Stem turned brown in two or so days

[joshgev]

Hi!

I am quite new to keeping orchids and am having some trouble with one. It is a lady slipper and is supposed to be a sequential bloomer. It had a beautiful fully-formed flower that fell off naturally after a few weeks and was developing a nice new bud that fell off after I bumped the plant very slightly. This happened about a week ago. About 48 hours ago, I noticed some browning on parts of the stem. Over the past 24 hours, this has gotten significantly worse. Attached is a picture that shows this.

I should also mention that very early on, some of the leaves at the base started browning in a way that I thought indicated a fungal infection. A little amputation of the affected regions was performed and the plant seemed fine for a while. Some perhaps similar browning occurred on the small leaves on the stem and we also did some amputation on some of those leaves and monitored the spread of this browning on some of the other leaves.

What could be going on with this plant? I doubt it is an over-watering issue; much care has been given in this regard and we have another orchid (not a lady slipper, though) that has been quite fine under our care. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[katrina]

Hard to know for sure what is happening but my guess (based on what I'm seeing in the pic) is that it's just normal aging of the spike. Sequential bloomers still have a finite bloom period and it's quite possible that last bud was just that...the last bud. It's unfortunate that it got knocked off but I'd say we've all had mishaps w/our orchids/orchid buds/orchids spikes.

To be sure...if you haven't repotted it recently...it wouldn't hurt to unpot and check out the roots. Just to make sure they are healthy. Looks like it could use a repot anyway.

[dounoharm]

slipper orchids bloom on each 'fan', once that fan has finished its bloom (yours has done so) you trim the blooming stem back, it is normal for it to turn brown and die....the 'fan' that the bloom is finished on will also die eventually, so don't worry too much over that...yours seems to have a very healthy young 'fan' already growing, so you will have blooms from that one soon....I agree that it looks like it could use a repot, now is a good time since it just finished its bloom...you might have to get a deeper pot, look up cymbidium pots, as it looks like the roots are too high on the surface of the medium....use a medium designed for paphs....you can order from an online source, I like kellys korner, and get a pot at the same time....good luck, it looks like a nice plant!

[lillianhofstader]

Even mine's stem turned brown..what to do ?? confused ??

[Cym Ladye]

I suspect a change of humidity started this problem (from high in a greenhouse to low in your home ) and has contributed to the demise of the flower spike. With care, it should bloom again on the new fan.

[NYCorchidman]

I find it odd that the spike is aborting when there is still developing buds at the tip. This type of paphiopedilum can bloom for over a year on the same spike. could be that the plant decided to take a break. I am not sure.

Regarding the browning of leaves, it sounds like a disease of some sort, but not too uncommon.

For the first few years of growing paphs, I thought paphs had no diseases as mine all grew fine with not a single blemish. I kept buying more and more, and then I saw some ugly stuff at certain stores.

The most common problems I see on paphs are the browning patches that just break out anywhere on the leaf. I too amputate the affected area and usually that is the end of the problem.

I do have two maudiae type hybrids that the browning kept coming back on a few leaves and had to trim them all. This was ongoing for a period of over one year.

I finally decided to dump out one of them as I have some plants with similar or better flowers compared to that one. I just wanted to avoid any potential spread.

The other one is still with me. Last time I had to trim a leaf due to browning was over 6months ago, and I have not seen the same issues recurring on the plant, so I am keeping it for now.

Another issue I have seen is the brown spots. This one seems to spread within one plant quite fast.
I sprayed sulfur based fungicide, but it also seems to weaken the plant as well.
I had three that are affected. I pitched two badly affected ones, also I did not care too much for their flowers, which made it easier to toss.

I have one that is sort of recovering, but the dreaded spots are coming back in almost one year! I will spray once more this week. If I see it again, toss.

I have many paphs and only less than 10 plant had any issues. so with good care, plants will be able to fight off pathogens and stay healthy.

Some that do pick up diseases, you can first trim the leaf like you have, then just hope for the best.
It seems that recurring problems usually means plants are somehow weak and plants seldom recover.

Time to pitch and go shopping.

Yours looks like its got some big chunks of leaves removed while the new fans seems unaffected.

Keep an eye on it for any return of the browning.

I wish you all the best.

I really hate seeing diseases eating up my paphs.