
ideas of how I can get rid of it? Washing and swabbing everybody's
leaves every week is getting to be a drag.

BTW, I have had very good luck with PrimeAgra. It's a great cure for
those over-watered phals. Also, I started some Rodriguezia Secunda
babies in it, and they are taking off like a shot. The mother plant,
which is in bark/mass in a basket, has been mallingering since I got
her.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Caddy,

My first thought when I read your post was aphids. They secrete a sticky
substance that makes things around them mildew and sticky. But I don't
think that's what your issue is.

Are your plants outdoors under a tree that may be dropping a sticky sap?

Did you spray anything that when it dries becomes sticky? Sometimes Safer
soap does this.

Could it be a humidity problem? I have seen a few of my plants have mildew
on them when there wasn't enough air movement. I particularly notice this
when one leaf lays on top of another and air can't get between them.


Good growing,
Gene


wrote in message
t...
The leaves on many of my orchids (mostly catt family, dendrobiums, some
phals and paphs) are sticky to the touch. When I clean the leaves with
alcohol and cotton balls, a brownish powder comes off on some of the
leaves. At first I thought it was "dust" from moss or bark that had
become airborne when I squirted (I don't mist, I squirt the top of the
media) and stuck to leaves that had been treated with Neem oil or Safer
insecticide. (Previously, I had a problem with mites and mealy bugs.)

Many of the plants that have the dust are healthy, but a few are not. A
miltoniadium and some of the phals have ratty old leaves.

Now I'm bug free--visually bug free. And now that I'm doing a lot of
Ray's semi-hydroponics, I know that the brown dust isn't
splashback--many of my orchids are on humidity trays and in PrimeAgra,
which isn't dusty. However, even after I swab the plants' leaves with
alcohol, a week later, some plants' leaves are sticky again. So, do I
have another infestation of a new, smaller mite? Something else? Any
ideas of how I can get rid of it? Washing and swabbing everybody's
leaves every week is getting to be a drag.

BTW, I have had very good luck with PrimeAgra. It's a great cure for
those over-watered phals. Also, I started some Rodriguezia Secunda
babies in it, and they are taking off like a shot. The mother plant,
which is in bark/mass in a basket, has been mallingering since I got
her.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Are you sure it's not fern spoor? Do you have any ferns close by?
Is the powdery stuff on the underside of the leaves?
I would get a magnifying glass or a loupe & check to see for spider mites.
Cheers Wendy
wrote in message
t...
The leaves on many of my orchids (mostly catt family, dendrobiums, some
phals and paphs) are sticky to the touch. When I clean the leaves with
alcohol and cotton balls, a brownish powder comes off on some of the
leaves. At first I thought it was "dust" from moss or bark that had
become airborne when I squirted (I don't mist, I squirt the top of the
media) and stuck to leaves that had been treated with Neem oil or Safer
insecticide. (Previously, I had a problem with mites and mealy bugs.)

Many of the plants that have the dust are healthy, but a few are not. A
miltoniadium and some of the phals have ratty old leaves.

Now I'm bug free--visually bug free. And now that I'm doing a lot of
Ray's semi-hydroponics, I know that the brown dust isn't
splashback--many of my orchids are on humidity trays and in PrimeAgra,
which isn't dusty. However, even after I swab the plants' leaves with
alcohol, a week later, some plants' leaves are sticky again. So, do I
have another infestation of a new, smaller mite? Something else? Any
ideas of how I can get rid of it? Washing and swabbing everybody's
leaves every week is getting to be a drag.

BTW, I have had very good luck with PrimeAgra. It's a great cure for
those over-watered phals. Also, I started some Rodriguezia Secunda
babies in it, and they are taking off like a shot. The mother plant,
which is in bark/mass in a basket, has been mallingering since I got
her.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Thanks for the advice. I do have one fern in the room, but the room is
22 feet long, so I doubt that the fern is being that industrius. The
magnification I used wasn't very strong, so I'll look for something
stronger.


