New Phalaenopsis Compot- Need Help!! Leaves Fell Off of One Plant

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It's too wet. I recommend loosening up the moss and probably even removing quite a bit of it.

[rangiku]

Given the label, I'm sure the vendor will take of this.

[zxyqu]

Quick question. Did they have these spots on them when you received them, or did that happen shortly after you'd had them?

[calypsoB]

That looks bacterial to me...I would think that without some hard care that they will probably die You could try making a paste out of some antibiotic pills if you have any lying around and putting on any small areas that may have signs but are not bad yet. I would cut off and seal all the majorly infected leaves too. Be vary careful around your other plants too...easy to spread!
Good luck
PS I would also try to get your money back as well...

[orchidsarefun]

I don't normally like using ANY chemicals but Physan 20 is great as a preventive once-per-month spray. I was having issues with exterior roots developing white fungus and dying - the physan took care of that problem. Also BTW it also took care of about 80 % of the fungus gnats I had. I have had to buy dried bloodworms to feed my drosera and butterwort.
There was another thread where it was mentioned that you MUST NOT mix physan with any fertiliser or anything else. I can attest to that, because I had some gloop in the water from fertiliser/physan...
I have just drenched my phal seedlings with physan for about the 3rd time. Its completely safe...for orchids, but you be very careful and follow guidelines.

[OzPhal]

Calypso, just in regard the use of the antibiotics - that's a very specialised and specific area of application there and you need some understanding of the contaminating bacteria - if you're using an antibiotic that's suited to gram negative organisms and the infection is from a gram positive organism then you will achieve nothing - similarly you need to understand what impact the antibiotic will have on the plant cells/chlorophyll... Stick with Physan - it's a quaternary ammonium blend that specifically targets bacterial/fungal/viral cells and doesn't impact on plant cells in any way...

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by OzPhal

Calypso, just in regard the use of the antibiotics - that's a very specialised and specific area of application there and you need some understanding of the contaminating bacteria - if you're using an antibiotic that's suited to gram negative organisms and the infection is from a gram positive organism then you will achieve nothing - similarly you need to understand what impact the antibiotic will have on the plant cells/chlorophyll... Stick with Physan - it's a quaternary ammonium blend that specifically targets bacterial/fungal/viral cells and doesn't impact on plant cells in any way...

I have used Neosporin ( OTC ointment ) in an emergency -before I got physan 20, and it worked very well. But I was prepared for the worst - in other words I was prepared to lose the plant from the Neosporin. I rubbed the ointment all over the undersides of the 2 remaining leaves. I would use it again.

[OzPhal]

Orchidsarefun, neosporin would be one that could be used! it's effective against both gram negative and positive organisms and targets bacterial cell membranes as their mode of action which is good! It doesn't seem to interact with plant cell walls... only problem with using antibiotics is that you have to be 100% certain it's a bacterial infection and not a viral one...

[OzPhal]

Also, I know ones are saying that it's too wet and that there is too much moss in there! but how long before this photo had you watered them? It's only an issue if they've been that wet for a long period of time.. in regard there being too much moss i would probably tend to agree there but we have to weigh up what's more important - disturbing the plants by repotting them as well as treating the infection or giving the plant as much energy as it can to fight the infection.... I personally would allow the plant to fight the infection in conjunction with Physan 20, watch how you water the plant! ensure you use the soak method rather than the over head watering method and then, once the plants have gotten over the bacterial infection and started showing signs of growth then, and only then, go messing with repotting them.

[sweetjblue]

Island Girl, I'm going to add my to this discussion if you don't mind

Looks like you have some bacterial rot going on there that was probably started during shipping. Consider this, you have moisture in the compot (however slight) , wrapped up in paper and closed up in a box for a few days during high temps with no air curculation. Not surprising to me to see the spots on the leaves.

Putting these in the glass container you have is probably not a good idea right now IMHO as the compot really doesn't need it. These seedlings aren't fresh out of flask. I have the same cross in compot, probably from the same flask so they've been deflasked for several months. They don't need that high humidity any longer. What they need right now is fresh circulating air to let the leaves stay dry and heal. Keeping them that humid only magnifies the problem.

To try and stop the rot that has now taken hold of your plants, spray the leaves with Physan 20 or use brown Listerine and then let the leaves dry. However do keep your potting media slighty damp,not wet, and to do that you should spray the moss early in the day so that the leaves and crown are dry before night fall. You can always wipe off any excess water from the leaves and crown after spraying if need be.

DON'T water from the bottom letting the media soak up water. That is one of the worst ways to water plants potted in moss, they get too soaking wet and the pot stays wet for too long leading to root rot. When you do have to water, water from the top, letting water fill to the brim and then let drain.

I really don't think that the vendor that these came from would have sent these out like this (pretty sure who it is) as I've received several flasks and compots over the years. Never received anything that looked like yours and he has a very good reputation for quality plants. You may however want to contact him over the number of seedlings you received, fairly sure he'd make it right for you.


Judi