Urgent Help/Advice Needed for New Paphiopedilum

[mremensnyder]

Hello everybody,

A friend and I have just received two Paphiopedilum rungsuriyanum seedlings in the mail and they have both arrived very desiccated, however part of some of the leaves appear alive as well as the roots, which look healthy. The plants are not dead. Still they arrived in REALLY bad shape. Each plant has been potted in a 2" pot with mix appropriate for small Paphiopedilum. I have cut away much of the dried out portions of the leaves, and will keep the plant humid but dry to avoid infection.

Still, I feel that without some sort of dramatic preventative measures taken, that a death from fungal or bacterial infection is almost inevitable.

Does anybody have any advice on caring for and nursing back to health plants in this condition?

Also, would some sort of fungicide/bactericide be recommended and which and at what strength?

Thank you so much in advance. I would want to get a start on treatment, if recommended, before any sort of infection sets in.

[silken]

[Leafmite]

I think that in this case, pictures would be very helpful if you could provide them.

I can't really offer advice as I just have the two slipper orchids, a noID seedling Phrag and a tiny Paph seedling that I've had to grow in a jar as it was rootless from the onset. Hopefully, someone who grows many of these will be able to help. Again, I think pictures will help clarify your issue.
Good luck!

[mremensnyder]

You are absolutely right, I will get some photos up asap.

[Helene]

Agree with the picture thing.

I rarely use anything in advance (mostly because I never had access to stuff to use on my plants), so whenever I have problem I try to make the environment function better. Even with my seedlings I havent used anything.

My paphs are fine, but I have some other small seedlings that had damage. I cut the damaged part, havent treated with anything and they are growing.

But it depends on environment and how badly damaged they are, so picture would be helpful

Lol, not that I have experience with the paph, but I have some experience in keeping the environment good. Cause I cant have sick plants, cause I dont have treatment- so I have to keep them healthy.
What I think: using stuff to improve and prevent things are great, but most importantly you still need to keep the environment good. If not, then those products will only hide bad condition for a while. If you get the environment good, then you can have a great combo.

Seedlings are not as strong as adult plants, but they are pretty strong- so depending on how damaged they are, I think you can nurse them back. Actually I think more die from over-caring than from neglecting them. Lol, but its not always easy to find the balance

Anyway, now I'm chatting, soo- well- I really hope you can nurse them back- and gonna look for pictures

[gnathaniel]

Pictures? I don't grow rungsuriyanum so can't help you much, but maybe this thread on Slippertalk will give you an idea of where they grow and what conditions they need: Some in-situ photos.

Also, to my knowledge (I hope I'm wrong!) this species has yet to be legally imported to the United States with a valid CITES export certificate issued by Laos, where Paph. rungsuriyanum naturally occurs. Meaning that possession of these in the US may be illegal under the Lacey Act, unless you imported them with all the proper documentation (CITES, APHIS import permits, etc.).