In article jdrIa.96722$MJ5.23798@fed1read03, "Wendy"
wrote:

Are you sure it's not fern spoor? Do you have any ferns close by?
Is the powdery stuff on the underside of the leaves?
I would get a magnifying glass or a loupe & check to see for spider mites.
Cheers Wendy
wrote in message
t...
The leaves on many of my orchids (mostly catt family, dendrobiums, some
phals and paphs) are sticky to the touch. When I clean the leaves with
alcohol and cotton balls, a brownish powder comes off on some of the
leaves. At first I thought it was "dust" from moss or bark that had
become airborne when I squirted (I don't mist, I squirt the top of the
media) and stuck to leaves that had been treated with Neem oil or Safer
insecticide. (Previously, I had a problem with mites and mealy bugs.)

Many of the plants that have the dust are healthy, but a few are not. A
miltoniadium and some of the phals have ratty old leaves.

Now I'm bug free--visually bug free. And now that I'm doing a lot of
Ray's semi-hydroponics, I know that the brown dust isn't
splashback--many of my orchids are on humidity trays and in PrimeAgra,
which isn't dusty. However, even after I swab the plants' leaves with
alcohol, a week later, some plants' leaves are sticky again. So, do I
have another infestation of a new, smaller mite? Something else? Any
ideas of how I can get rid of it? Washing and swabbing everybody's
leaves every week is getting to be a drag.

BTW, I have had very good luck with PrimeAgra. It's a great cure for
those over-watered phals. Also, I started some Rodriguezia Secunda
babies in it, and they are taking off like a shot. The mother plant,
which is in bark/mass in a basket, has been mallingering since I got
her.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

The plants are indoors in a sunroom. The leaves feel dry and smooth
after they're swabbed with alcohol, but a week later... Yes, it's very
humid here--it's been raining for weeks. I don't stack my plants, and I
have two fans going 24/7, but perhaps that isn't enough. My growing
area is long and narrow, so perhaps I should ressurect another fan from
the basement. Thanks!



In article k.net,
"Gene Schurg" wrote:

Caddy,

My first thought when I read your post was aphids. They secrete a sticky
substance that makes things around them mildew and sticky. But I don't
think that's what your issue is.

Are your plants outdoors under a tree that may be dropping a sticky sap?

Did you spray anything that when it dries becomes sticky? Sometimes Safer
soap does this.

Could it be a humidity problem? I have seen a few of my plants have mildew
on them when there wasn't enough air movement. I particularly notice this
when one leaf lays on top of another and air can't get between them.


Good growing,
Gene


wrote in message
t...
The leaves on many of my orchids (mostly catt family, dendrobiums, some
phals and paphs) are sticky to the touch. When I clean the leaves with
alcohol and cotton balls, a brownish powder comes off on some of the
leaves. At first I thought it was "dust" from moss or bark that had
become airborne when I squirted (I don't mist, I squirt the top of the
media) and stuck to leaves that had been treated with Neem oil or Safer
insecticide. (Previously, I had a problem with mites and mealy bugs.)

Many of the plants that have the dust are healthy, but a few are not. A
miltoniadium and some of the phals have ratty old leaves.

Now I'm bug free--visually bug free. And now that I'm doing a lot of
Ray's semi-hydroponics, I know that the brown dust isn't
splashback--many of my orchids are on humidity trays and in PrimeAgra,
which isn't dusty. However, even after I swab the plants' leaves with
alcohol, a week later, some plants' leaves are sticky again. So, do I
have another infestation of a new, smaller mite? Something else? Any
ideas of how I can get rid of it? Washing and swabbing everybody's
leaves every week is getting to be a drag.

BTW, I have had very good luck with PrimeAgra. It's a great cure for
those over-watered phals. Also, I started some Rodriguezia Secunda
babies in it, and they are taking off like a shot. The mother plant,
which is in bark/mass in a basket, has been mallingering since I got
her.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 12:10:36 GMT, wrote
in Message-Id: :

The leaves on many of my orchids (mostly catt family, dendrobiums, some
phals and paphs) are sticky to the touch.

It doesn't really sound like your sticky leaves are caused by this,
but I've seen virtually clear scale insects on a stem above a leaf
deposit honey dew on the leaf below. I couldn't determine the source
of the sticky stuff until I used a 2X hand glass. Some scale are
nearly transparent!

Here's a link, but these are pretty observable:
http://nat_hist.sdstate.edu/orchids/pests/scales.htm

Here's a good site with insect photos to aid in identification:
http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/view/urbpics.htm

You'll find lots of cheap magnifiers he
http://tinylink.com/?urh4xzLnmz