Zygopetalum culture question

[DenmanNJ]

I have just acquired my 2nd Zygopetalum, "Zygo. Arthur Elle". I'm hoping this one does not have any problems - the last one I had, the leaves all got black spotted and very unsightly. Is this normal for Zygopetalum ?

[orchidsarefun]

this particular grex and its progeny, yes. I have black spots on my Louisendorf ( not as many ) and my Alan Greatwood ( a lot )
The spots don't harm the plant and appear even if you are very careful not to get the leaves wet.
Mine are outdoors in Summer, breezy location, so despite what you may read, even air circulation doesn't prevent the spots from appearing. Neither does any fungal spray.
However I have noticed that only the older leaves become "spotified".
I don't have any experience in growing in warmer climates, that may make a difference - but obviously don't know.

[silken]

I have had 1 Zygo hybrid for a couple years now and just acquired my second one a week ago. One of its parents is Artur Elle. When I got the 1st one it did have lots of spots on the leaves and the grower told me I needed to use an anti fungal/bacterial spray to prevent it and keep it under control. But I didn't have any and in Canada, Physan and similar are not available. So I just grew it and took care not to wet the leaves and to not let it get too hot as it is a cooler growing orchid. I was pleasantly surprised to see that once the old leaves fell off, none of the ones that had grown in my care seemed to be spotting or hardly at all. I have also read that those spots are more heat induced than water induced. So I never let it get over heated and moving air is good.

[NYCorchidman]

spot free leaves are joy to behold!

Congratulations!

and DenmanNJ, I hope yours is normally spotted or the issue gets resolved soon!

best wish

[orchidsarefun]

it will probably come down to your own cultural conditions.
I have tried just about everything !

I don't know if cooler conditions prevent spotting. I personally doubt it - as I have 2 zygo's in 1 pot, the Artur Elle grex is spotted and the other isn't......and they are grown "cooler".
Also if you take a look at greenhouse-grown zygos ( where they have been in the greenhouse for a time ) - mostly they are grown with masdies and other cool-growers and you still get the spotted leaves on certain grexes.

Its a problem in that spotting puts a lot of people off zygos. You just have to get one that doesn't spot. Advance Australia is a good example and seems to be freely available again.

[Vanda lover]

I once saw a greenhouse that had at least 50 Rhychostylis in bloom, and everyone of them had black spotting on the leaves. I had to wonder if they managed to sell any. Most people wouldn't trust a plant with spots like that.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I've grown Zygos without the spotting problem before as well.

I don't think that this spotting issue is temperature related at all. I used to grow this Zygo outdoors in SoCal all year round, for roughly 5 or so years without any problems whatsoever.

The temperatures here can get as cold as 36 F, and as warm as 113 F. Under either temperature extremes, the leaves didn't get spotting.

I think the spotting is related to stress. I had the same thing happen to me that "silken" described. After I had purchased it from the nursery, and placed it outdoors, the leaves developed some spotting. But when the older leaves died back, and the newer growths with the newer leaves grew out, they had much thicker leaves with absolutely no spotting on them from then on.

I never once sprayed any kind of fungicide or bactericide on it.

I also disagree with the notion that the black spotting on the leaves is what puts people off to Zygos.

Oncs get the same problem, and a lot of people grow these.

I think the problem with a Zygo's popularity is for three reasons.

1. The flowers may be very fragrant, but they only come in white, different shades of violet, and brown.

2. Some people grow them too wet, and rot off the new growths without knowing that they can actually ease off the watering and the plant will still be ok.

3. Some Zygos actually have a winter rest period. Water those Zygos that have a winter rest, and it's kaput - off to orchid heaven.

[Vanda lover]

I love zygos. Their fragrance is wonderful, but they don't bloom enough for me. I had some years ago and only got bloom for a few weeks of the year. mind you, my brassidium is the same way.