Two things .....

[james mickelso]

First a sneak peek. This is a Recchara which is a multigeneric cross between brassovola, laelia, cattleya, and schomburkia. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I get lost and confused easily. This is BLC Mac Lambert x SMB Brysiana. Just popped open today after hanging around for three months as unopened buds. I couldn't wait to show it. Sorry. Proud papa and all that stuff. It blooms regularly every year. Had it a long time now. The other thing is a question for all those armchair horticulturists out there just waiting for a puzzle. I've had this LC Red Glen 'Eureka' for quite some time. Always a good grower. These two new growths popped out and were doing just fine. Then the one on the right started turning red. Well more red than normal. This LC has reddish leaves now and then. So I didn't pay much attention. Then one day I thought...hmmmm this is too red. I pulled at the newest leaf which had not opened yet and it came right out in my hand. Soggy and rotted at the base. Now mottled black/brownish spotting on the sheath is normal in my collection and for orchids generally. So the one on the left is growing great guns with no problems and the one on the right has rotted. At least the top most leaf. Any conclusions? Opinions? Guesses? Remember that I water S-P-A-R-I-N-G-L-Y. Very coarse mix. This is also in the driest, warmest, brightest spot in the greenhouse. Roots are fine. (Yes I take them out of the pot regularly to have a look. Doesn't hurt them at all unless it's Toshie Aoki which I don't even look at). So....give it some thought and hopefully we can teach some of the others here something. Thanks.

[shushu45]

From what I can see I like it already. Is this the first time blooming??
I really can't wait till it fully opens.

[Skayc1]

I'm looking forward to your bloom opening more!

[shushu45]

I was just thinking. I didn't even know you could mix all them different species and have a genetically stable plant.

[Island Girl]

Wow! Those flowers are gonna be huge! I love the colors, and I honestly can't wait for them to open either In reference to the new growth, I wish I had an answer for u, but I will certainly think on it... or at least try... Lol My brains not working so well this week... Fourth of July vacation and all.... but, Happy (belated) Fourth of July nevertheless!

[HighSeas]

Okay...I'll bite this hook! Besides...in the end...I may very well learn something!

You only have ONE read leaf and ONE red nubbin. A Catts leaves will sometimes turn reddish when they get too much sun...or just the right amount of sun, depending on how you grow. However, not all of your leaves show redness.

So right off the cuff, not knowing how you feed your plants or even what you feed them...and because Calcium and Magnesium are two electrolytes that work hand-in-hand; I would say you likely have a Mg. deficiency and therefore, the plant is also deficient in Calcium as well.

Magnesium deficiencies manifest with reddening of leaves and especially new growth. The resultant Calcium deficiency manifests with the decline of the new tip. Not both, because the plant is trying it's best to survive and produce new growth for the sake of continuing life.

Another indicator is the leaf never opened. Is it folded inward?

Also, with Phosphorus deficiencies, the leaves will also turn reddish green and the plant will exhibit stunted growth.

I know I could be completely wrong...but that's my thought, given the information!

[james mickelso]

Sounds very plausible. But one got rotten while right next to it the other is still fine. This produces reddish leaves hence the name LC Redglen "Eureka". The puzzle for me is why one rotted and the other didn't. I have a BLC Magic of Mishima "Volcano Queen" which occasionally exhibits the same odd rotten first leaf while the rest of the new growth is fine. No water gets into the new shoot as it develops. No bugs. Just this odd rotting. I also had it on Toshie Aoki and a few others. Thanks for the info. I use CalMag at 100 ppm when I can get it. I use RO water with a blend of tap water at about 2/3. Interesting puzzle. Thanks for having an opinion. That's how we all learn. Also here is the Recchara fully opened and another larger one that opened. Recchara's can get fairly large and this one has a leaf length of about 24inches. Only two flowers though.

[silken]

That looks very much like a Laelia tenebrosa! Very nice!

[james mickelso]

Yes it does. Just a whole lot bigger. Wish this was a tenebrosa. I love them. My tenebrosa's are 1/4 this size. I still have the tag from SBOE. Pretty faded but still legible. I always copy the info onto a metal tag.

[HighSeas]

I've been looking for those metal tags. Where did you get them?

Those flowers are just gorgeous! VERY nice looking plant!

Now that you mention that you've had the problem before, I'm still leaning toward a Magnesium deficiency. Especially now.

Even though you're feeding them CalMag (when you can get it), did you know that a Calcium deficiency can't be corrected without adequate Magnesium levels? (First!) I've never used it. I don't even know what the concentrations are but I do know that it doesn't matter if the Mg levels are low. You can feed all the calcium you want but because of the inter-relationship between Ca and Mg...the calcium levels will not be right until you get the Mg levels right first.

Also...you mentioned that the leaf was extraordinarily red. Because the plant typically has redness in the leaves, it may be difficult to identify the signs of deficiency.

Because Phosphorus is common in the environment and easily obtained, I doubt that it's a problem.

Also, as I mentioned before, the deficiencies symptoms are stunting, impaired new growth. Perhaps you should try giving some Mg (Epsom Salts) and then once you've beefed it up, give the calcium.

It's such a shame that we can't just draw some blood and send it to the lab!