This article discusses the reasons why ants attack orchids, how to eradicate them, and prevent future invasions. Ants are attracted to orchids to feed on the sap that aphids leave behind, but they won’t harm them unless the orchid transpires excess honeydew. Ants are generally considered beneficial to orchids and will never damage them. In some cases, they may farm sucking pests like aphids and mealybugs.
Some orchids, especially cymbidiums, produce sugary secretions on the flower spikes, which can be prevented from reaching the ants. To prevent ants from reaching the spikes, it is essential to identify, train, and care for orchid flower spikes. Light requirements, staking tips, and cascading techniques for different orchids can help.
The mechanism of rebloom in orchids involves the presence of undifferentiated cells in the flower spike that become stimulated and develop into new blooms. When a fungus infects a carpenter ant, it grows through the insect’s body, draining nutrients and hijacking its mind. The flower spike will grow quickly toward the light, making it necessary to regularly water it.
Another issue is the flower spike growing quickly toward the light, which can be a problem when on a window sill. To test for pollination by mimicry in Diuris (Orchidaceae), a genus hypothesized to attract pollinators via mimicry of co-occurring pea plants, it is important to test for pollination by mimicry in Diuris (Orchidaceae).
📹 ANT PLANTS UPDATE: WE STILL AND HAVE ANTS AND NEW PLANTS!1080p
Send Treasure to: Po Box 21064, Duncan, BC, Canada V9L 0C2 ( let me know it is coming so I don’t miss it) …
📹 Rejuvenating stressed Oncidium Orchids + Detailed explanations for each step!
Today we tend for the small Oncidium type orchids I purchased at a discount over the weekend! More info below! The most …
Thank you so much for making these articles! I recently found your website while looking for info on how to properly water and feed any orchids. I am so happy to now have a guide for keeping my orchids healthy. I love orchids but unfortunately I have murdered almost every orchid plant that I have had because I had no idea how to properly care for them. Through luck I managed to keep alive a beautiful hybrid that my husband bought for me last year; she recently produced a new flower spike and I found your website while looking for resources on how often I should water and fertilize her. Most websites are too vague about how to care for an orchid, I love how much information you provide. I have been perusal as many of your articles that I can and now I’m inspired to go buy some sad orchids and bring them new life (hopefully I can make up for all the poor orchids that died in my care before I knew how to give them the love and attention they needed) and re-pot the few that I have now. Thank you for helping me keep my beauties alive! I look forward to new articles and the beautiful blooms I will see from my plants thanks to your insight.
Hi Danny, love your website i have been perusal your articles for 2 years…i live on a small Caribean island called Curaçao and currently have a collection of about 18 orchids. I grow all my orchids outside and water about 3 times per week. I’m alsow a member of the Curaçao Orchid Club (it’s a whole lot of fun). We have 2 wild growing orchid on the island (brassavola nodosa and myrmecophilla humboldtii). God Bless you and i hope to see a lot of blooms again at the end of Febuary.✌🏾
Excellent point about the sphagnum moss, Danny… it is great in hot, dry climates just not so much in hot, humid climates… it stays wet, it absorbs the atmospheric moisture as well and rots way too quickly causing all sorts of issues when growing outdoors, indoors… not so many of those issues though.
Hi Danny – I wish this article existed a few months ago. I have an oncidium orchid label Sherry Baby originally that turned out to be the Catatante with a huge bulb developing and and an incredible spike with orange and brown blooms ! Subsequently the plant has grown enormous. Three to four months later, the plant needs repotting! I guess you live and learn!
Oncidiums I think are increasing in popularity in my area. If I go out to the nurseries (they tend to be outside of the city), then I can find them, and they are quite cheap to purchase, but finding them in grocery stores is impossible. There is a garden shop that gets a lot of orchids from one of the nurseries, so I can see oncidium intergenerics, cattleyas, dendrobiums and the occasional zygopetalum there, but they are more expensive than buying directly from the nursery.
I buy a few stressed discounted oncidium orchids in summer each year (the only time they’re normally available where I am) and usually seem to keep them happily alive for a few months but about half of them seem to succumb to disease in the first winter. The rest of my collection goes unaffected so I assume it must be the hard life they’ve had knocking down their resistance.
Hi… I’ve brought home an orchid of oncidium variety 2 weeks ago. It seemed to be in good health in the nursery. Flowers started to dry and fall off within 9 days and a stem has dried off to a yellow colour. The mix on which the orchid is potted is mainly made of dried coconut parts. Is my orchid dying? Is it too late? How can I save it? Plz help……. 😭😭😭😭😭
Hi Orchid Girl :. Please help me. I received an oncidium as a gift. Totally pot bound in a small pot. I mean “totally pot bound”. Roots completely wrapped around in the pot. I had to cut it out. I watered it from below. No room on the top to water ! I’d send you a photo but I don’t know how. I hope I don’t kill it as I’m repotting. Suggestions ? Still trying to remove bark from center of plant–. It has so many roots I can barely access it with my fingers. It’s all roots and barely any bark. Help !!!!!😩