Aliceara Hilo Ablaze "Hilo Gold" may have problems - Orchid Board

gardengirl13 · #1 02-26-2013, 12:52 PM

I got a Aliceara Hilo Ablaze "Hilo Gold" a week or so ago and when it came it was not re-potted right. It was severely root bound in what looked to be a 3 1/2" pot then shoved into a 5" pot with chips shoved in around it, not potted very nicely. It was very dry too. Which with the colder weather I can see it drying out in the two days it took to get here, but this was quite dry.

I watered it heavily then left it over night to rest. The next day it took me over an hour to get his poor roots unbound. Ripping a few fingers in the process! But thankfully it didn't loose too many of is roots. I put him in my normal mix of bark, charcoal, perlit, and moss and didn't water him (the media was wet of course from soaking) for a while. I was going to wait longer, but he was dry so fast again! Now he's looking very sad. His leaves are turning yellow. New leaves, not the older ones only. I don't really want to try to return him for any exchange since the cost of doing so will be too much for me. I also don't want to just give up on him. I did give him a nice dose of seaweed to try to help boost root growth. What else can I do?

Here is a photo, you can see some of the yellowing starting in the one leaf, now three or four others are getting yellow too.

WhiteRabbit · #2 02-26-2013, 06:00 PM

I see some good roots, so that's a good thing. Pbulbs look plump (from what I can tell). I don't know that the yellowing foliage is from being too dry, I would expect shriveled pbulbs also.

I don't see bract foliage on those pbulbs, which would indicate those are older pbulbs (but maybe it's there on some, and I just don't see it). But, still I wouldn't expect so much foliage loss at once...

Was this shipped to you? Maybe weather related?

I hope some other members have some ideas ...

SJF · #3 02-27-2013, 09:24 AM

Do you have any Physan 20 to spray on it? It may be from being cold, not sure

gardengirl13 · #4 02-27-2013, 09:47 AM

I'll take a photo of how it currently looks. I am assuming it may have been from the cold. The heat pack was cold when it got here. The weather wasn't super bad, but if it was in trucks overnight I assume it could have gotten cold even if the heat pack was warm at the time. I e-mailed the seller and have yet to hear back, but with business and the time difference I assume he hasn't gotten it yet. He's normally quick to respond, like within 24 hours. I am really assuming it's cold. I can't think of anything else it could be. It takes a bit to upload photos from home, so it may take a bit to do this. But I want to make sure it is only the cold and nothing that will kill the plant or (((shudder))) spread. I think not, but I just want to check.

---------- Post added at 08:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------

Oh and no Physan 20. I may have to look into buying that though. Are there are reasons to buy it?

SJF · #5 02-27-2013, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gardengirl13

I'll take a photo of how it currently looks. I am assuming it may have been from the cold. The heat pack was cold when it got here. The weather wasn't super bad, but if it was in trucks overnight I assume it could have gotten cold even if the heat pack was warm at the time. I e-mailed the seller and have yet to hear back, but with business and the time difference I assume he hasn't gotten it yet. He's normally quick to respond, like within 24 hours. I am really assuming it's cold. I can't think of anything else it could be. It takes a bit to upload photos from home, so it may take a bit to do this. But I want to make sure it is only the cold and nothing that will kill the plant or (((shudder))) spread. I think not, but I just want to check.

---------- Post added at 08:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------

Oh and no Physan 20. I may have to look into buying that though. Are there are reasons to buy it?

How long did it take to travel to you? Where was it coming from and going to? I recently had a similar problem.

I use the Physan for fungal problems. If leaves start to yellow or anything gets soft I spray it right away. I sprayed my cold damaged plants with it.

silken · #6 02-27-2013, 09:53 AM

The Pb's are nice and plump and there are good roots so cold sounds like the culprit.

It is nice to have an anti-fungal/anti bacterial on hand such as Physan because when a plant is stressed it can succumb to infections. Some infections move fast and then there is no time to mail order or run out and buy it. It would need an application ASAP.

gardengirl13 · #7 02-27-2013, 10:30 AM

Yikes! I plan on going to my local nursery on friday, I'll pick some up there, assuming they have it.

It was 2 day fedex, and not during the really cold weather we had, day time temps were about 30-40, night was maybe in the low 20's or so? Not sure. It came from IL to NY. I was delivered to me, so it didn't sit outside, but I know those trucks aren't heated. The local one was since the box and packing were not really cold, not really warm, but warm enough to open right away and not have to wait to settle into the house temp.

I'm trying to upload photos and my internet is SOOOO slow! Of course the images are like 10MB each! But at work it takes about 10 minutes to upload about 25 images, here it's almost that per image! ha!

tucker85 · #8 02-27-2013, 10:45 AM

The plant looks healthy to me. I would keep using the seaweed every couple of weeks or at least once a month. I think it's one of the best products for helping a stressed plant. Don't give up on it. Spring is coming and I would guess that you'll see new growth then. Good luck.

SJF · #9 02-27-2013, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tucker85

The plant looks healthy to me. I would keep using the seaweed every couple of weeks or at least once a month. I think it's one of the best products for helping a stressed plant. Don't give up on it. Spring is coming and I would guess that you'll see new growth then. Good luck.

Tucker,
Which seaweed product do you recommend?

tucker85 · #10 02-27-2013, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJF

Tucker,
Which seaweed product do you recommend?

I use Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed. There are versions of this product with fertilizer added or iron added but I use the plain original version. I've been using it for several years now and I get excellent results. Of course it's just a supplement. You still need to use a fertilizer. You can mix the seaweed with the fertilizer or give it separately.