bugs or fungus how to tell

[sharon lynn]

hi..im new at this..dont really know what im doing..with orchids or computor...so need help with both...thanks..sharon

[Ross]

Welcome hope you get what you are looking for in the way of info.

I'm presuming from your question you have some leaf and/or root damage and want to know what it is.

There are three groups of situations we generally deal with in orchid growing.

a) bugs. These usually are still on the plant or in the potting medium or both. Example might be mealy bugs (white cottony masses typically in leaf crevices), spider mites (these typically leave tell-tale web areas on under sides of leaves and suck on the plant juices so they leave yellow areas on the tops of leaves) thrips (these leave streaky areas on the leaves) and chewing things like snails, slugs, grasshoppers, etc. There are lots more but I think you get the idea.

b) Fungus and other diseases including viruses. Fungus, like white furry growth looks similar to mold you get on bread. It can be lots of colors. Viruses cause streakes often on the blossoms, are difficult to diagnose and incurable. Molds, fungy, algae, etc can be treated with Physan 20 as well as other things. Not sure this is available in Canada so you would search for chemicals to wipe out mold, mildew, etc yet safe for plants.

c) Rots. There are lots of rot pathogens but the typical or maybe most common is crown rot. This is easier to prevent than to cure. It is common with monopodal orchids (for example, Phalenopsis, Phragmipedium, Paphiopedilum, etc.) where water is allowed to sit in the crown overnight. Avoid this if possible. Root rot is common when plants are allowed to sit in water, the medium breaks down so air cannot get to the roots, etc.

Hope this helps.

[Dorothy]

WELCOME SHARON
Glad you have joined us at the OB
Ross has given you some great info there.
I am sure this board looks very intimidating to someone not use being online or working with computers. But the more you come to the board and open up different screens and find new and exciting things, the more comfortable you will become .. Just the fact that you posted a question correctly should make you feel like .. hey I can do this (because you just did).. see how easy it is
When you have a bit of time .. go to the forum screen and go through some of the options to the left of the screen under site menu and the other forums to find out what is offered here ... there is a ton of orchid information, member's photos and even stuff not so orchid like Photography, Pets and other member's other plants in the Off Topic Forum ... we even have a joke thread for a daily chuckle.
This is a link to a site that has some wonderful info including photos of pesky pests that could invade your orchids - Insect and Arthropod Pest Identi
Just click on the underlined type and it will automatically bring you to the site
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask