I bought a Vanilla Vine Orchid online. It has some black bugs inside the leaves and a couple in the vine. It also has a leaf with a weird brown mite melded inside. Then, one leaf has white stuff on it with little black dots. Check out the pics. There's also a leaf with brown fuzz on it. And some leaves with bite marks.

Can I knife the bug out of the vine? Can I clip the infected leaves?

I bought Neem oil for a different purpose (just having it around) and it hasn't arrived in the mail. Can I use it on this?

Do you think I can fight this thing? Is whatever has infected it dead? I have looked in on it for a couple weeks and haven't seen it spread it the bugs spreading or moving around.

I have other plants and five other store bought orchids in a different room. I'm quarantining this one currently and keeping an eye all in it.

I really wanted it. It cost $34. Some orchids go for more, but to me it is a waste of money. Everything else I bought from them has been great.

I really wanted this one. What do you think I should do?

Thanks!

First things first. There is absolutely nothing seriously wrong with the Vanilla plant. Perhaps some minor cosmetic damage here and there but nothing major.

Do not trim or cut anything. IF there is something internally living in a leaf such as a leaf miner, you could do a lot of damage trying to dig it out!

Now for the bad news. Vanilla planifolia is not an orchid that can be successfully grown entirely indoors. It is a climbing member of the Cattleya Alliance and comes mainly from tropical areas like Madagascar. It has been naturalized in other places. It requires year round warmth, very good sunlight and ample water. It is nearly impossible to grow in a pot. It can be established in a pot and then it needs to climb like other vine like plants.
Among the easiest orchids to grow indoors are Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilums and Oncidiums. They pretty much love the indoor climate that we can normally provide.
It would help by growing it outside during the warmer summer months but long term, it needs tropical conditions to grow well and flower!
I wish you the best.

I agree with Bill on this. Nothing seriously wrong with it, but it's simply unlikely you're going to be successful growing it in Massachusetts unless you have a very large, high, heated greenhouse, and lots of supplementary plant lighting for the winter months.

It's a big, lusty vine when grown well with lots of heat and sun. But it takes years to start flowering, the flowers only last for one day, and must be pollinated by hand if you actually hope to grow a vanilla bean. Then the whole process to actually make vanilla extract from your bean is quite complicated, and hardly worthwhile for one or two beans, which is all you'd get from one plant.

If you're able, send it back to the grower, and buy something else. You can use the bugs as an excuse, I'd imagine. Not a good choice for you, sorry. (I have one here in Florida and am seriously wondering about my sanity for keeping it, too)

Anna; Another option:

Donate this plant to a Local Botanic Garden...

Many times, they will gladly accept & it will become an educational tool.

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies.

I was reading that if the temperature in the home is 70 degrees, which it usually is, then I could grow it safely. It's very humid here, except for winter. The heat index is outrageous. A lot of people don't realize how hot and humid it gets in M.A.

An article said I could use a humidifier or a humidity tray during winter to keep it humid.

It feels incredibly worth it to me, even if it flowers once a year three to five years from now. In fact, it excites me to try - even for two beans, which I could dry and put into a cake. The experience seems so thrilling. Maybe that's just me. I love baking and vanilla is in just about every food product I have ever purchased.

I don't know anything about bugs when it comes to plants, so I wasn't sure if I could remedy the issue. I bought some Neem Oil. I also have other plants and I am worried they would be effected. I have kept it aside not knowing if I could salvage it and introduce it to my plant collection.

Thanks for your input. If the orchid dies in my care, I will remember the difficulty you mentioned involved in their care.