Please help diagnose this Cymbidium; Leaves with white stuff? Black marks? Virus?

[chloe13]

Hi all,
I would really appreciate any info or help diagnosing my cymbidium...

After reading nearly every page in this section of the board I still can't ID it. I keep thinking all of the pictures of orchid problems look like mine, so now I'm worried my poor orchid is sick / infested / doomed

I've included pictures and circled all 'questionable' areas…

My cause for initial concern was finding little white dots making a ring pattern on the underside of the leaves.
When preparing to re-pot, I noticed they were underneath every leaf and the ring patterns were in assorted sizes. The dots don't move at all so I don't think they're bugs or mites. Also, I couldn't find the white dots on any lower parts of the plant or in the soil or roots, nor on any of the new growths.

Before taking it out to repot, I cleaned off each leave with some peroxide and then (maybe too) generously applied this ortho ecosense spray that says it treats for disease, insects and mites. So far no return after 2 weeks...

What could it be, and do you think I've treated it correctly?

Also, should I be worried about these black marks on the leaves?

Do all black leaf streaks / marks / discolorations indicate sickness, or can I blame it on prior neglect?

My orchid is one of my grandma's many many cymbidiums she could no longer care for, so they've sat out in the backyard completely untouched for many years. I actually can't believe any of them are still alive!
I'm trying to rescue them all for her though so I really hope it's not a virus they're all going to have

Thank you for reading, hope to hear from you guys.

[Eyebabe]

Chloe,
Not really sure about the white markings.
If you treated for an insect infestation of some type and there are no more white spots showing up than I would be fairly confident that was the cause.
The brown spots don't concern me too much and I would just watch them to make sure the leaf does not soften there and the spots don't begins to spread.
There is a new growth which is awesome
The root system however looks a bit stressed and may need some care. I do not know anything about cymbidiums but in general, when the roots don't do well, the plant will fade out.
I'd clean the roots up, repot and treat with a broad spectrum fungicide/bactericide.
Your grandma's cymbidium will be awesome!

[chloe13]

Thanks so much for the quick reply!

I just noticed today the opposite side of the bulb with the new growth, has 2 more growths!

And the dark spots have been there as long as I can remember, they're dry and don't appear to be growing any. Maybe hopefully it's not doomed afterall

Oh and I actually just re-potted a week or two ago. That's when I took the pictures. I knew even less than I do now about orchids when I first potted it and put it in a humongous pot (oops!) I think that rotted a lot of the roots.
I washed it before repotting, once to get all of the old medium off in case it was infected / infested, then cut off all of the mushy brown roots and washed again. It didn't have too many good roots left though, do they usually recover from this?

Here is a pic of what few roots I had left :/ I also removed 4 of those gigantic back bulbs. They looked dead but did actually have eyes and some new growth starting.
I have no idea what that weird twisty wood-like part is though, so just left it alone...

[jkofferdahl]

Take this from a person who has never owned a Cymbidium, so whatever necessary grain of salt. I strongly doubt that this is a virus, though the plant is stressed. The black spots could be anything from sunburn to insect damage, but not virus. The white spots are also likely either insect- or fungus-related. The plant should be treated for both, but the majority of your concern should, I think, be the roots. This large a plant should be so rooted that you can barely find the potting medium if it's been a while in the pot. Keep the majority of your focus on encouraging the roots and the rest will follow naturally.

[RobS]

The strikes could be just the veins at least that's what it looks like to me. I would just try to wash the white spots from the leaves to me it looks like they are on top of the leaf. For now don't use any chemicals as they typically stress plants.

[chloe13]

jkofferdahl- Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do to help the roots recover? I'm guessing it'll just be a matter of time (and not making the same mistakes!)

RobS- The white spots wiped right off with some peroxide and paper towels. They didn't leave any marks behind either... very strange.

Thank you guys for the responses so far, really relieved to hear it doesn't look like a virus!

I do have another cym however that definitely looks like the pictures of virus affected orchids. What do you guys think? The spotting is much more consistent on this one and in multiple areas...



Not too upset about that one though, I only brought it home on an impulse from home depot (go figure) after the buds on mine suddenly dropped off before blooming
Luckily the two have never been anywhere near each other nor shared any tools etc.

Lastly, forgive the dumb question, but is that new growth on the home depot orchid a flower spike or a bulb? It was already in bloom when I bought it in January of this year...

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It's not viral.

[chloe13]

Very glad to hear so far it doesn't look viral, thank you guys!

Still have no idea what the white stuff was, though today while walking my dog I noticed a large jade plant across the street with those same spots / circles. Has anyone else had these too?

[CTB]

must be a cocoon of some insect, that borrowed your leaves but doesn't eat orchids. Thank goodness!!!

[jrodpad]

I've seen something that looks just like those black marks before... but on a phrag. I'll post pics if I can once I get the camera back,

I just purchased a phrag with those types of marks on the old fans, but with no hint of those marks on the new one. The grower explained that a while back her town changed their municipal water system and then all of her orchids began developing the black marks like the ones in your picture. The greenhouse then bought a reverse osmosis filtration system and none of the new orchids/new growths exhibit those symptoms. I never really asked what it was about the pre-filter water that damaged the orchids, so I can't tell you what was wrong with the water that caused the marks.

It stands to reason, however, that if your orchid is affected by the same water issues, you can avoid making the situation worse by using filtered water or rain water.

Hope this helps.

- J