I just received a
Phragmipedium besseae x Eric Young that I bought from eBay and it looks like it might be diseased. If anyone could help me figure this out that would be awesome.
Hi escualida, I don't know if your phrag is diseased (I'm not terribly familiar with that area) but I would definitely agree that your phrag does not look right at all. At first with the brown-red color, I was thinking about rust fungus... Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in and help!
Without a photo right from the very base of the plant its abit hard to tell from here. It does look like a nature type of leaf shed, also you may have a new fan comming - have you checked for that?
I am now fairly experienced with Phrags and think that you are just losing the lowest leaf naturally. It should pull off with minimal effort and I would do this. Pull gently and steadily from the base. Often, you may see a new root nub inside the leaf at the base. I think it looks like you have a spike coming from the crown.