Blister on Miltonia p-bulb

[RosieC]

Yesterday morning I noticed this blister on my Miltonia spectabilis.

Does anyone know what it is, I've been really worried

Because Orchid Board was not available and I didn't want to leave it I first burst the blister with something sharp, then swabbed the area with rubbing alcohol, then packed it with cinnamon.

I would have considered removing the p-bulb but it's wedged in the middle of several others and I can't easily do that.

Any idea from the pics what it might be. Should I do anything else to try and stop it spreading.

The blister...


After busting and swabbing with alcohol...


After packing with cinnamon...

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try and reduce watering just a bit. See if that will help it along.

Could be bacterial.

[jenmonkey]

Edit: I made a slightly off-color joke, and in hindsight don't know any of you well enough to do that, so I will delete it and attempt to be a little helpful now.

1. I defer to Philip, as he is the expert, not I.
2. My background is in emergency medicine, so I tend to look at my orchids' maladies as if they were a human problem. In people, a blister is indicative of subcutaneous water retention or inflammation from infection or burn. If the cause is from water retention, reducing watering and letting it "dry out" for a few days should stop the blistering. If it's from infection, the blister will likely spread, at which point systemic disinfection steps should be taken. I don't think that orchids burn like we do with blisters, so that should be moot here, but the solution for that should be obvious.

Good luck, Rosie!

[RosieC]

Thanks Philip,

Interesting you say that because it's been outside and was actually getting very wet in lots of rain. I wasn't watering it at all even though it's mounted because it was raining so much on it.

The other thing I did after the cinnamon was move it in to the greenhouse so it's now only being watered when I choose. Yesterday I sprayed it with the hand pump srayer until it was dripping but avoiding this patch. Today I did the usual dunk in a bucket but I think that will still be less than it was getting in the rain the last few days.

If it's a bacteria do you think that my treatment will have got rid of it, or do you think I need to do something else?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Idk, different bacteria behave differently, and react differently to different treatments.

If it hasn't spread, I don't think you need to worry.

If it has, then just remove the one pseudobulb.

[RosieC]

Thanks Philip.

I will keep a careful eye on it. It hadn't spread this morning but time will tell.

Removing the p-bulb will be a problem as it's in the middle of several others and will be difficult to get at without damaging those. I'll face that problem if it happens though.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If it does spread (hopefully not), you have the option of using alcohol or bleach to sterilize your tools. Just know that the metal will corrode.

[Izzie]

Could it have been edema? I suspect not, since it sloughed off so easily, but still...

[Izzie]

Originally Posted by jenmonkey

2. If the cause is from water retention, reducing watering and letting it "dry out" for a few days should stop the blistering.

Good luck, Rosie!

This is what I was thinking- edema.

[jenmonkey]

Originally Posted by Izzie

This is what I was thinking- edema.

On the other hand, the cellular structure of the plant is very different than our skin, and perhaps they don't have to have systemic edema... Maybe a localized blister near the surface is just how it expresses in the Miltonia.

I mean, I'm a total newb here, and perhaps it's the wrong idea to equate plant biology in any way to human anatomy, but I do it anyway.

Rosie, how's the Milt doing? Any additional blisters?