Finally, a real shelf/light!

[Morja]

FINAALLLYYY
After fighting thrips, moving from our RV home of 2.5 years and into an apartment, and going away for Christmas, the new shelf is up!
Positioning etc will have to be tweaked, but I'm so happy to now have the space for this. Should have gone for the Spider Farmer light that was the same as this one but twice as long- lol, oh well. Gives me some fringes to put less light-thirsty things on.
Not the best quality picture, just had to share because I just finished moving them!


P.S. No signs of thrips after a little over a month of faithfully using various things to kill them, then stopping once our move happened because, let's be real, I barely got to water them for a few weeks. I still intend to treat them with something extra special as a final preventative measure. I had some BV Yellow Bird blooms push through, and my phrag Eric Young 1/2 flava from Orchids Ltd is in bud. Lost my two other phrag sheaths to the thrips and my overzealous rubbing alcohol spraying, I think.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

That's a very lovely collection! I know it's not a realistic goal for me, but there are plenty (err planty) of days I wish I could cull my orchids down to something more manageable like this!

I've never had to deal with any significant thrips issues, particularly not with my Phrags, though I've got a Cattleya hybrid whose blooms will get absolutely infested if it happens to flower while outdoors. What was your treatment regimen like? Did you stick with alcohol sprays or did you use a systemic insecticide?

 

[Morja]

That's a very lovely collection! I know it's not a realistic goal for me, but there are plenty (err planty) of days I wish I could cull my orchids down to something more manageable like this!

I've never had to deal with any significant thrips issues, particularly not with my Phrags, though I've got a Cattleya hybrid whose blooms will get absolutely infested if it happens to flower while outdoors. What was your treatment regimen like? Did you stick with alcohol sprays or did you use a systemic insecticide?

Thank you! I'm always seeing more plants I want, but with a newborn coming this spring I'm trying to be careful about adding anything else. 20 something plants is alright! (Now... I'm still in the low 20s... I could add just a FEW more.... agh stop that! Almost blacked out there and bought something )

I do have a systemic, but my plants were in my kitchen around my sink in our RV and reading the warnings on it, it should not be used where it could get into local water sources. Because RV gray tanks are sometimes used open-draining in backcountry areas, I did not want any residue in the tanks where it could eventually get out into water sources somewhere and kill native water invertebrates. Then we moved and life has been chaotic since. I'm afraid thrips will pop up again if I don't do something extra, so I will probably use it now that they are all set up.
In the meantime the favorite thing I used was a dish soap/rubbing alcohol/water mix that burned the tender new leaves less than straight rubbing alcohol. I also had an insecticide soap, but didn't use that as much because I hated the smell. I treated them twice a week for the first probably 2-3 weeks, then once a week for another 2 weeks.

 

[Roots]

Awesome set up! Congratulations. You even managed to get a little mount hanging. I have been wondering if I could manage to hang anything. I just had to look up what BV is. Would love to see an up close of it. Thanks for the good thrip management regime. I hope I don't have to avail myself of it, but if so, it's very informative.

 

[Morja]

Awesome set up! Congratulations. You even managed to get a little mount hanging. I have been wondering if I could manage to hang anything. I just had to look up what BV is. Would love to see an up close of it. Thanks for the good thrip management regime. I hope I don't have to avail myself of it, but if so, it's very informative.

Oh, sorry! Brassovola. Though they are also called brassocattleya sometimes- I haven't looked to see which is technically correct these days! I enjoy the color change they undergo as they open. Supposedly they are frequent bloomers, and will eventually just stay blooming all the time if happy. It's my first mount, bought as a Lowe's "bag baby" and then mounted it about a year ago.
Mine is lightly night fragrant!
Today, working back to more and more pink!





Also the tiny mount you see is a little sophronitis cernua that I hope to encourage into blooming soon. It's focusing on roots right now.

 

[Weaver]

Yay! That’s a nice set up! I have also reached pretty close to my time/space/energy limit with the number of orchids I currently have and am working hard at pausing on new acquisitions for a while.
WRT your thrips: may I ask how did you know you had them and how long after you introduced the plants you think they came in on?

 

[Morja]

Yay! That’s a nice set up! I have also reached pretty close to my time/space/energy limit with the number of orchids I currently have and am working hard at pausing on new acquisitions for a while.
WRT your thrips: may I ask how did you know you had them and how long after you introduced the plants you think they came in on?

Thanks! The meme made me laugh.

Here is the original thread if you're interested, when I first discovered the thrips. Tons of good advice there too:

Thread 'These are thrips, aren't they.' https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/these-are-thrips-arent-they.57735/

I actually think they came from Woodstream
I'd had the suspect plant for a couple of months, maybe just 1.5, before I noticed the thrips. I'd been keeping it separate, but had doused it really well in rubbing alcohol right when I got it because it had weird orange streaks on the new growths (and it was bare root so I did that pretty thoroughly) so I think they just didn't show up very quickly. I wish I had thought to treat it again!!! Due to shuffling around because I lost the sun in another window (yay RV life) it ended up closer to my other plants after probably a month of being careful. Then they managed to spread to other plants before I realized what was going on.

 

[Roots]

I enjoy the color change they undergo as they open.

Wow, the color really does change. I like how the oncoming pink is echoed in the spots. Very pretty. I don't think my Lowe's has anything except phals. Would love to see the sophronotis when it blooms. How often do you have to water it?

If I may return to the thrips.....do you look at your plants with a magnifying glass? I am wondering if they would have been visible when the plant first arrived? I always inspect mine before I repot them but I am wondering if I would see anything or if I am just wasting my time. Again, really appreciate all the info.

