Question
Hello Jim,

I already went through many questions and read your answers on mealybug symptoms on Phaleanopses.  I have five Pha. and yesterday I realized the sticky honeydew on one of them, so went ahead and bought new potting mix and Garden Safe Houseplant and Garden insect spray.  I repotted it after cleaning the sticky parts and spraying its roots as well as its leaves.  However, I couldn't find any mealybugs while doing this.

Today, I found out that all of my other orchids are also starting to have honeydew on their leaves.  I'm going to go through the same process one by one; but two of them are fully bloomed.  I was wondering if repotting would kill them? Is there anything in particular that I have to be careful with while repotting the blooming orchids?

After cleaning my plants, what should I do to make sure that I prevent mealybugs to spread across the plants? Do they need more fresh air or more water?

Thanking you in advance for your help and advice!

Sinem  

Answer
Hello Sinem,

If you did not find any mealybugs on your plants, there may be some other insect that is causing the sticky honeydew on the leaves of your phalaenopsis orchids.  Other insects that can deposit honeydew on the leaves are aphids and whiteflies.  Aphids usually are attracted to flower buds while whiteflies fly around but rest and feed on the underside of leaves.  

Question: Is the honeydew you are seeing more like little balls or droplets at the base or tip of the leaves rather than on the suface of them?  If they are, there is nothing to worry about as they are just excess plant fluids being secreted by a healthily growing orchid.  The one problem this condition can cause is that ants may be attracted to the sweet fluids.  

It is possible to repot blooming orchids but you may lose some or all of the blooms due to handling during the repotting process.  Normally, it is best to wait until the flowers have all fallen off to repot unless the plant is in major trouble and it needs to be done sooner.  

All orchids can benefit from having some gentle air movement around them.  Whether to give them more water depends upon the plant, potting media, growing environment, etc. and how quickly the media dries out.   

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.