Possible Sunburn from this Weekend

[DeeP0]

I went away this past weekend for the 4th of July, and left my plants in the care of someone else. The weather has been sunny and above 80F every day, and I came home to one of my catasetum hybrids looking like this. The newest leaf turned brown, and the other leaves have lightened stripes. This plant has been in this exact window for a month and a half with no problem up until now. Is it most likely a burn? Possible heat stress? And above all else, will it be able to recover from the damage?

P.S. Sorry if the picture is tilted. My phone likes to do that for some reason.

[AvantGardner]

Yikes, looks microwaved. Damn. There's always next year... The plant will pull through with some TLC, but it probably won't reach its full potential this year. I say "probably" because catasetums never cease to amaze me with their resilience. I had one come back from an orchid show across state looking similar to that (with a brand new AM attached to it, grrr). I was for sure it was toast, but it pulled through. It just took a lot of meticulous care.

[orchidsarefun]

Watch out for spider mites. Last year a similar thing happened to me. I thought it was burn and found out almost too late that it was an infestation.

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

[DeeP0]

I'm leaning more towards heat stress than spider mites on this one. I haven't noticed any pests, and this one shares a window sill with others. Only pests I've ever had were bugs that nibbled on phal leaves.

Since I'm going on the premise of heat stroke, I assume it'll abandon this growth. Should I expect it to put out another one before the season ends? My plants generally can stay out on their porch until October for a good growing season.

[fishmom]

The brown leaf will drop off, but I bet the leaves that are still partly green will hang on and nourish the bulb. I have one that (sadly) looks very similar, but a month after the burning the remaining leaves are still around and appear to be processing normally. I'd be surprised if eather of us get a bloom this year though. Mine is outside, in a very shady spot, for what it's worth.

[estación seca]

I would be very surprised if a Catasetum could get sunburned through a window in NY. Even a hot weekend with no water should not lead to this.

The classic spider mite surprise happens upon returning home from a vacation. You need to treat for spider mites, even if you don't think you see them. It is highly likely the plant has them. There isn't much else that causes this kind of leaf damage in a plant with healthy roots that were watered at the correct time.

Spray with dish or insecticidal soap in water, or 70% alcohol, being sure to cover the undersides of the leaves.

This growth will probably hang on. If the plant was previously happy, it will make new growths this season.

[medge00]

I've experienced similar looking leaves after too much heat too fast. I cut off the yellow parts of the leaves (that brown one will drop on its own), and babied the plant through the rest of the growing season. I was still rewarded with blooms. Treating for mites if done gently can't hurt either.

[DeeP0]

Okay, I've isolated it and I'm prepared to baby it. I feel like it's more of a sudden heat issue than mites, as none of my other plants are experiencing this. Nothing new to my collection has been near them. That porch is enclosed with over a dozen windows, so it can cook. I've opened more windows so it's more likely to catch some breezes.

[isurus79]

The growth should be fine. No need to baby it either. This group is pretty tough.