BLC is it diseased? - Orchid Board

SundayGardener · #1 03-31-2018, 10:06 PM

One of these days I'll post about a great looking orchid but today it's another problem plant.

This is a small BLC. It started one with one leaf having the texture of orange peel, and not being green...dark, but not black either. Now all leaves (not that it has many since it's small) are also going yellow then brown, and are heavily textured. Is this is a disease? What I read about most frequently is scale and rot and it doesn't look like those.

It has a new growth, which I tried to capture in a photo (I altered the color to better show the growth). This was oozing sap, so I gave it the Bayer 3 treatment. Sticky sap spots were my first warning sign of mealy bugs last fall. If I have to treat every plant 3 times again....well, there is going to be a significant purge. Mealy bugs are the reason I quit indoor plants 20 years ago.

One picture shows the one leaf that is still green.

Thanks for any replies!

Leafmite · #2 03-31-2018, 10:19 PM

How are the roots? Can you glimpse any healthy ones with green root tips? How are your fertilizing? What type of water are you using? Is it getting enough Calcium? I think that, with the new growth, if you give it good care, it should recover from whatever has happened to it.

If this was re-potted after the old growths had grown their roots and the roots were damaged/died, the leaves would be dying because they are not getting sustenance but the new growth will be fine as new roots will form. If the pseudobulbs are turning black/discolored, it might be a type of infection. The stickiness might indicate spidermite or some other pest attack.

estación seca · #3 04-01-2018, 02:38 AM

The newest growth emerging looks healthy. They normally make small droplets of water.

The plant hasn't been getting enough water. This might be because of dead roots, or you not watering enough.

The leaves also might be light stressed. This would also make the new growth purplish, as it seems in the photo. What light does it get?

No-Pro-mwa · #4 04-01-2018, 11:14 AM

If you don't see any bugs don't worry about the sap. I have several that are sapping big time. New growths, bloom spikes, my fingers are sticky watering them. That pot looks very small so like the others I am wondering hows your roots and I too am wondering if it is getting enough water.

SundayGardener · #5 04-02-2018, 03:42 PM

OK, I have a catt that has new growth and it also had sap. I'll calm down with the bug paranoia. Getting a magnifying glass too so that I can do better inspections!

I got this BLC locally probably about a year ago. I have tried lower light, then higher light, right now it is back in a lower (phal type) light. It has been getting diluted MSU fertilizer every 2 weeks, and the last month I have also been doing diluted kelp every two weeks (so fertilizer one week, kelp the next). This isn't Ray's kelp, but it does seem to boost root growth. I can take it down to plain water. It gets water 2x week.

I used bottled distilled water...I've still been using boiled melted snow mixed with distilled, but now that I have a case of black rot (different plant) I'm sticking to bottled distilled water. I don't know if fungi can survive a 10-minute hard boil, but I want to eliminate any possible sources.

I have CalMag and could break that out, I haven't used it because I thought MSU had enough mineral content. I also have Dyna Protkt or whatever it is for roots, but I haven't used it because it mentions having to use it in conjunction with PhDown (or up?). We have a local hydroponics store ... better than a candy store!

Leafmite · #6 04-02-2018, 07:39 PM

Definitely use the Cal-mag. When I was using the MSU fertilizer, I had some issues with Calcium deficiency with rain water/distilled water. The Calcium supply needs to be steady and consistent when Cattleyas are in the growing stage. Good luck!

SundayGardener · #7 04-03-2018, 11:09 AM

Ha! That's good to know

I'll bust out the CalMag.

SundayGardener · #8 07-02-2018, 12:42 PM

Just to follow up, I have been using Cal Mag very consistently, and the little catt is looking good. New growth has stayed green, and two of the older leaves that had been turning purple and brown are slowly going back to green, which I did not expect.

None of my catts show any sign of producing a bloom, so I'll make an effort to be more precise about this (I've been adding 1/8 tsp CalMag to distilled water, along with fertilizer) and mix water up just for the catts.