Hello everybody,
I just received a Galeopetalum Giant 'Rhein Moonlight' orchid in the mail and it has lost all its flowers to this rot which I believe to be a fungus. The disease began as concentric dark spots on the flowers about the circumference of a pen cap. The rot of course spread eventually taking each flower , each looking darkened and crumbly. The plant itself looks healthy so far and I cut off all the flowers just to make sure the pathogen didn't spread to other parts. The plant was obviously drenched in water and wrapped very thoroughly to ensure successful shipment which i appreciated, but i noticed upon arrival that the plant had some white stands of mildew around the base and one root that is peaking through the bottom of the container is brown. The medium smells a bit rotted (ya know that moist musty smell) which I'm not sure if thats good or bad. I've only ever used bark (i assume fir or cedar) for potting orchids and this stuff that the orchid came in is different.
I'd appreciate anybody's two cents! thanks!