Paph leaf rotting from tip

[julie_987]

Hello Everyone. Newbie here. I've been lurking for awhile now and have learned A LOT thanks to everyone on this board, but now I need to ask for a bit of extra help I have a Paph Hsinying Web x Callosum that looked fine up until a couple of days ago. Then the flower shriveled up and died (It had been in bloom for nearly 2mnts though) and then today I noticed one of the leaves is turning brown from the tip. It looks a bit liquidy and the leaf tip is missing like it's been eaten. I've looked for bugs but don't see any. I did put it in a bright-ish window the other morning. Could it be a sun burn?
I'm going to try to post pictures. Hopefully this works.
Thanks so much for all of your help!

[Paul Mc]

Welcome. I can't help, but I'm sure someone can. Just wanted to say welcome aboard!

[Discus]

Hmm, I'm not totally sure - it could be sunburn, but it might be something more insidious.

If it were mine, I'd be tempted to cut it about an inch below the brownish area with a sterilised blade and then put sulphur powder or cinnamon on the end of the cut. Some people use a red hot blade, which is not only sterile, but sterilises and seals the cut itself.

I notice it's snowy (?) outside - is it possible the plant got some frostbite being in the window area? Try putting a max/min thermometer in there - you might be surprised what the temps do after you go to bed.

It could of course also be that that leaf is "old" and the plant is breaking it down (aka the leaf is dying naturally).

[RobS]

I'd follow the advise of Discus. Sunburn / frost bite are indeed the most likely causes. Do you have a cat or any other pets?

[BikerDoc5968]

To be honest, the pictures are a bit dark and make it difficult to see clearly what is going on. I would ask how frequently and what strength you fertilize? One of the most common Paph/Phrag reasons for leaf tip discoloration is too much food. Tear off the end and start washing out with water and no food for several waterings. It may take some time to flush out all the minerals. The 1st picture is one of my Paphs that is very sensitive to feeding and needs to be washed out frequently or it turns brown.

Most Paph leaves turn yellow as they die, then turn brown.
The 2nd picture is one of my Phrags. You can just make out the new fan growing in front of the old one which is turning yellow.

[julie_987]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Discus might be on to something...I'm wondering if maybe the leaves were touching the window glass the other day. It has been really cold here for the past week. I didn't think anything of it because it's been so hot inside the house. I'll try cutting back the leaf and keeping an eye on it for now.
BikerDoc, I don't think I've been over feeding it because I've hardly given it any fertilizer at all since I got it. But it is packed pretty tight in sphag right now so it could be build-up. I was waiting for it to finish blooming before re-potting it. I think I'll do that ASAP.
Thanks again!