Does this Cattleya skinnier have a disease or a deficiency

[Brock]

Hello, brand new to this forum looking for immediate help. One psuedo bulb started yellowing, I thought it was nitrogen. Now I'm not sure what's going on. Trying to upload a picture. I think it's a Cattleya skinnier

[estación seca]

Welcome. Often people need 5 posts before they can post photos.

Tell is your growing environment - temperatures, humidity, light? How are you watering? How often? How do you decide when to wster?

[KatieM]

Welcome, Brock! Hope everyone is able to help you out! Pics will definitely help once you get those 5 posts.

[Brock]

orchids in plantillo costa rica. Water was once a week. I always let medium dry. Years ago I started watering under a faucet for 20 minutes really slow water flow make sure the water doesn't overflow from the pot. There's no miss in the substrate. I thought substrate was species specific I guess this is a general mix. Mostly charcoal. Light was on a covered back porch. Recently moved outside. This is in costa rica it's been in more sun not under a tree but it gets shade and gets moved. I thought maybe it got sun burned. I noticed one old stem or bulb turned yellow then two. I couldn't get nitrogen fertilizer used a watered down 10 30 20 maybe was a general orchid fertilizer but ratio didn't seem right. Everything was fine new growth really small plan. Fresh substrate wasn't fertilizing. Then j noticed a stem or old bulb turned yellow then the other old stem. Thought I might be over watering but thought maybe it just needed nitrogen. Then one leaf that was on an old stem fell off then a new leaf on the new growth fell off. Old stems started to turn black. I know a picture is important thanks for the help.

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Can I reply 5 times or 5 separate post. I have some catasetums I'm rehabbing I could post about. Two of the three aren't looking too good. They were healthy and blooming years ago. The one that's doing well put out three corkscrew new growths the other two normal new growths but the old bulbs are so shriveled and I think one of the plants is dying now bulb got squishy browning not sure if I over watered

[estación seca]

Once a week watering in charcoal is probably not enough in your conditions. New growths turning black is classic for underwatering in Cattleya alliance orchids. The oldest pseudobulbs turn yellow and die as they give up their water.

[Brock]

I'm going to make five post. It's my first cattleya. I will keep an eye on watering. Also I'm not sure about fertilizing. All my orchids in the past once a week worked fine. I was thinking about letting them soak to save water but I assumed rainfall let the water really run through. Under the sink worked fin in the past. I make sure that the water doesn't overflow the pot. Thank you

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[Brock]

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I'm posting using dropbox do I need to use Flickr? I tried to post the yellow bulb one is shriveled dead yellow. I made sure to get the black spot on the other yellow bulb. I hope it's just water. I'll try every few days. Everything was going well then it started yellowing. I thought about watering with tea. It's not easy to find things I'd need moved it tried to get more sun now I'm worried about too much sun. I posted a picture of black spots under a leaf. The black made me think disease. I'm looking at the plant now thinking too much sun.

[SG in CR]

Hi Brock I'm in Costa Rica too. I'm assuming you have a Guarianthe skinneri, or Guaria morada, the national flower. I know of a big grower who is switching over to straight charcoal for all his Cattleyas because the roots can often rot with denser/wetter media here in the tropics. So I don't think that that's the problem. In my experience they are finicky about not having enough air movement if they are out in the rain. I used to have mine in a sheltered area for a couple years and they lost most of their new growths to rot. Now they are in an area where they are out in the wind and it seems to have made a big difference. They seem to grow well mounted as well. They take a while to get established. But once they do get going they grow pretty quickly with regular fertilizer. Though I would go easy on the fertilizer until you see they are doing well.
As far as sun goes, G. skinneri can handle a lot of light, just shade it from the mid day sun. But it seems that once leaves have matured and hardened off they aren't very adaptable. So if you stick a plant that was used to the shade in a sunny spot it might loose all its leaves to sun burn. On a healthy plant this isn't too big of a deal as the new growth will adapt to the brighter conditions. But weak plants might not make it if they can't muster the strength to make a new bulb/leaf.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by Brock

---------- Post added at 06:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 PM ----------



I'm posting using dropbox do I need to use Flickr? I tried to post the yellow bulb one is shriveled dead yellow. I made sure to get the black spot on the other yellow bulb. I hope it's just water. I'll try every few days. Everything was going well then it started yellowing. I thought about watering with tea. It's not easy to find things I'd need moved it tried to get more sun now I'm worried about too much sun. I posted a picture of black spots under a leaf. The black made me think disease. I'm looking at the plant now thinking too much sun.

To post pictures, I use PostImages. You can upload your photos there, select 'hotlink for forums', and paste the link into your post. PostImages is free.

[estación seca]

I would listen to SG instead of what I wrote. He's much more familiar with your growing conditions.

Edit: I just saw your photo. That's a very small seedling, and I definitely think the problem is insufficient water.