Small Pitting in Rl. glauca Pbulb -- Scale Scars?

[c123anderson]

Hi all. I have a Rhyncholaelia glauca and a couple of other plants with a similar issue.

Question: the Pbulb has some pitting in it. Is this leftover scale or bug damage? Will these heal or should I worry about them?

I've included two images: one is the original image and the second is marked to show the pits. Some are holes with black and others just are holes.

Background: about a month ago I got this plant along with a group of distressed plants from a going-out-of-business nursery. I knew the plants were stressed -- not been watered for a while, had scale and possibly mealybug pests. All plants were sprayed for pests, rested for a day, then soaked with a Sevin solution, then repotted with fresh pots and potting media; all old pots and media were discarded. Plants have been follow-up treated with Enstar and imidacloprid spray and granular. They are spot checked frequently for pests, but none so far.

Rl. glauca lives in an indoor space with ventilation. Temps range from 67F to 72F with average 69F. Humidity ranges from 45% to 80%. Indoor space is a west-facing opaque window, so no direct sunlight. Rl. glauca appears to be settling in to its new pot and is growing new roots.

Thank you!

[Louis_W]

I'd say step 1 is look closely to make sure there aren't any active scale or mealies.

If not step 2 would be to make sure the divots are not changing too much. Look for major color changes or entire bulbs going downhill.

Step 3 is don't worry about it. The fleshy parts of pseudobulbs especially can get dinged up and scratched and scarred. It's no big deal for the plant.

[c123anderson]

Hi Louis_W, I’ve been watching these spots for about a month. No real changes and no activity, bug-wise. The Pbulbs seem to be okay. I did take some photos to compare from 1 month ago to now. Spots don’t seem to have changed (grown, darkened, etc.). Pbulbs look “happier” and fuller than when I first received plants.

I do routinely look and occasionally swab with an isopropyl alcohol-soaked swab. I’m afraid this may dry out Pbulb, though, with the spots.

Should I cover pits with anything?

[Roberta]

No need to do any treatment. Don't worry about drying out the p-bulbs... they have a sort of "waxy" coating, like the leaves. An adaptation to conserve water. Imperfections are a part of life. If they're not changing, time to stop worrying.

[c123anderson]

Roger that, Roberta! No more worrying.

[Louis_W]

Agreed!