Fighting A Winning War Against the Roaches that Chew on Roots of Orchid Plants

Cockroaches are among the most annoying pests with which you will have to battle in growing orchids. They can do huge damage in a few nights if not stopped and destroyed.

Why are roaches such a problem?  The answer is that one of their favorite things to eat is a potted plant’s tender young roots and flower stems. It is not unheard of for the roots of a plant to be entirely chewed off in one night by these pests.

How to fight cockroaches effectively is one big 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 marketed in an effort 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. Visit the garden aisle of your neighborhood hardware store.

For a less potentially risky solution, many growers have had success using boric acid, sugar and flour mixed with water to make a paste. This paste has to be spread in every nook and crevice you can find to be effective. To be completely safe, though, don’t get any of the stuff on the plants themselves.

You can also set out a few those “roach hotels.”  These will catch many roaches and keep them from getting to your orchids in the first place.

Cockroaches are stubborn, though. If you truly want to keep them under control you must be prepared to look for them constantly. 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 put an end to your plants. The most thorough guide to expert orchid care, many agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which is available to be downloaded from the Internet. Mr. Howard’s guide is a full education in itself, appropriate for novices as well as the more experienced. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing database of articles on many topics of orchid cultivation.