Is this caused by water quality? - Orchid Board

Wrebbitrocks · #1 10-25-2010, 04:50 AM

hi, i have 3 besseaes in my collection and i have 2 of them potted in spagh and one in bark. 2 of the plants(one bark one spagh) started getting dark tips and dying back rapidly. that was when i watered them with tap water once a week. i panicked and cut off the brown areas and it continued up the leaf so i opened a couple bottles of water and ran watered them in it and left them standing in the water. the dieback stopped and after reading that phrags are picky about water ive left them standing in bottled water.

so was the dieback caused by the tap water? the 3rd plant seemed fine and was actually just getting bigger and wasnt affected. the other tw lost a couple growths rapidly but are now recovering with new growths after using bottled water. heres a picture of the plants before the dieback and after dieback on 2 plants.

tuvoc · #2 10-25-2010, 10:02 AM

They're way too dry. Once a week is not nearly enough water. I use tap water, and they do fine. I have the pots sitting in a saucer that holds the runoff when I water. When the water in the saucer is gone, water again. These guys like LOTS of water.
Good luck.

Kim

Wrebbitrocks · #3 10-25-2010, 11:12 AM

i thought so, yes. now theyre always standing in bottled waterwith additional flushing once a week

Donald · #4 10-25-2010, 11:55 AM

Could this also been caused by too much fertilizer? It happened to me once when the tips all went yellow and with some research I found out I was fertilizing to heavily.

camille1585 · #5 10-25-2010, 01:37 PM

I doubt tap water alone could do that to them, and so quickly. If it did that to the plants, then what's it doing to you? Like Donald says, the damage looks more fertilizer related.

Ray · #6 10-25-2010, 05:21 PM

Arizona tap water is sometimes called "liquid cement", and tends to be very high in dissolved solids.

Bottles water is often just as loaded with minerals as tap water.

RJSquirrel · #7 10-26-2010, 06:07 AM

the phrags look really crispy.they should be soaking in them trays all the time, there just way to dry..if the damage is fertilizer related, I dont think so, but it all goes back to them being to dry again if it is.

When leaves start to lose their gloss they are eating themselves up. When the outer waxy layer has broken down its a sign the plant is seriously stressed, disabled and consuming itself. They can not hold water in the leaves when the outer layer has broken down.

Seems coco husks/coir is better in most areas than bark for phrags as it holds more water and holds it longer..the phrags I got from orchidweb are all in coco husks,and some small incidental pieces of bark and sponge rock...sphagnum should be okey but it will get soured when it stays wet constantly...

those phrags are going to die real soon if you dont put em in I.C.U.

Wrebbitrocks · #8 10-26-2010, 06:56 AM

thanks for all the input. actually it cant be fertilizer because i havent fertilized them. i fertilized them once last month with 5 drops of african violet food in one gallon of water because i was afraid that maybe theyd burn.

the plants ARE standing in water, actually. that bowl always has water covering the bottoms of those pots. i think it may be humidity that makes them look crispy. its been around 45% for about a month now because its monsoon here. i also find it coincidential that the dieback stopped instantly after i started using the bottled water. the tap water here does leave white deposits on the leaves. ive been asking the neighborhood manager for a water quality report and havent had an answer.

rjs, i did notice that the leaves were not succulent looking or thick like my other orchids. they are the thickness of paph leaves with a printer paper feeling to them. is there anyway of seeling the leaves again? leafshnie perhaps?

RJSquirrel · #9 10-27-2010, 06:08 AM

no, its just takes some time to get them back into shape... the outer shine or gloss is like a wax coating or fat layer...you can see and feel the leaf texture change when its gone. A sign the plant is breaking down internally...lots of good water and care is the only thing I can think of right away. I would skip a few fertilizer dates and let the plant rehydrate as much as possible

as phrags dont like much feeding anyway shouldnt hurt ya none

quiltergal · #10 10-27-2010, 04:07 PM

Besseas are notorious for being picky about water quality. I have a few bessea hybrids as well as other Phrags. I water them all with distilled or RO water only and have had very little trouble with leaf tip burn. They also like to have their feet wet all the time. Mine all sit in saucers of water.