Serial Paph killer

[TylerK]

I seem to be completely clueless when it comes to growing Paphs. Though it's never been widespread, they all eventually seem to succumb one by one to the same disease.

It starts out as an orange tinge to the leaves...under the surface of the leaves, not on top. Pitting of the leaves eventually occurs. If left alone it spreads across the plant and it dies. Its not particularly fast at first; not mushy or smelly, so my assumption was some kind of fungal infection. I tried treating with phyton 27 on a few different plants, but it just seems to make things worse. The leaves start to yellow and brown desiccated spots appear.

This does not seem to affect any of my other orchids, and I grow a number of different genre.

Does anyone have any idea what this is or how to properly treat it? I'm sorry, but I don't have a picture a the moment. I can try taking one later today of a plant that I've already treated with phyton 27, but I'm not sure how useful that would be. The effect of the phyton doesn't seem to closely resemble the disease itself.

Tyler

[UKCat]

It sounds like it could be a form of Rust, which can be hard to treat.
But a photo will give a better indication, so I will reserve jugement untill then.

[DebsC]

It does sound like a rust or maybe mites of some kind? Pictures would be most helpful.

[Becca]

Tyler, you can't imagine how glad I am to hear I am not the only one with this problem....exactly as you described! I only have the problem on the mottled leaved paph's though. I have tried Phyton 27 and it hasn't helped...one by one I have watched them die. I have one hybrid mottled leaved that is batteling the problem now, I think I may have slowed it down this time, the difference is I used a Bayer mite, insect and disease spray. I don't think it is spider mites, I know what to look for and I didn't have spider mites on my plants the previous year this has happened. My camera will not capture the problem as I only have a point and shoot and the macro setting does no good. Perhaps as mentioned before it is rust?

[Lagoon]

Hi Tyler,

Paphs are beautiful but certainly have their problems thats' for sure.
Slowly but surely I've just about given up on these types of slippers for the reasons you discribe. Its very discouraging at times
It does like it could be rust, but we need some photos to confirm, we're just guessing at this point.

[TylerK]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll look around for my digital camera when I get home from work today.

With the phyton having been applied a couple times now it doesn't look a lot like it did before though. Hopefully the picture will still be informative.

Becca - I hadn't really thought about it before, but I think you might be right. I have managed to hold on to a non-mottled leaf paph for a few years now. The only ones that have been affected by this have been the mottled leaf types - Paph delenatii in this case.

Tyler

[Eyebabe]

Phyton 27 is not a great choice for treating fungal infection. It works best for Pseudomonas.
Try Cleary 3336

[PaphMadMan]

It sounds like mites to me. They tend to persist in a collection on plants that tolerate them with little or no visible damage, but when they find one they like they slowly overwhelm it.

It is often a sign that plants by stressed by conditions that are too warm and dry, exactly what mites like. Can you increase your humidity, and lower temps especially at night? It won't be enough to save a plant that is already in trouble, but can make a differenece in keeping the rest healthy.

[TylerK]

Unlikely to be mites, though I suppose it's possible. I had transferred it into s/h in the spring and was keeping it inside my terrarium until the roots had a chance to establish. Humidity in there is close to 100%, and it has a fogger attached to it which runs for 15min every two hours. It's not enough to keep things sopping wet, but things do get damp.

I try to keep ventilation and air movement high, but the fact that it was in my terrarium is another reason why I was suspecting something fungal.

Tyler

[TylerK]

Sorry for the delay. Due to some renovations underway it was difficult to find my camera.

I hope these help.

The first picture is of the whole plant. The second and third pictures are of the diseased leaves. The fourth picture shows what happened to some of the diseased spots after applying the phyton.

Tyler