Hi Arnie?,

Nice to see another Jake S. fan... You a fan of brutha Iz?

Bob

Yup, a fan of Iz as well. Oh to be able to sing like that!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Wayward Hawaiian

Can you tell me what would be digging in my orchid pots that are hanging approx. 4 ft above the ground. I have several of them hanging and only 2 get are getting the "special" treatment from something. I repotted them about 2 months ago and they have good rots but can't get established because of the digging. I have potting medium all over my pool deck each morning. They do not bother any other orchids that are on a table underneath the hanging pots.

Tough to say. I would probably rule out rodents if they are not getting into the ones on the table. That pretty much leaves birds. You might try potting in something firmer like new zealand sphagnum or a compressed ball of tree fern fiber. It could be they are looking for food in the bark.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Wayward Hawaiian

I thought so too but realized that it is happening between midnight and 7am and I don't think birds are out at that time. It just started in the last 2 weeks. This picture shows how they are hanging and the 2 pots are on separate hangers, one in the middle and one on the first hanger.

Roaches, crickets?

Jane

Wow. That's a tough one. Those wires don't look like anything a rodent could go down but there appears to be a stick that each group of pots is hanging on and that is something like a rat could climb up on. I had a roof rat once that was shimmying down from the roof onto the orchid rack at night or in the late evening and knocking things around. Eventually it decided that certain pseubulbs were quite tasty and I put a quick stop to that. They particularly like Stanhopea psuedobulbs... I would suggest wiring the orchids into the media with a little telephone wire and seeing if that does the trick. If not, perhaps a little rat bait.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Wayward Hawaiian

...or if you're into kinder, gentler, try putting some two sided sticky tape around the pot to make it annoyingly sticky to little feet or some copper tape around the top and bottom of the wood hangers to make them slippery.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Wayward Hawaiian

This morning I was up earlier than usual and saw that they had not been disturbed. Thought I was watching closely but not I guess because I went out later and there was the mess. The sticks are names of the orchids, wooden, that may be knocked out but not eaten and the orchid bulbs are not eaten or hurt. So I decided the tape sounds good, maybe whatever will get the hint??