...this is getting old...

[Pilot]

I have a phal that has some seriously odd things going on. I think this might be mite damage but cannot explain why it is different looking compared to the corona I had infested, which btw is now growing a new leaf and seems cured thanks to a miticide.

I have not been feeling Ike a very good orchid grower lately... Did I say good? I meant to say I don't even feel like a mediocre grower. I'm doing great with my Tolumnia now but my phals are unhappy and I don't know why.

Any idea what this rusty red issue is?

Pics:

[sweetjblue]

Ryan, do you have a 10X loupe or magnifying glass?
Just a thought here. Is it possible that what your seeing are mite eggs concentrated in spots on the leaves making them look rusty. That would be the first thing I would check on. If it is eggs what I would do would be washing the leaves under running water in the sink to flush them off then once dry treat with a miticide.

Let us know how you make out.

Judi

[Pilot]

Judi I don't, sadly. The red doesn't rub off though. I will treat my collection with tetrasan again this weekend. I did it a few weeks back and I should probably hit them again since the mites I did have came on fast and strong. The plant that was suffering the worst is growing like a weed now. But this one has these weird rusty spots on it, mostly in the spine of the leaf. So weird. Thx for you input.. For now ill treat this as a mite issue again.

[james mickelso]

Orchids get all sorts of blemishes and discolorations. Mine do all the time yet seldom come to anything. Half of my catts and laelias have the scaly looking stuff down the center of the leaf. Doesn't affect the bloom or growing vitality.

[DavidCampen]

I find control of mites and thrips to be quite a challenge. I examine my plants in the evening after dark, this is when both will be active in visible locations. I use a mini-mag flashlight for illumination. To find mites I stare at a plant and watch for tiny spots that move, if you then use a 10X hand lens to look at the spot you will see the mite.

I use Tetrasan, Akari, Floramite, Abamectin and Pylon in rotation for mite control. For the terribly expensive Pylon miticide I actually use the much less expensive Phantom Termiticide, it is the exact same product but with a different labeling and at 1/10 the price. Tetrasan, Abamectin and Pylon are translaminar. Abamectin and Pylon are also effective against thrips.

[james mickelso]

I've always used dishsoap and alcohol. Works pretty well. Of course a good blowtorch works well too but the plants don't like it a lot;-)

[NYCorchidman]

Sorry to hear your report, Ryan.
Do you see any damage on the underside of those rusty area?

None of my phals have such irregularities, but a few of my phals are also beginning to give me some major headache with some mysterious stuff on their leaves.
Yellowing edge on the leaves, small circular ring which appears to look like a start of Taiwan Cloud virus, and dark spot with no indentation, colorless or green bumpy area toward the tip of leaves (which could be the cold water blister)...yeah, so I am going to have all of them tested for virus just to have peace of mind.

Oh, one last thing, do these affected phals have flowers at the moment??
The reason I'm asking this is because I have some thrips on my phals last fall. No noticeable damage on the leaves or flowers, but they seemed to stay on the flowers only. I hand-killed any I found, which were not many.
I don't see any.

Thrips did damage leaves of my dendrobium hybrids and the leaves had yellow/bright green spots as a result of thrips feeding/sucking.

So I don't think your phal is suffering from thrips but mites of some kind or maybe nothing at all.

Keep us updated.

Happy New Year!!!