Mesophyll Cell Collapse

[Neverend]

Yikes, I've never seen this before...

Whatever it is, if it's not an important plant, just trash it in case it is infectious, otherwise quarantine it from the others.

[Lagoon]

What a shame, Shirley and Calvin

For me this is all to familar, I've had close to a dozen phals do this over the years. At first I thought it might have been the media then the tempts, keeping them to warm & humid. But over time one after another after another ended up with the same gross pattern.

The funny thing is they would lose their leaves, just to grow back - a year later lose the leaves again. Roots were of no issue, all were thick, plump and numerous.
They all would bloom as if they're was no problem - 2x per year in fact.
I've never tested any of these phal for virus. So, can't comment on any of that.
Currently I have 3 phals suffering from the same, both drop the leaves and new growth is beginning at the base of the plant again.

I'm very curious to know what could be wrong with them but at the same time tired of the same ole thing.
I will likey toss them out soon, pots and all.

One thing I have also noticed, none of my phal species suffer from any of this, None!

I have yet to see any spreading from these phals to other orchids, perhaps I've just been lucky

[camille1585]

If you guys are interested, I can show the pictures and explain the problems to some of the scientists in the phytopathology department at my university. I don't think any of them are orchid people, but they may have ideas on how to prevent/treat this.

[Shirley]

Thanks very much, Camille. I'd really appreciate hearing what a scientist has to say about it. A few of these phals are very precious to me and I'm game to try almost anything before throwing them out!

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Shirley

Thanks very much, Camille. I'd really appreciate hearing what a scientist has to say about it. A few of these phals are very precious to me and I'm game to try almost anything before throwing them out!

I asked one of my professors this morning about it, but he doesn't know anything about orchids. His gut feeling is that it's bacterial and not fungal, so very difficult to treat. However, he's going to look up the email address (hopefully he'll find it!) of an ex PhD student in his department who is an orchid fanatic and who now works as an orchid breeder in a dutch company. If this person doesn't know what it is, I don't think anyone will. I'll keep you posted! If we can find what type of pathogens are involved, it may be easier to find a compatible chemical treatment