A couple more views of the removed p-bulb... It looks to me the scale are inside the p-bulbs as well. Perhaps this is why i'm having so much trouble getting this plant healthy.
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Myrmecophila (schomburgkia) Tibiana is a primary cross of Mcp. tibicinis and Mcp. thomsoniana. I have had this plant for a long time. Recently it has begun to look sad due to a scale infestation and extreme sun levels. One p-bulb was going bad and since it had to be cut off I thought I would show the process. Tibiana p-bulbs are hollow and ants can make these hollow places their homes, storing their food and feeding the plant at the same time.
I sliced open the bad p-bulb to show what it looks like inside. The red cap contains cinnamon to treat the cut.
Here is the gaping hole left after cutting the p-bulb off.
And the hole now liberally treated with cinnamon. I don't just sprinkle the cinnamon as I want to keep it from getting on the surrounding healthy roots as it can dry them out.
You will want to make sure and use a sharp knife since these p-bulbs are tough to cut. It reminds me of celery with the cordlike strings.
A couple more views of the removed p-bulb... It looks to me the scale are inside the p-bulbs as well. Perhaps this is why i'm having so much trouble getting this plant healthy.
Maybe a systemic would finish off the scale.
Do you (or anyone) have a good picture of scale on the leaves of an orchid? I'd like to have a more clear idea what to look for.
Good luck in clearing up your plant!
nice post connie. i've never seen anything like this before. it does form a nice big hollow space for ants. i wonder if they enlarge it somehow too? really cool, although i got a relative of this recently, and it is a little young plant, but not looking forward to it becoming an ant condo complex. or a scale one either. i think the local ants would pack these full of mealie bugs. if you do get ants, you can get rid of them with diatomaceous earth.
I saw a lot of Mcp christinae in Mexico (similar to tibicinis but on the other side of the Yucatan peninsula). It seems pretty normal that old pseudobulbs decay. Especially those growing in full sun. The ones that were happiest and most vigorous were shaded by some tree canopy and probably were getting morning sun and afternoon shade. Those in full sun only had the most recent growth alive. The hollow old pseudobulbs are used there as pipes to smoke medicinal herbs.
here are some images of plants in situ,
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjFfY2Px
I have to add more photos but had not much time to edit
i read somewhere the bulbs were made into flutes by children, but i tried finding more info online, and came up with nothing other than a few mentions of it happening, no sound files, no photos. tibicinis supposedly means trumpet i think.