Yes!!!! This means my orchid clumps are little places of life, breathing enough water vapor and oxygen to attract bugs and their predators, the spiders. If you’ve ever seen the way a spider web traps moisture then you can imagine how happy I am. It’s as if another moist biofilm of protection is being established around the orchids. Not to mention the dead bugs that will be dropping by.
So how many partnerships can we reckon for an orchid? The tree it sits on, companion plants like bromeliads and air plants, its internal cellular bacteria like mitochondria and chloroplasts, bacteria and fungi that live on its surface and also harbor themselves in the roots, mycorrhizal fungi, insect pollinators, ants, which accomplish just about everything for the plant, the occasional moth I see flying out when I mist, and now the spiders. A long list by any account.
I begin to wonder how much the orchid is a passive participant in its surroundings versus an active player. What occult aromas is it giving off to attract these partners? How is it building a nest for insects to hide in? Where does the boundary between the orchid and its environment lie? I’m startng to think the orchid, something like a spider, is sending out lots of loose nets that draw in the resources it requires. Sort of strange when I read people are worried about spiders in or around their orchids. Seems pretty beneficial to me.
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