 

[southernbelle]

FINAALLLYYY
After fighting thrips, moving from our RV home of 2.5 years and into an apartment, and going away for Christmas, the new shelf is up!
Positioning etc will have to be tweaked, but I'm so happy to now have the space for this. Should have gone for the Spider Farmer light that was the same as this one but twice as long- lol, oh well. Gives me some fringes to put less light-thirsty things on.
Not the best quality picture, just had to share because I just finished moving them!
View attachment 51704

P.S. No signs of thrips after a little over a month of faithfully using various things to kill them, then stopping once our move happened because, let's be real, I barely got to water them for a few weeks. I still intend to treat them with something extra special as a final preventative measure. I had some BV Yellow Bird blooms push through, and my phrag Eric Young 1/2 flava from Orchids Ltd is in bud. Lost my two other phrag sheaths to the thrips and my overzealous rubbing alcohol spraying, I think.

Nice set up! Let us know how it does. Have you used the Overture, yet for your thrips?

 

[southernbelle]

Wow, the color really does change. I like how the oncoming pink is echoed in the spots. Very pretty. I don't think my Lowe's has anything except phals. Would love to see the sophronotis when it blooms. How often do you have to water it?

If I may return to the thrips.....do you look at your plants with a magnifying glass? I am wondering if they would have been visible when the plant first arrived? I always inspect mine before I repot them but I am wondering if I would see anything or if I am just wasting my time. Again, really appreciate all the info.

Roots, it takes about 40 power to see thrips at certain stages and even then only when I wipe a leaf with an alcohol swab and look at the swab. They are squirming because of the alcohol and visible.

 

[Morja]

Wow, the color really does change. I like how the oncoming pink is echoed in the spots. Very pretty. I don't think my Lowe's has anything except phals. Would love to see the sophronotis when it blooms. How often do you have to water it?

If I may return to the thrips.....do you look at your plants with a magnifying glass? I am wondering if they would have been visible when the plant first arrived? I always inspect mine before I repot them but I am wondering if I would see anything or if I am just wasting my time. Again, really appreciate all the info.

I haven't been using a magnifying glass, but that's a good idea! I did inspect it really well under bright light before cleaning it with alcohol. They lay their eggs inside plant tissue, so it's possible there were just a few eggs after that initial treatment that were unaffected, and later hatched. It took a while for them to multiply enough to notice I guess.

 

[Morja]

Roots, it takes about 40 power to see thrips at certain stages and even then only when I wipe a leaf with an alcohol swab and look at the swab. They are squirming because of the alcohol and visible.

Yes, I got some from you and I'm so thankful for it! Now that the plants are out of my RV kitchen and I won't potentially end up getting it in the gray tank to possibly later go who knows where, I intend to use it.

 

[BrucherT]

Thank you! I'm always seeing more plants I want, but with a newborn coming this spring I'm trying to be careful about adding anything else. 20 something plants is alright! (Now... I'm still in the low 20s... I could add just a FEW more.... agh stop that! Almost blacked out there and bought something )

I do have a systemic, but my plants were in my kitchen around my sink in our RV and reading the warnings on it, it should not be used where it could get into local water sources. Because RV gray tanks are sometimes used open-draining in backcountry areas, I did not want any residue in the tanks where it could eventually get out into water sources somewhere and kill native water invertebrates. Then we moved and life has been chaotic since. I'm afraid thrips will pop up again if I don't do something extra, so I will probably use it now that they are all set up.
In the meantime the favorite thing I used was a dish soap/rubbing alcohol/water mix that burned the tender new leaves less than straight rubbing alcohol. I also had an insecticide soap, but didn't use that as much because I hated the smell. I treated them twice a week for the first probably 2-3 weeks, then once a week for another 2 weeks.

You’re so responsible! Wish more growers thought through poisons.

Have I used some? Yes. Safari (Diflurcan) is my last resort when ALL else fails. But since I started using the USDA insecticidal soap recipe with Dr. Bronner’s and vegetable oil, I’ve even ridded a very stubborn round of mites (I also did a massive repotting 2 months into treatment, thoroughly spraying each plant, bare rinsed roots and all, with the mixture). Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap is great because it comes in many scents as well as unscented. I use the lemon one. You know you’ve got to shake and spray before using because the mixture separates. Has worked on mites, scale, mealybug and thrips. Last time I used Safari was for a “strawberry thrips” infestation that threatened to carry off my Hibiscus schizopetalus, which I’ve had since I was 14. The soap didn’t affect those.

 

[Morja]

You’re so responsible! Wish more growers thought through poisons.

Have I used some? Yes. Safari (Diflurcan) is my last resort when ALL else fails. But since I started using the USDA insecticidal soap recipe with Dr. Bronner’s and vegetable oil, I’ve even ridded a very stubborn round of mites (I also did a massive repotting 2 months into treatment, thoroughly spraying each plant, bare rinsed roots and all, with the mixture). Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap is great because it comes in many scents as well as unscented. I use the lemon one. You know you’ve got to shake and spray before using because the mixture separates. Has worked on mites, scale, mealybug and thrips. Last time I used Safari was for a “strawberry thrips” infestation that threatened to carry off my Hibiscus schizopetalus, which I’ve had since I was 14. The soap didn’t affect those.

At this point I think I want to treat all incoming plants, multiple times, with something like that, and keep the systemic on hand as needed. Good to know there are different scents or lack thereof. I'll look into it!!