Sansai Blue with questionable black speckles/spots on leaves

[Sammy]

Hi,

I have 2 phals, 2 paphs (or slipper orchids), 1 Dendrobium and 1 miltonia and am looking after these just fine.

I was after a Vanda for my birthday and was lucky enough to get one, a Sansai Blue. Needless to say i love it to bits. It came from a florist who has apparently had orchids for years. Yet when it was presented to me, it was dusty and the leaves looked pretty crappy. I cleaned the leaves with a damp tissue and the plant looks a lot happier now.

But upon closer inspection i noticed there are a few black bits on the leaves. A couple (litrally 2 or 3) black almost round dots and a few black speckles around the tips of a couple of leaves.

Now i have been looking all over the forums for some sort of definate answer, but figured getting pictures was the only way to get the best of all your brilliant advice.

My mum, (bless her) took it back to the florist who cut the bottom two leaves off (they looked a little ropey) and said there was no chance it could be any type of fungus.

What do you think?

[Angurek]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Pretty much every orchid gets a few freckles here and there over time and, as long as they aren't covering most of the plant, they aren't malign. It's more of a cosmetic thing. The leaves look a bit dessicated, though, so you should probably increase your watering frequency. Vandas need to be watered at least once daily.

[VandaFan]

I tend to agree with Carl.
It is not always easy that you get a vanda that look perfect: green leaves with no marks, all thick white roots with green tips, ...
One thing you can do is monitor the plant for a few months. If the black dots do not increase in size or number, it should be OK (Given that you will water just the roots and avoid wetting the leaves from now on and do not water in the evening).
Sansai Blue is a good one to start for vanda. It reblooms very easily.

If you allow me to comment, the one thing I may not like about the plant in the picture is the arrangement of the leaves. They should form a fan shape rather than pointing to different directions. I may be wrong but my guess is that the plant at one time did not receive enought light and the leaves needed to spread out (rather than one right below the other) in order to get more exposure. The picture is not bright enough to indicate the roots are healthy or not.

[Sammy]

Thanks so much for the advice. The roots are a mixture of colours, some are dark browny/green. and some are white. the roots are not in great condition considering the size of the plant. When i got it on Monday, i watered it loads during the day. Not the body, just the roots. I am spraying the roots thoroughly every morning and I will bathe the roots once a week in room temp water.

The window its in is a south-westerly window, so from now on it will get plenty of light. I was also going to get a piece of net/voile to sheild it from the direct birght sun.

I was a bit worried that it might suffer from a change in temperature. You can imagine what the weather is like in london. Pretty cold and damp at the moment and florists usually have their shop fronts open all year round and i dont know how long it has sat in the shop.

As you say though, only time will tell and i'll just have to keep an eye on it for now.

Thanks again.http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ilies/bow2.gif

[nutgirl]

You may want to rethink your watering schedule especially if yours is indoors in a warm dry environment. Vandas like LOTS of water. I soak the roots of mine in a large container for 30 mins daily.

Mine are on a south facing windowsill. Full sun all day. They do get more "freckles" but otherwise are growing well.

You are right about the temp change, it may take a little adjusting although if it's blooming it must not have been too bad. It may just sit for a few weeks but it should start responding. Basically they like light, warmth and water in abundance.

Maureen

[Sammy]

Thanks Maureen.

i will give it a try!