Black pseudobulbs

[Dulcinea]

Various amounts of time 8-10 years maybe. One had a date of 2015 on it so that is five years. 2 of the brassavolas I lost had over 100 pseudobulbs each. It was my fault for not asking for help much sooner but I had the. A long time. Another thing is that I only have hose water summer and winter for them.

You are right about the phosphorus acid. This particular brand is just called Monterey Garden Phos and I have attached a photo of the label. I would like to use it as a drench and pour into the pot. Since the roots were so bad the plants are secured in the pot so they don’t move.

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by Dulcinea

I’m have Monterey Garden Phos. I fertilize with Michigan State University orchid fertilizer. I will also try calcium. I have oyster shell I use in some of my hoyas. Will that work or Should I use something else. I do t think that using the phos can hurt. What do you think! The brassavolas I’ve lost were hugs and wonderful until they started with the black rot as I call it. It sent from bulb to bulb. The only thing that has stopped it is the sulphur and I thought a drench would be much easier. I’ll gore
It now and check the mix and the roots.

Oyster shell works just fine.

I had the same experience. At the time, nothing orchid-related on the internet explained what was happening...until I thought about how tomatoes and other plants sometimes have similar issues if they are deprived of Calcium. As long as I see that my orchids have plenty of Calcium, I haven't had any trouble since.

I used an MSU fertilizer for rainwater and it just wasn't enough Calcium. No idea why.

As the orchid grows, it will use Calcium as it makes new cells. These cells, fortified with the Calcium, are able to withstand attacks of fungus and bacteria much easier. If the orchid doesn't get enough Calcium when making the cells, it is very susceptible to fungus/bacterial issues. So, treating the orchid with Sulfur or any fungicide to kill the current infection should help until the orchid begins developing new growth with Calcium-fortified cells.

[Dulcinea]

Thanks to all of you!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Dulcinea

You are right about the phosphorus acid. This particular brand is just called Monterey Garden Phos and I have attached a photo of the label. I would like to use it as a drench and pour into the pot. Since the roots were so bad the plants are secured in the pot so they don’t move.

That product should do the trick. Mix it with the recommended proportions on the package - maybe weakest mix is good.

Just to avoid sogginess in the media ----- could trim the bulk of the old dead roots, just so that they don't start stewing in water etc, which could just take us back to 'square 1' again later.

All the very best!

[Dulcinea]

I have trimmed the dead roots. So I mix 1ml per l of water then.

[SouthPark]

Dulcinea ..... check the directions that come with that package. Maybe 1 ml per litre is a bit low. Possibly 3 ml per litre is probably around the right level. But check - just in case. If it says 1 ml per litre, then go with that.

Nice to now know that monterey garden phos is the new name for agri-fos.

[Dulcinea]

I don’t know. Is Agra-fos a brand name? I originally saw the word phos as a recommendation for rot on this site and the person mentioned another product too but I could t find the post again. I’ve grown a few Orchids for over 20 years but never had any problems with the exception of scale 😖 until this black rot started. And scale is a whole other problem...

[SouthPark]

Dulcinea --- agri-fos is a brand name I think. Online sources are mentioning it is now changed to the name of monterey garden phos. It's the same.

Your orchid growing time is definitely substantial. The abrupt occurrence of the black rot could well be due to a pathogen. It certainly won't hurt if a suitable dosage spray of this monterery product is applied. Can test it on maybe a few plants to begin with.

[Dulcinea]

I’ll do that. How long should it take to see the difference?

I had the good fortune to be a volunteer at Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park here in Grand Rapids and to work with “The Orchid Man”. We had donated all of his own orchids to the Garden and with their funding purchased many more. They had a great collection. When I asked him how I could learn about orchids he said “work with me”. I did and I learned about orchids from him. BUT they used no chemicals of any kind! It made it almost impossible to get rid of pests. Anyway it was a great 3 or 4 years and we became good friends.

How do I say thank you? Thanks!

[SouthPark]

Learning from the very experienced growers is something very nice indeed.

Regarding applying a treatment on orchids - if a particular treatment is successful, then we should notice improvements over time - as long as it takes. But at least a good sign will be a reduction or even halting of the black rot on good bulbs and even on bulbs currently having issues.

If mildly affected regions become dry and hard ----- then that's a good sign too.