Phalaenopsis with ragged looking blooms

[Setebos]

Hello everyone :

I have 6 phalaenopsis and I'm currently experiencing a strange problem with 4 of them. They have really weird looking flowers and I'm worried it may be to do with my feeding?

I'm afraid I don't know any species, all my orchids have been supermarket-bought gifts, or refugees!

Onto the problem and pics. Recent blooms look ragged, as if someone's shredded the edges or something! I have photos from 3 of my plants, here they are:








(Sorry if pics are too big)

At the moment I am watering my orchids every week and have been giving them this "bloom feed" 3 weeks in a row and then one week of just water. I will start watering more as we come up to summer, but I want to check first that this problem is not to do with my feeding regime!

Thanks loads for any insight!

[Daethen]

Could be due to too much bloom booster. I usually feed a balanced fertilizer and only once, maybe twice a month.

[silken]

The fact that it is 4 of them seems to speak to some kind of cultural problem. How long have they been getting the bloom booster. And at what rate?

[astrid]

These could be peloric phalaenopsis orchids, but for all 4 different ones to have the same issue indicates a care issue (maybe) like silken suggested.

When you feed orchids too much as their buds develop, you can cause mutations in the plants. However, normally these are misshapen blooms, too many/too few petals, extra lips, and so on.

The other isssue may be a virus. Color breaking in blooms is an indication of a virus, and it's possible all 4 plants have a virus causing this. However, the color breaking seems to most often be in circles, splotches, and so on.

I really don't know what the issue is. You can always just enjoy these blooms and wait until they rebloom next time! If you change your care and they have the same issue or have some other issues with their growth, then it might imply a virus more than anything. If you adjust fertilizing and get normal blooms next time, it was probably just too much fertilizer at a critical stage of the flower's development. I hope that was helpful!

[dangerouseddy]

I read hormones contained in things like superthrive can affect blooms if over used.

[DMT]

How are the leaves of these orchids? Any kinds of spots, streaks.

[Setebos]

Thank you everyone for your comments!

Originally Posted by DMT

How are the leaves of these orchids? Any kinds of spots, streaks.

The leaves look really healthy, they are dark green with no patches of discolouration. A few of the bottom leaves are turning yellow and dropping off at the moment but I think that is normal.

If it was a virus, would every new flower be affected? I ask because the big bud in the top photo (bottom right) opened today and the flower looks completely normal! strange...

I'm going to give them just water from now on. I have a growth feed that I'll start using when they are done flowering. Hopefully this will help!

Thanks again for all advice, I will post updates if I remember!

[dangerouseddy]

I think if it was a virus every flower would be affected but I'm no expert on plant diseases.

[silken]

I also think it is not likely to be virus as this is 4 plants. (Unless they are sharing bath water). If they bloomed normally the first time they were in bloom when you got them, it seems like a cultural issue. Most likely too much of one type of plant food or hormone. If using SuperThrive, seaweed etc which contain hormones, it should be at recommended dosage and not always given to the plant. For bloom booster usually before the spike starts as it is to initiate the spike to start in the first place. Once it is growing, it has already decided to bloom. Orchids usually need less fertilizer than other plants and have sensitive roots. So weakly weekly is a good plan. And a clear flush of water every month. Enjoy your blooms. I think they are pretty anyways.

[Setebos]

Thanks, glad to hear it is not likely to be a virus!