Virus????

[Stefan]

hi everyone,
so this is my cattleyas leaves, and as you can see there is some spotting on them.What on earth is it? is it a virus or a fungal infection? Im a bit worried as the worse effected ones, which i have removed, are close to that of these ones. so im wondering is it spreading.


thank you all in advance for your help

stefan

[kinknstein]

Not too sure myself, but am interested to hear the responses from other members of the board.

[DebsC]

Could be viral but 'looks' more bacterial to me.

[Stefan]

hi everyone,
i thought i would give you an update on this catt. apparently, this is according to the grower i bought it off, its normal for this type of catt to lose its leaves once that spike has flowered. rather interesting seeing as i have never heard of anything like that. still, shows that i not doing anything wrong

stefan

[Roy]

Stefan, I think its a fungal problem also and given the info by the seller that the leaves fall off after flowering tends to make me think that a cultural problem exists. IMO, a load of rubbish !!
Get it growing properly and all should be well.

[orchids3]

Usually bacterial infections have a yellow ring around the spot. Looks a lot like fungus or the type of spots you get from temperature changes (Cold drips of water) Fungus spots should have a rough feel.

[orchidsamore]

I do not think it is either but insect bites.

Fungal or bacterial would grow and these seem to have stayed constant after the initial problem.

When an insect bites the leaves, the raw site dries off around the bite to cauterize the wound and discolors like your photo.

This is common with thrips and several other juice sucking insects.