As with any plant we want to cultivate, orchids can be beset by pets--insects and other small creatures. The possible threats are many, but the main ones are red spiders, thrips, cockroaches and ants.
To grow orchids successfully, you must take measures to defeat these pests before they can damage your plants. There are specific steps you can take to deal with each sort of pest. Your best shield against pest damage in orchids is simple but thorough cleanliness.
Imported plants often have their native pests hitchhiking along with them.However, even nursery-grown orchids can have pests lurking in their potting soil or within their root structures.
Check all new plants thoroughly before bringing them into your home. Immediately destroy all pests that you find upon visual inspection. If you neglect to do so, they will in time destroy the foliage, and possibly kill the plant entirely. These marauders will also destroy the flowers. That can be really upsetting after you have lavished care and expense on a plant.
If there are other orchids around, you should treat every new plant with a certain degree of suspicion. It is a good idea to isolate it from all other plants for a short time. You should waste no time in ridding your plant of any and all insects you happen to find on it.
Washing every part of a plant's leaves, bulbs and roots will leave little chance for pests to escape destruction. Cleaning the plant's bulbs and leaves is the best procedure. Shake the plant out of the pot, cut away all decayed roots, wash the sound roots in clean water and then re-pot in clean containers using new material.
If carried out efficiently, this will be an excellent means for eradicating pests, including those that are too small for most people to spot. Some pests might be seen in the shape of eggs. Others appear as young insects but are so minute that you need a magnifying glass to find them in the foliage. However, a good cleaning regimen, as suggested, will destroy even the pests that you cannot see.
A good guide to orchid growing will have many more tips and suggestions for making sure that a pest doesn't put an end to your prized plants. The most complete guide to expert orchid care, many growers agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the Internet. Mr. Howard's ebook is a full course of study, useful for novices and the more experienced growers alike. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of postings on all facets of orchid cultivation.
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