Too much sun or spider mite on cymbidium?

[silken]

I have a large cymbidium that has been in the greenhouse all summer. We do put green mesh shade cloth on the roof in spring and the windows face west. The other side is attached to the house. My cymbidium stands by itself and gets quite bright light from the sun whereas the other orchids are on tables that are under fluorescent fixtures. The top of my cymbidium leaves look bleached out and there are some dark spots. I would say it looks like spider mite damage or similar except that I have inspected the plant thoroughly with a good magnifying glass and cannot see any. I have recently sprayed it with malathion too, but that was after the leaves looked like that. What I did notice is that any leaves hanging down and on the north side of the large pot are a better green color and if a leaf was twisted so the top side is underneath, that leaf is bleached on the upper exposed underside and the real leaf top is green. So it seems it is sun bleached. Has anyone else had this happen? I should have shaded it as we get lots of sun even with the shade cloth. I shudder to think it is spider mite and it hasn't been in contact with anything else to get spider mite. I'd like to hear from any other cymbidium owners.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Got a pic?

[silken]

I knew someone would want a photo! I don't have one, but will take one tomorrow when it is once again bright in the greenhouse and I will post it. I hate the looks of this plant now

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Old leaves do fall off as you know.

[silken]

That is a consolation, thank you. When you see the photo that I take you may have a suggestion on how to keep these plants neat looking once they grow so many pseudobulbs. I have tried, but it is nearly impossible to get between all the old bulbs and remove dry brown bracts. And those that can be reached are extremely tough.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I really have no special way of cleaning them up.

The dried up bracts and pseudobulbs I either pull by hand or use a pair of scissors (sterilization not necessary because you're not cutting into living tissue).

The leaves I leave alone, but I know how other people do it; they use some florist wire and tie loops around each leaf with one continuous wire (think a brass knuckles looking piece of wire with each leaf in each loop).

Dividing them is no easy task either, but I usually twist rather than pull, if they're difficult to remove. The ones that are easy to divide, you can try to pull them apart.

The roots are just going to be a gigantic mass. It's inevitable to break a few off. It's no big deal.

[Gin]

one thing that will stiffen the leaves up is oyster shell a small amount does the trick harry orchids 3 told me about that he grows a lot of them . I noticed the ones I have with some shade are a lot better color then others , the old leaves get beat up looking on mine . I hate dividing them I used a battery keyhole saw on one of them lolol

[silken]

Attached is a picture of the plant today. I think in downsizing, it didn't come out too sharp for some reason. Usually it works fine for me. May have to try again if you can't get the gist of it from this. This is what it looked like 2 years ago. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-dsc_4109a.jpg

However it does have new growths (in the foreground) and the longer leaves in the foreground face north and seem much greener than the ones standing upright. When it was given to me, it was a mature plant that a friend could never get to bloom. The leaves were long and lank (not enough sun). It bloomed first spring for me and last year as well, but I am hoping it is too much sun rather than dastardly spider mite!

[stefpix]

You could do a close up of the leaf.

To me is more bug damage as sun I think would be more localized on one side of the plant or on leaf tips.

When I get sun burn spots it is usually on a smaller part of the leaf.
But I would wait for others' opinions... But more detailed images would be helpful

[silken]

OK, here are some better close-ups of the leaves. The 1st image is an older leaf that looks pretty bad. The 2nd is a newer growth that doesn't look affected by pests to me. The 3rd is a comparison of green and not so green leaves. The greener ones are newer growths, but they have been growing all summer. The bad leaves are 2 or 3 years old. I have been treating with Malathion just in case, but maybe I am in denial??? I don't usually get spider mite, so not used to seeing it's symptoms, although I have seen it in books.