Brown line on center of cattelya leaf--what does this mean?

[cythaenopsis]

My Sierra Skies Leone (cattleya species) seedling has been doing pretty well, though growing slowly. I was hoping that the pseudobulbs would be larger by now, but with seedlings one must have a lot of patience.

Anyway, I am starting to run into a snag. One of the newer leaves that has been growing pretty strongly has developed a brown line in the center of it.


(sorry it's a little blurry... had difficulty getting good focus)

What does this signify? Have I been under-watering it? I saturate the potting mix once every 3-4 days, depending upon how dried out it gets (sooner, if it has been by an open window that evaporates it faster). None of the other leaves show this--they're all quite healthy, but are more mature. Another thing, is that I've been trying to give the plant a little more strong sunlight, as I was sheltering it quite a bit for the first month and not seeing much growth progress. Is this a sign of too much sun?

That leads me to a secondary question about cattleya leaves. The plant came with 4 leaves and one just starting out (the newer one with the brown line). The new one quickly surpassed the two smaller ones. Does the cattleya species tend to grow leaves of varying sizes, or should they all go through a similar growing cycle?

[ronaldhanko]

It looks from what I am able to see, like mechanical damage, i.e., just a crack in the leaf. These can be caused in various ways and can also appear without any apparent cause. It doesn't look to me like disease or anything bad, but I would keep an eye on it to see if it spreads.

[camille1585]

I'm not seeing any pics, don't know why.

[RosieC]

I think I agree with Ron. My first thought was also that it just looks like mechanical damage. A bit like if you folded the leaf and damaged it down the centre, not saying you did that, but it looks like that kind of damage.

Keep an eye on it, as long as it doesn't spread then don't worry about it.

[camille1585]

I must have had a problem on my side, just refreshed the page to see Rosie's post and I can see the pic.

Anyway, I agree with both of them. I've had cracks/brown lines like that on a few phals and some other orchids, and it never developed into anything worse than that.

[camille1585]

As for the size of the leaves, it's normal for the new one to grow bigger than the last. Since it's a seedlings that's what you'd expect and want to happen. So it's a happy little seedling!

[cythaenopsis]

Thanks Ron, Rosie, and Camille. I am very careful with my plants and so I'm quite positive I never bent the leaf. So, based on what you say, it does seem logical that it's just something that happens without a catastrophic reason. Or maybe if there was a temporary environmental shift (we did have a long stretch of very cloudy days, and then temps dropped--had the window open supplying a pretty stiff breeze). In all other respects, the leaf looks healthy.

I did have a little fungus gnat problem for a while with nearby phals, but they didn't seem very interested in the cattleya or oncidium. I fully repotted the phals and the gnats have been gone since. But now I have to apply some natural fungicide to help ensure they don't return.

Hopefully if I'm able to keep a good enough environment over the winter, these little guys will continue to fill out and eventually deliver some flowering in a couple of years.

[Gin]

Some times when the leaf is unfolding , growing it will happen probably from stress in the junction .. Happy Growing Gin

[cythaenopsis]

Thankfully the line hasn't progressed any. Upon close inspection, it's partially see-through... weird. Anyway, in all other respects the plant is healthy.

The other day I noticed a root sprout out at the base of a small pseudobulb, the tip a bright green. It grew longer, and longer, then plunged itself into the moss. I pulled away some of the moss to look at it and it's still quite green, with a whitish shroud along the exposed part above the moss. Now there's another smaller root coming out of the pseudobulb as well, quite thin in comparison. I'm just thrilled to see the plant making some notable growth spurts.... just hoping I can learn more about how to encourage faster growth!