Orchids sick. Please help

[William]

My plants are sick. I'm not sure if it's a fungus or what. The leaves turn brown and feel mushy to the touch. Eventually they turn yellow and fall off. The plants stricken are mostly Phals but I have some of other varieties stricken. This morning I found one of my Vandas starting to get one mushy leaf. I have some photos to send. Please help.

[D&S Mabel]

I am no expert in this and if I get this wrong, hopefully someone will step in and correct me...

I am a little north of you but I am also going through a similar experience. I can't say on the Phals. but the plant in your 4th picture and the vanda have the same symptoms as mine.

The cat. type you have has what I think is black rot fungus. I think my outbreak happened because I grow my plants outside in the weather and it has rained heavily for days on end here. I never thought nature could overwater my orchids but that combined with very high humidity and little air movement seems to be the cause of my problems. My plants that are under cover that I hand water were not effected at all. The problem seems to effect new growths and young plants more then others. I ended up with 15 sick plants out of the 300 or so I have.

That said, I seem to have gotten it under control by removing the blackened leaves and growths, then treating the plants to a dose of THIOMYL Systemic Fungicide and Physan and then repotting with clean mix. There are some good posts elsewhere on this board that describe how to treat the plants in better detail then I have here. So far so good although I did lose a couple small plants. From this experience I have learned that I too need to have a plant maintenance regiment that includes a fungicide, not just fertilizers.

On the vanda, that too looks like it got too much water. I thought I was doing good with my vandas by adding sphagnum moss and charcoal to their baskets, thinking that would help them on our dry, hot days - even though many people who post here recommended bare root. Last weekend, I removed all that mix as two of my plants also got sick. Same treatment as above and so far so good. All my vandas seem to be doing just fine without the moss and charcoal.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[quiltergal]

Looks like crown rot in the Phals and black rot on the rest. If they've been sitting outside in the rain without drying out between showers that could be the culprit.

With crown rot that advanced I'd be surprised if you can save the Phals. The best you can hope for I think are basal Keikis. The one Catt doesn't look too bad, neither does the Vanda. Cut the black parts off well into healthy green tissue and seal with cinnamon. Let the foliage dry out a little bit and I think they'll be OK.

[Cookiemonster]

Definitely some sort of Rot is going on-- you will need to treat that from the inside-something like thiomyl if you have it on hand if not then I'd say something like hydrogen perioxide--- so it doesnt continue to spread. I'd recommend some sort of mini-fan to increase air circulation and aid in drying the medium faster so the plant is less opportune to rotting. But do cut off the tissue that is rotting- add some cinnamon to the edges (I've also heard finely ground charcoal and water paste is good too) I've never used it though.
Anyhow, hurry up because if not you could lose the ones with severe rot !
Good luck!

[Sandy4453]

William, my sincere condolences.

I'm sure you already know but I've got to say it anyway....first thing you want to do is quarantine these.
I've never seen thrips on a Phal before but my largest Dend. was lost to thrips just a couple of months ago. By the time I realized what it was, it was too late. The leaves in your second pic., look white-ish which would make me think either thrips, scales or mealy bugs.

A systemic product (such as Bayer 3 in 1) should be started immediately. If possible, treat all your plants with this and keep it up by spraying 3 times within 10 days. As for the Phal., I would additionally treat it by pouring hydrogen peroxide down the crown but it looks as if something has already gotten the better of it but as a last ditch effort to possibly save it, I would suggest these measures.

Best of luck.

[lovetag]

The dark ends of the leaves and crown look like rot to me. Try repotting in new (dry) bark and let plant dry out for 1 week prior to watering again. Make sure pot allows good drainage and get these plants onto an aerated bed of some kind....maybe pebbles. Look really good at the roots and cut off any which look rotted with a sterile knife. Good luck! How much sun do they get?

[William]

They're outside in a patio with dark screening. I repotted the worse one with Agriflor. Let's see how that does. The only thing I had on hand was the peroxide and cinnamon so I used them. My local orchid nursery is closed for the labor day weekend so I'll have to wait until Tuesday. I really appreciate all the input.