Sunburned paph and other problems - Orchid Board

murphy48 · #1 07-20-2009, 04:40 PM

I went on vacation for a week and came back to a few problems. The most obvious was what I think is sunburn on my Phaph. malipoense, one leaf looks really bad

Someone came buy to water everyone but it was unusally hot and a few are really dry, one lost all its flowers (my tolumnia) and another paph appears to have what I think is rot. The last one I'm worried about I think got too dry and the leaves are a little wilted. Can anyone give me some advice...

Is there anything I can do with the "sunburn" if that is what it is. Should I leave the leaf alone or is there something I can do to help.

What should I do about the brown spot (rot?) I think my paph got from water being left on it.

Do I just water to help my paph with wilted leaves?

Thanks so much!
Kristen

Zoi2 · #2 07-20-2009, 08:46 PM

Once a leaf gets sunburned, there isn't really anything you can do other than leave it alone. It will drop off in time. The spot (rot) on the new leaf could very well be from leaving water in it. I don't know how much a problem this is going to be, but someone with more experience with paphs will chime in.
Joann

RosieC · #3 07-21-2009, 05:33 AM

I agree that if it IS sunburn then all you can do is wait for the leaf to finally be replaced by new ones.

I would be slightly worried that the last pic is crown rot, in which case you need to treat it to stop it getting worse. But having said that I'm not certain if that is what it is or not. I hope someone else sees this and knows more about that.

murphy48 · #4 07-21-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RosieC

I would be slightly worried that the last pic is crown rot, in which case you need to treat it to stop it getting worse.

Hi Rosie
How do I treat for rot? I saw some people mentioned physan 20, should I use that?

RosieC · #5 07-21-2009, 12:40 PM

I've not had to do it myself but I understand people use Peroxide. You pour it in to the crown and then when it stops fizzing rince it out again.

Crown rot is caused by water being left standing in the crown so you want to make sure it's dry once you've rinced out the peroxide.

I don't know if it's safe to use if you don't have rot though so hopefully someone else can advise.

snow · #6 07-22-2009, 02:48 AM

use the peroxide. it should stop the rot. if it hasn,t gone too far yet.

murphy48 · #7 07-22-2009, 03:00 PM

I've put peroxide on it. How do I know if it is too late? It still has a bit of green down at the base but it has gotten worse since the first picture.

What happens if it is too late? I just got this orchid right before my trip. I've only had it two weeks. I would be devastated if my friend accidentally killed it while I was gone.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #8 07-23-2009, 04:04 AM

It's not dead until EVERYTHING dies.

Although, if the lead leaf is damaged, the odds of survival drop significantly.

The apical meristem ("heart" of the plant - not really the "heart", but this is a term everybody seems to get) hidden in the base of the folds to the lead leaf could still be alive. If the meristem is alive, so is your plant.

BTW don't bother trying to check the meristem, it'll make things worse. In this case, you gotta rip the plant apart to get to it.

I repeat, don't check the meristem.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #9 07-23-2009, 04:26 AM

You know, I just check up on how Paph malipoense grows in nature because I noticed you're growing this plant in large grade fir bark.

Check these sites out, they have cultural info on this plant if you haven't checked them out already.

IOSPE PHOTOS

Paphiopedilum malipoense var. hiepii

Paph malipoense culture sheet - growing tips

All these sources cite that this orchid is largely lithophytic growing on cliffs or rock faces on limestone rocks with either a bit of leaf litter or a bit of moss growing around them.

I'm just letting you know, maybe it'll make it easier to accomodate it's needs in the long run.

Basically I'm saying that over time the pH of the bark when it starts to decompose will become more and more acidic. The pH of limestone is alkaline. There could also be an issue of this plant needing a lot of calcium (not sure), as limestone is largely calcium carbonate.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #10 07-23-2009, 11:13 AM

Doh! I just noticed you have two different Paphs.

The first two pics are of Paph malipoense potted in medium grade bark with perlite.

What's the Paph in the third pic with the large grade bark and a bit of perlite?