Don’t Let Roaches Gorge on Your Orchids
Cockroaches are among the most annoying pests with which you will have to deal in growing orchids. They can do unimaginable damage in a few nights if not stopped and killed.
Why do cockroaches pose such a big problem? The answer is that one of their favorite meals is a potted plant’s tender young roots and flower stems. It is not unheard of for the roots of a plant to be completely chewed off in one night by roaches.
How to effectively control roaches is a perennial topic. People have been fighting with them in their homes and kitchens for centuries, and we will probably be fighting them for centuries to come. They have evolved to be incredibly successful in living amongst us and in resisting extermination.
Many poisons have been invented in an attempt to control cockroaches. If you go the poison route, you should of course only use the ones that will not do damage to your plants. Check out the garden supply aisle of your local hardware store.
For a less risky approach, many people have had great success with a combination of boric acid, a little sugar, and flour, mixed with water to make a paste. Put some paste everywhere — cracks, crevices, underneath shelves, behind objects, in baseboard holes. To be completely safe, though, don’t get any of the stuff on the plants themselves.
You might also set out some of those “roach hotels.” These will catch many roaches and stop a few at least from getting to your orchids in the first place.
Honestly, however, the only way to keep control of cockroaches is to search for them continously, both day and night. You should especially search for them on and around your plants in the evening, using a flashlight. They leave their hiding places in the evening to seek food and it is then that they are most easily caught and killed. Don’t forget to move your pots and baskets around to uncover ones that may have run into hiding from you.
A decent guide to orchid growing will have many other tips and suggestions for making sure that pests such as roaches don’t destroy your plants. The most thorough guide to modern orchid care, in the opinion of many, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the web. Mr. Howard’s guide is a complete course in itself, suitable for novices as well as the more experienced. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of postings on many facets of orchid cultivation.
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