Sunburn aftercare - Orchid Board

hollanan · #1 06-07-2010, 01:50 AM

I stupidly left my cattleyas in direct sun too long (5 hours) while waiting to move to their summer home under a tree and many got badly burned (in May in New Jersey USA). To make matters worse, it was a hot day. Is there anything I can do to minimize the damage- i.e. keep them dry, keep them wet, keep them inside? Once rot has set in, is there any chance the leaf can be saved? Is that kind of rot contagious, or is it just dead tissue? I've been very laissez faire but the effects of the sunburn seem to be getting worse. And of course I'm feeling terribly guilty as well as dumb.
Hollanan

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #2 06-07-2010, 01:53 AM

Rot usually does not occur after sunburn.

It's a totally different issue.

Yeah, sure, it'll get those ugly burn marks that never go away. However, it shouldn't be rotting at all.

Please post a pic to make certain it's really rot you're dealing with and not the burn marks that occur after sunburn.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #3 06-07-2010, 01:58 AM

BTW, there's nothing special you gotta do when your plants get sunburn.

What's done is done, there ain't no going back.

Just grow the plants the way they like to be grown and you're golden.

camille1585 · #4 06-07-2010, 02:28 PM

Like Philip says, once it's burned it's burned and it's not something that will heal or needs special care like in humans. Just treat it like you normally would. Normally there is never a problem with rot after sunburn (except maybe with the more fleshy leaved orchids like Phals, and given the right conditions) unless you already had a problem with it beforehand.

orchid-flowers · #5 06-08-2010, 02:57 PM

Some of my orchids got sunburned too, about a week ago. We had somewhat really cloudy weather, with lower temperatures and some rain for a long time. I guess the orchids just weren’t prepared for such high light levels and higher temperatures, when the sun finally shined.
There is actually nothing you can do, to repair the damage. All you can do is to wait, that damaged leafs fall off or that damaged part of the leaf dries. You can then cut dried part off the leaf from the remaining part of the leaf that stayed intact.
The orchids will survive. They will just continue to grow.
I attached the pictures of damaged Cattleya and Dendrobium (Phal type), how it looks, after a week since it got sunburned.

orchid-flowers · #6 06-08-2010, 04:03 PM

Oh, I forgot to say; downside to this damage is that you will be reminded of it for years. At least 3 – 4 years, till the damaged part of the plant dies and you cut if off.
I would only have one suggestion. Do not use high nitrogen fertilizers, during the time till the damaged leafs dry, to boost new growth. Nitrogen lowers the plant’s resistance against rot.

hollanan · #7 06-08-2010, 09:47 PM

Thank you all who responded to my cry for help- especially the warning about fertilizer. Maybe that's why after looking better for a week, the burned orchids suddenly had large, soft black areas (I had fertilized for the first time). Also, thanks for the general reassurance that most of the blackness is not rot. After I cut off more sick leaves yesterday, the plants looked no worse today. I no longer see the whole collection as a hospital ward, and hope for the best. Of course, as someone mentioned, goodbye any hopes of a "good culture" award at our orchid club for the next five years.
Hollanan

Orchid126 · #8 06-10-2010, 04:39 PM

Betcha get a lot of bloom later this year.

camille1585 · #9 06-10-2010, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchid126

Betcha get a lot of bloom later this year.

What would that have to do with sunburn?

jeffg · #10 06-19-2010, 11:51 AM

My guess is the plant thinks it's dying and will flower profusely to try to pass itself on. I heard from Hadley Cash once that the use of high P in "boosters" does roughly the same thing.
My wife brought home a friends sunburned phal to resuscitate and it seems to be doing well enough repairing itself with basic good culture. Leave it to nature.