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#1
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tiny moving black dots in conservatory
Hi, I'm new to this group.
I have a conservatory attached to my house with about 60 orchids. Over the past year or so, I've noticed bunches of tiny black dots - smaller than a pinhead - that cluster on the ledges and walls. The largest concentration is on the wall opposite where my plants are. I *do* have a few plants that have tiny black spots on the leaves, but the spots are flush with the leaves unlike these things. Can anyone tell me what these may be and how I can get rid of them? I did a massive cleanup, but they reappeared 2-3 weeks later... Many thanks, Laura |
#2
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Ants? Thrips? Fleas? Regardless, one treatment will generally not solve
the problem -- few if any insecticides are effective against any of the critters in all their stages. Anytime you have bugs, you should expect to spray 3x at appropriate intervals, so you kill the adults, the teens and the children ... -- Kenni Judd Juno Beach Orchids http://www.jborchids.com wrote in message oups.com... Hi, I'm new to this group. I have a conservatory attached to my house with about 60 orchids. Over the past year or so, I've noticed bunches of tiny black dots - smaller than a pinhead - that cluster on the ledges and walls. The largest concentration is on the wall opposite where my plants are. I *do* have a few plants that have tiny black spots on the leaves, but the spots are flush with the leaves unlike these things. Can anyone tell me what these may be and how I can get rid of them? I did a massive cleanup, but they reappeared 2-3 weeks later... Many thanks, Laura |
#3
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Thanks for the reply. I'd really like to identify these things - they
don't look like anything I've been able to find a picture for on the net - they look like poppy seeds, only smaller - just little, tiny, black balls with no sign of legs, etc. I just looked up thrips and that's not it. Is there a type of scale perhaps that might look like this and live in colonies away from the plants? Laura |
#4
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"LauraReeling" wrote in message ups.com... Thanks for the reply. I'd really like to identify these things - they don't look like anything I've been able to find a picture for on the net - they look like poppy seeds, only smaller - just little, tiny, black balls with no sign of legs, etc. I just looked up thrips and that's not it. Is there a type of scale perhaps that might look like this and live in colonies away from the plants? Hi Laura- I wonder if what you are seeing are the spores of the artillery fungus, Sphaerobolus stellatus? This is a tiny fungus that lives on wood such as mulch. The spore is ejected from the fungus and is commonly seen adhering to vinyl siding or greenhouse glazing. You can do a google search for artillery fungus and see pictures of the discharged spores on siding. Once discharged, however, they are not mobile- in fact, their stickiness can make them somewhat difficult to remove. Bill Landers |
#5
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Laura,
From what area are you writing? Could make a difference. I recently saw some tiny black dots clustered together. When I put on my reading glasses it appeared to be ants. According to the exterminator, they are "Carribean crazy ants" and very hard to control. Gad. What fresh h**l is that? Diana |
#6
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Hmmm, could be I'm only assuming they're moving due to the spread.
This sounds the closest to what I've been seeing. Thanks for the info. |
#7
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I'm in the Boston area. These things don't move visibly - Bill's
suggestion about the artillery fungus sounds closest, although from what I've read so far those spores are supposed to be difficult to remove and what I have is not - just difficult to control. Many thanks, Laura |
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