Lately, I have been spotting small holes on Vino's leaves. The little holes do not ooze or are mushy. There are not too many of them, but they all tend to be around the tip of the leaves and there were only about 3 leaves in total that had these small punctures. After researching every type of pest I could find, I realized Vino did not exhibit any of the other tell-tale signs usually associated with parasites. I also examined the potting mix carefully and there were no little creatures hiding in the media and no foul smell. By the process of elimination, I came to the conclusion that one of my cats must be the culprit. Since I have several, I was not sure which one was guilty. By past history, I have narrowed it down to 2 suspects, but am still not 100% certain which one has been nibbling on the plant.
We have been training the cats to basically not go near the orchids for a few weeks now. During the daytime, this is the case. We have not had to use the squirter for about 3 weeks. They learn fast to keep away when the squirter is used. I just had to use it once or twice and the message was clear to them; stay away!
At night, the cats sleep outside of our bedrooms. This is when the chewing on the leaves has been taking place. It seems it is not a nightly thing or else there would be a substantially larger amount of holes on the foliage, but personally, I would like to see those occurrences drop down to 0. I decided to try bitter apple spray. I took a cotton ball and soaked it in the bitter apple solution. I wiped the cotton ball all along the top and bottom of each leaf; similar to when I am cleaning the foliage with just water. I then allowed the leaves to dry. The bitter apple has a taste repugnant to dogs and cats and deters them from chewing on things by creating an unpleasant association with biting on whatever surface it is applied. The one application I did this morning will lose potency in a couple of days so I will have to repeat this about 1-2 times a week for about a month to ensure that whichever feline is doing this gets the message loud and clear.
Update (07/26/13)
I never did manage to catch one of the cat's in the act, but ever since the small fan has been on the job, there has been no additional damage to the leaves. I figure that the culprit does not like the gust of wind in his/her face. For now, that seems to have solved the bitten leaves problem...yay!
We have been training the cats to basically not go near the orchids for a few weeks now. During the daytime, this is the case. We have not had to use the squirter for about 3 weeks. They learn fast to keep away when the squirter is used. I just had to use it once or twice and the message was clear to them; stay away!
At night, the cats sleep outside of our bedrooms. This is when the chewing on the leaves has been taking place. It seems it is not a nightly thing or else there would be a substantially larger amount of holes on the foliage, but personally, I would like to see those occurrences drop down to 0. I decided to try bitter apple spray. I took a cotton ball and soaked it in the bitter apple solution. I wiped the cotton ball all along the top and bottom of each leaf; similar to when I am cleaning the foliage with just water. I then allowed the leaves to dry. The bitter apple has a taste repugnant to dogs and cats and deters them from chewing on things by creating an unpleasant association with biting on whatever surface it is applied. The one application I did this morning will lose potency in a couple of days so I will have to repeat this about 1-2 times a week for about a month to ensure that whichever feline is doing this gets the message loud and clear.
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Update (07/26/13)
I never did manage to catch one of the cat's in the act, but ever since the small fan has been on the job, there has been no additional damage to the leaves. I figure that the culprit does not like the gust of wind in his/her face. For now, that seems to have solved the bitten leaves problem...yay!
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