Brassia Leaves Have a Problem!

[Blondie]

AHHHHHHHHHH! Well, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. One of my orchids seems to have, what? A virus? Not exactly sure. Here are my questions about my sweet brassia:

1. What do you think this is? It's on 3 leaves right now.
2. I haven't noticed this until today. How fast can these things happen?
3. What do I do now? Cut off leaves? What do I put on the plant to help it? What order do you do these things (cut first, then spray; spray first, then cut)?
4. Will this "spread" to my other orchids? Should I do anything to them as a preventative measure?


Thank you for your help!

[Ross]

Looks like signs of fertilizer build up in the pots. Let me guess... you use strong fertilizer, or you use weak fertilizer but just water (not letting solution flush through pots)? If you don't have a habit of regulary (once a week or so) running plain water through pot to flush out the salts, then this would be the result. Not just Brassias, others will show same signs. Of course it might be something else.

[Blondie]

I've actually been kind of bad with the fertilizer. I forget to do it. So it only happens every 2-3 weeks. I water the orchids by running the tap water and moving the pot around in the sink so that it runs everywhere in the pot. But when I do fertilize, I'm not sure that I've been mixing properly, so I might not be getting enough water along with the solution...

[Blondie]

OH--but when I fertilize, I just water the plant and then dump in the fert water last and stop. So that could be it!!! I should flush out the fert?

[Ross]

On fertilizer day water with just the fertilizer solution (my thoughts - others may disagree). But you say tap water. Is your water run through a softener by any chance?

[Blondie]

Hmmm.... not sure on that one. I live in an apartment building, and who knows what's going on in the bowels of it. But so far I've only seen hot water tanks in the basement.

I do know that the water in Chicago is not exactly "perfect." I get a lot of pink rust stains in my dish drainer, for example. I want to treat the orchids well, but I can't exactly imagine myself carrying gallons of water up all the steps from the grocery store for them when I don't do it for myself. (I'm evil.)

So if water is the problem, how to handle? I have LOTS of other plants that drink the same water, and they are doing just fine. My main worry is that this is some type of a virus that's going to wipe out my orchids. But I do love to go over the deep edge with worry a lot , so the thought that this could just be water is making me feel a lot better.

If it is just water, would I just cut off the leaves?

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Blondie

Hmmm.... not sure on that one. I live in an apartment building, and who knows what's going on in the bowels of it. But so far I've only seen hot water tanks in the basement.

I do know that the water in Chicago is not exactly "perfect." I get a lot of pink rust stains in my dish drainer, for example. I want to treat the orchids well, but I can't exactly imagine myself carrying gallons of water up all the steps from the grocery store for them when I don't do it for myself. (I'm evil.)

So if water is the problem, how to handle? I have LOTS of other plants that drink the same water, and they are doing just fine. My main worry is that this is some type of a virus that's going to wipe out my orchids. But I do love to go over the deep edge with worry a lot , so the thought that this could just be water is making me feel a lot better.

If it is just water, would I just cut off the leaves?

You can rent an RO unit that will produce nearly 30 gallons pure water per day from Culligen. Give them a call. Mine costs $19.50 per month (a steal at todays costs for bottled water at store). They handle all the maintenance in that fee. So once per year you get a call from them to schedule maintenance where they change all filters and adjust the system for free (weel it's in the monthly fee).

No, don't cut the leaves off just yet. You could trim the dead stuff off if it bothers you.

[Oscarman]

Could that be some rot? Are those leaf tips mushy at all?

Ross -$19.50/month.....I have got to check that out with the Canadian Culligan men!

[Blondie]

I felt the leaves and they are "not mushy." I did repot this orchid when got it, but I didn't really know what to look for as far as the roots were concerned. Maybe I'll take a peek in there again and do some snipping... I know there were a couple of crusty old ones in there... ??

[Ironwood]

Dave, you can get a Zero Waste R/O unit from Costco online for $340 shipping and handling included.

Costco Watts Premier Zero-waste Reverse Osmosis System