what's this disease?

[geogeo21]

i'm wondering what kind of disease this is. they were healthy when I got them and repotted them. the soil was decomposed with a lot of rotted roots. after repotting, a couple of weeks later they started to become brown. at first I thought it might be from the acclimation from being grown under lights to getting real sun. I do have them outside. during the days it's an average of 75deg with night time an average of 55deg. my other orchids are perfectly fine and thriving. the one orchid is paph lantha stage the other is paph limerick. I have them growing with cats. i know this summer, i had that brown rust that attacked all of my snap dragons. so im hoping that this is not it.

[geogeo21]

i'm just really hoping it's because of the weather shock. that's easier to cope with than a disease

[tucker85]

That pot is way, way too big for that orchid. Orchids like to be root bound in very small pots. Those leaves are rotting because all that media can not dry out properly. Those are probably multi-floral paphs that do like more moisture than other orchids but anaerobic conditions in all that media will cause problems. Go back to basics and read some material about how to pot that type of orchid.

[NYCorchidman]

It's a bacterial rot disease.
Toss the whole thing. I'm serious.
Otherwise, you will see this same thing on your other paphs.

I would also spray on other unaffected ones just in case.

[geogeo21]

thanks nycorchidman. I sprayed everything else with a copper based spray. at tucker, I've read that yes orchids like to be pot bound but I just wanted to pot them up and that's all I had. I can't stand anything plastic(man's worst material ever made).

[tucker85]

I apologize, my post sounded a little too harsh. I just meant that we all sometimes forget the basics. Paphs and phals should be put in the smallest pot that the roots will comfortably fit in. Proper potting will give you a better chance at success.

[geogeo21]

well I can how you can be upset. awesome plants deserve awesome care. well I'll see what happens they are quarantined and im curious to see what happens to them. I did spray them with a copper based fungicide along with the other healthy orchids. it seems that only paphs and phals are host plants