Is it crown Rot? Urgent ALL PHALS INFECTED! (Pics)

[Cattleya17]

Hello all im having a might of trouble! All of my phalaenopsis except for one has this rot i think? its spreading and the infection started all the same on each one i treated with Listerine and cut off what was first infected but it kept going!
i dont know how it spread to all of them! i water each one separately with their own water i dont mist that often its been humid enough. None of my other orchids or monopodials have been affected yet and the plants with the issues have been quarantined

I am guessing it is rot because the wounds are not sunken at first they actually looked like a blister but then it turned brown then black with a ring expanding outward from the initial blister they blistered laterally around the new leaf growths. yes its only on new leaves and trying to spread downward.

It has been very very wet recently! for a couple of weeks just kept raining and raining buckets. at night as well. then we got a series of three cold fronts that put it down to the low 60's upper to mid 50's they also bought more showers. now the temps are stabilizing but i think a combo of those two things caused this attack.

at first it was only two orchids then i saw it on my new Cornu Cervi. on the Cornu it began on the spike believe it or not. i noticed a spot and didn't think any thing of it because its leaves and spikes have purple spots so i just thought that it was one of those then it was becoming sunken so i cut the spike down into healthy tissue above a node so it can branch then i saw it on the newest leaf not more than a day later so i cut it off.

So long story short all but one phal has been afflicted i put peroxide on the crown and all the spots i can find and it foamed up pretty good which indicates some kind of infection. then i dusted with cinnamon do i do the right thing?

here is what the infection looks like.

IMG_5059 by Sam In NY, on Flickr


IMG_5061 by Sam In NY, on Flickr


IMG_5062 by Sam In NY, on Flickr


IMG_5060 by Sam In NY, on Flickr

The phal pictured is the worst and i have a lueddemanniana at the same coverage of the infection and a Schilleriana with the the newest leaf having been torn off and what was left of the leaf just turned completely brown and then black and now it is dry. its still making a bunch of new roots so i have hope that it can make a basal keiki at least. the cornu-cervi looks the best now that i cut the spike and leaf off before it could spread down to the crown. the pulchra showed one spot very tiny so i treated that with peroxide and cinnamon as well.

What do you guys think? Is my phal collection Screwed?

[Eyebabe]

If it is spreading that fast, it could be pythium.
This fungus is highly contagious.
Unfortunately, that cannot be successfully treated unless you can cut all the diseased tissue from the plant.
(Subdue Maxx is not something most will have readily available...)

Hopefully it is just crown rot and would respond to a copper fungicide. It takes about a week for the copper fungicide (Phyton 27) to "work".
Therefore, simultaneously treat with Physan which may slow it down a bit.

Wipe all your surfaces down with some bleach solution (I use 30%).

Listerine and cinnamon are nice adjuncts in fighting disease, but when you have a real problem I recommend using the real stuff.

If the plants are continuing to deteriorate after treatment, then throw them out....pythium has no mercy.

[Cattleya17]

hey Thanks!!! I Cleaned my area with bleach as you said. The cornu-cervi has shown no further damage i think because i found it early and cut the infected areas off.
the Pulchra that had the one spot its now more pronounced. I dont know where i can find the phyton and physan... if i get it online it may not get here fast enough. there is one place i can try calling that's nearby

i threw out two plants because one began oozing and its mushy now. the Schilleriana is gonna have to go too its down into the crown way down in there i mean it only has two leaves left. the one pictured is too declining. i think they are all finished i feel like a bad orchid grower....

I do not have the correct growing decisions to grow my phals mounted so i can only grow potted can you explain to me how to pot them up on their side so they can shed water?

~Sam

[Eyebabe]

If conditions deteriorate so the plant becomes "brown and mushy" my assessment is it's most likely pythium.

If you can's cut the disease out of the pulchra I personally would pitch it too.

Phals naturally pot to lean towards one side. Just set it in the pot and see where it wants to go; then allow it to go there and pot it up in that position.

Even with the leaning you still need to watch the crowns when you water.

I would order some Physan to have on hand.

Keep your area clean with your bleach solution.

[Cattleya17]

the pulchra is just a spot on one leaf i can cut it off should i replace the media too?

i plan to get some and always have it on hand from now on! thanks for the help!

[gnathaniel]

Sam, I think you might be surprised at how well your Phalaenopsis could do mounted. I tend to mount most Phals because I find them much easier to grow that way (little danger of rotting crowns or roots). So far they're all doing well indoors, even when humidity dips into the 20-30% range in the winter. The worst I've seen is that root tips wither and stop growing if I don't water often enough (1-3x/week year-round for equestris), but typically this just makes them branch more when the humidity and temperature go up. Most Phals are really pretty tough.

Sorry about your rot problem, hope you get it under control!

--Nat

[OrchidThief79]

As a side note, someone mentioned pythium and the lack of readily available treatments... One thing you could try that isn't astronomically expensive is one of the phosphorus-type fungicides. There's one called Agrifos that claims to treat pythium. I haven't used it but I've heard of people using it on orchids.

[Eyebabe]

Originally Posted by Cattleya17

the pulchra is just a spot on one leaf i can cut it off should i replace the media too?

i plan to get some and always have it on hand from now on! thanks for the help!

I generally don't repot a plant from which I have been able to fully cut out disease. It is just more stress on the plant.

I do however treat the plant with a broad spectrum agent like Physan. I usually mix that up at half strength since it is pretty harsh at full strength imo.

[Cattleya17]

I know that its been a while since i posted but.....I was too late. I lost my entire phal collection. i am slowly rebuilding it now. Starting with a Phalaenopsis Schilleriana Var purpurea with a 17inch plus leaf span, and a new solid red cornu-cervi! to bee added this week another Schilleriana and a luddemanniana!

[Gage]

I am so sorry to hear that. I used to think my collection was indestructible, and then thrips came, and then mites, and then a little fungus. Anyhow you get the point. I am learning to take preventative measures for all of the above, and I suppose only time will tell what worked and what didn't. Glad you're getting some more Phals again. I try to grow my Phals hanging with their pots at an angle so the leaves can spill over the pot downward. Good luck!