Varmint on an Old Orchid Bloom (iPhone)

This bloom is at least ten weeks old and already had a few brown spots when I bought it, for five dollars. While fertilizing today, I found this white, furry larva with antennae. I'm waiting for my mom to respond to her email before I start consulting entomology reference sites. Let's hope for the best...

Update on Monday, April 12, 2010 at 11:27 by k

Okay, these are definitely longtailed mealy bugs. I am going to start by hitting them and the brown spots, which are recent hatchlings, with some rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip, and then I am going to sprinkle some ground cinnamon in the folds and crotches. I'll stay vigilant with my rubbing alcohol until the pest control solution arrives from rePotme.

Repotting, Lovely Root Structure (iPhone)

Phalaenopsis Number 8

This is the largest and heaviest from the dollar section. It appears to be very healthy, with new roots growing everywhere and a stable dry base under the leaves. I hope to get it to bloom. As with the others that I bought with no blooms, it'll be a nice surprise to see what color they are!

Phalaenopsis Number 7

I'm not sure what is going on with this. I'm not even sure that it's a phalaenopsis because in my two weeks of orchid interest, I still haven't seen one that has hearty branches off of the main spike. This was another dollar-discount plant because of the missing blooms and yellow leaf. It looks like it was over-watered. We'll see what happens.

Phalaenopsis Number 6

This plant is fine and even has a nice bud that's about to open. There are a lot of new roots, so I might repot once the blooms fall off.