Freakish *bubble* on leaf of healthy Vanda coerulea! - Orchid Board

beanluc · #1 01-14-2009, 04:11 PM

Hi, I got this Vanda coerulea last September. It seems healthy, it's growing even though it's the middle of the winter, but it developed a weird discolored swelling on one leaf!

The blemish appeared a month after I brought it home. It grew for a few weeks and stopped. So it's been there, unchanging, for more than 2 months now.

Anybody know what it's all about?

The swollen area is discolored - almost bleached or something, except it's gray instead of yellow. The very edges of the swelling are a little black. This is under the cuticle, it's not some mildew or such, growing on the surface.

That's the main thing I want to know about. But while we're at it, the same plant had a black spot low on the stem when I got it. Looks like maybe old water damage or something? The spot hasn't grown or spread since I've had it. Any ideas?

Thanks! Here are pictures

beanluc · #2 01-17-2009, 03:46 PM

Ray · #3 01-17-2009, 04:27 PM

hard to say.... Could be some sort of scar tissue from a former pest or pathogen.

My attitude would be "if it has not changed in 2 months and it doesn't seem to be harming the plant, don't worry about it.

beanluc · #4 01-17-2009, 07:40 PM

Thanks, Ray, that's fine advice and is my basic attitude about it.

I just wanted to see if there was a learning opportunity here. It's freakish to me, but I thought someone else might have an instant recognition.

beanluc · #5 11-09-2010, 04:51 PM

Two years later, I'm following up on the original "cry for help".

The spots and bubble have very slowly increased in number, if not size. However, the plant seems not to be impeded at all, and has grown quite a lot, and been moved up to a bigger basket (about 18 months ago, I think).

Now: I bought this in-bloom from Andy's Orchids of Encinitas, CA - a town with a sub-tropical climate. I never expected this plant to re-bloom where I live, in San Francisco where it averages 63F (maybe 18C) all year round. However, I mostly have had it in a glassed-in porch with exposure to the southeast and southwest. This porch gets pretty warm when the sun's out, and I was hopeful that the heat/warmth would possibly do the trick to stimulate a re-bloom.

Well, after 2 years, I had pretty much given up, and I figured I'd keep it and just let it continue to grow without blooming. However, I ran into Andy at last spring's Pacific Orchid Expo and he not only sold me three other vandaceous orchids, but also gave me the advice I needed to get the coerulea to re-bloom! Thanks, Andy!

In short: Andy said I didn't need to worry about the temperature here in San Francisco. Instead, he was confident that if I gave it more light it would likely re-bloom. So, against my own earlier instinct, I took it out of the warm sun-porch, and let it breathe outside under my southern eaves for most of the summer. When the overnights started getting cold, in September, I brought it back inside and instead of putting it in the sun-porch, which has overhanging eaves that block some of the direct light for part of the day, I put it in a normal south-facing square window with no sunlight obstruction.

By early October, I found a spike!

When I bought this plant, it had two spikes with four full blossoms each. It was delightful to take home and enjoy these blooms for something like four weeks or so. This time, it has one spike, but there are twelve buds on it - half of which are wide open now, the rest of which continue to develop! I expect I'll have perhaps as much as ten to twelve weeks to enjoy these blossoms this time around. As well as looking forward to next season!

Enjoy,
BL

Anisa · #6 11-09-2010, 05:30 PM

Thanks for sharing! That gives hopes for my vanda. The bubble looks freakish, but i have no idea what it is. I am glad it is not too harmful for your plant.

Ray · #7 11-10-2010, 10:52 AM

Actually, that's not too surprising, BL - Vanda coerulea is a "cold to cool growing, monopodial epiphyte that is found in India, Burma and Thailand at elevations of 800 to 1700 meters on exposed dwarf oak trees or in deciduous forests in areas with a distinct dry season in the winter with daylong sun." {orchidspecies.com}, so I would actually expect it to do better for you than for Andy.

Very nice!!!

nutgirl · #8 11-10-2010, 10:55 AM

Thank you for the update. It's always interesting to see how these things go.

Congratulations on the bloom - It's beautiful!
It's on my list.

Maureen

beanluc · #9 11-10-2010, 01:53 PM

Wow, Ray, thanks for that comment!

I thought Vandas generally were heat lovers. Even the species specific culture info I found for V. coerulea didn't really contradict that.

Well, that was almost 3 years ago. Living and learning

and enjoying my flowers.

dgenovese1 · #10 11-11-2010, 11:22 AM

Beanluc,
Great job on your coerulea!

I've actually killed a few of these in my hot sub-tropical climate in southwest Florida...as Ray pointed out, you've got a much better climate to grow these guys, and I think yours is exceptional in form for this species.

I've enjoyed reading your post, thanks, David