Declining Beallara

[jcsim]

Hello,

I've been growing plants for a few years now and I've built a substantial collection of plants, primarily Cattleyas. Several years ago, I branched out and purchased a Beallara. It arrived "healthy" and rapidly declined after. It died (well, "died") about 6 months after with a single dehydrated pseudobulb. I've avoided Oncidiums since.

I was browsing plants online and found another Beallara that I absolutely loved. It arrived with two leaves on the most recent growth and the remaining two pseudobulbs were bare. All of the pseudobulbs are slightly shriveled, so that lead me to believe that there was significant root loss, as the plant arrived moist. Unpotting the plant, I removed a copious amount of tightly packed, decayed sphagnum moss. Not surprisingly, I discovered that every single root had rotted away. I trimmed off as many roots as I could and the plant has been quarantined since. I had placed the plant in a vase with a small amount of water at the bottom to supplement humidity. When I checked on the plant, which must have gotten bumped, I noticed that the small back bulb had gotten waterlogged. I decided to trim it to prevent any problems from occurring and I figured the bulb was small enough, anyways. Upon inspecting the rhizome, there was a small reddish-brown ring.

I acknowledge the Fusarium hysteria, but until a week ago, this was not my plant. I have no idea what the growing conditions were like prior to this or what it may have been exposed to. I've read plenty of articles and studies on the symptomology of Fusarium, including Sue Bottom's work. One of the leaves on the plant is currently yellowing, it has no roots, and has a reddish ring on rhizome. This plant is by no means "healthy." So far, this has followed the exact pattern of atrophy as my last Beallara. Interestly, it's in the same type of pot, the same size (three pseudobulbs), and has an identical yellow label.

While I would like to save this plant and bring it back to health, I would much rather not compromise the rest of my collection. If this is Fusarium, is there any way of completely removing the infection? "Cutting until there's no ring" isn't exactly viable in this case, as there is very little rhizome to begin with. If it is in the rhizome, it is in the pseudobulbs. I have read conflicting information regarding Fusarium being removed via systemic fungicidal soaks, such as Medallion or Thiomyl. This supposedly can "remove" the fungus, allowing the plant to resume growing healthily. I have also read information stating that once a plant is infected, it may as well be trashed as nothing can remove the infection. Could this simply be a case of bacterial root rot? Has anyone else had similar problems with Oncidium intergenerics?

Cheers!

Oh and, uh, sorry about the novella.

[jcsim]

Here are some pictures. The ring is more deep purple than red, I suppose.

[Shadowmagic]

Depends how long ago you bought it but that is worthy of asking for a refund. Regardless of the purple which is highly suspicious - the plant has lost all its roots which makes it more than refund worthy. You did the right thing quarantining it.

Looking at the yellowing on the leaf, the yellowing is on one side only, not the tip or base so that points towards an infection rather than stress or deficiency.

I would bin the plant considering in my opinion the infection has spread far already.

[Roberta]

I agree with Shadowmagic that this looks like a fatal condition. Don't know that Fusarium is the disease... I suspect it is highly overrated. But it does look like the infection of some sort is in the rhizome. that usually means "the end". You can certainly experiment with keeping it alive - there's one good pseudobulb that could possibly produce new growth and new roots. But if you recently got it, as rootless as it is, I'd also agree that if you can get a refund, go for it. There's no excuse for someone selling something in that condition.

I don't know what part of Minnesota you live in, but as a source for orchids, consider checking out Orchids Limited - a visit if possible, but a great source online as well. Really excellent plants (you get what you pay for...).

Shows are also a great place to get orchids (blooming and not) Check out Welcome to Orchid Society of Minnesota - Orchid Society of Minnesota (they have a show in January) and a Calendar of Events when something is going on in the area.

[aliceinwl]

I have don’t have anything to add about the possible fungal issues. I’ve bought a lot of problem Oncidium type intergenerics from grocery stores. I pot them up in a small grade bark mix. If they don’t have enough roots to anchor them, I secure a pseudobulb to a stake such that the base of the pseudobulbs is barely in the substrate. I water from above weekly giving them a thorough flushing and cross my fingers. I think everyone but some of the Miltoniopsis types has eventually pulled through. Some have just sat as bare pseudobulbs for the better part of a year before putting out new roots and leaves.

[jcsim]

I actually live pretty close to Orchids Limited. I think Jerry and Jason run a fantastic operation! It's one of the few places where I am completely comfortable buying plants from.

I had purchased this Beallara from a small reseller on eBay. She may have been aware that the plant was declining, but maybe not to the extent? It's definitely more forgivable than if I had acquired this from a nursery.

Regarding the yellowing: I think its appearance might be from previous damage to the base of the leaf? The other leaf is starting to turn yellow but from the middle.

The thing that I find most interesting is that there is no pseudobulb rotting. I know that a lot of bacterial and fungal rots often enter the pseudobulb, but this hasn't been the case (so far) with this plant or my previous Beallara. Perhaps I managed to halt the infection in that one?

I found a study that was conducted in Australia. It found that F. solani and F. subglutinans were capable of doing extensive root damage, without necessarily causing rotting elsewhere. More interestingly, none of the infections introduced killed the host plant after treatment. However, this study focused on various Fusarium infections in Cymbidiums. It seems like different genera varying levels of pathogenic resistances.

As tempting as it is to throw this plant away, I almost want to keep it in quarantine and experiment on it. I'll give it good ol' soak in a fungicide and follow aliceinwl's route. At the first sign of any further rotting, it'll definitely be going into the bin.