Lepanthes leaf rot? eaten?

[vraev]

Hi,

I love my L. telipogoniflora...but lately I have had a lot of issues in my new tanks with keeping these alive and healthy. There are tons of small snails which seem to love eating the fresh leaves from these plants...exclusively.

Then...lately..I have been seeing the old leaves have these issues. there is a rot or something that starts at one corner of the leaf and slowly it spreads and the whole leaf becomes a white husk as u can see with another on the right side.

can someone please offer some insight on why this is ahappeneing and how do I fix it?

thanks

V

[Ordphien]

That red moss is gorgeous!

Can you take a closer photo? It's really hard to see from that one.
It looks purple and transparent to my eye.

[vraev]

Thanks. That's Sphagnum rubellium. Once sphagnum sets in...it just goes rampant like crazy. I have it under 4 bars of aquarium LED for my carnivorous splants which demand high light. Clearly the lepanthes don't care for it too much as their leaves become very tanned and red. But as long as they are healthy...I don't mind it. I like red leaves.



hopefully this is better. Notice the sickle shape of the leaf. This is how it starts and a day or two later, the leaf becomes brown and mush before tunring WHITE like a husk as shown in the bottom right.

UPDATE: I just tried spraying bayer rose / insect killer which in the past has shown NO effect on the tiny little snails and the leaf just popped off. I really think it is something eating these leaves..most likely the tiny 1mm snails that I indicated here before:





thanks

V

[Ordphien]

I love that moss! So pretty.

I really don't know what could be causing that.
But your lepanthes really looks like it could use some lower light. Can you place it lower in the tank?

I think those are bush snails. Which are really hard to get rid of. I've never had them but threads pop up often about them

[vraev]

Yes... I am moving the lepanthes to a lower light area under other plants. But my concern is what is actually happening and how to fix it.

[Ordphien]

Those snails might be it.
Bush snails do damage to orchids.
I'd Google how to get rid of them, or look up past threads on here.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Get rid of those snails asap. They will decimate any small sized Lepanthes in a matter of 1 month, and you would have no idea what happened.

I recommend getting a jeweler's loupe. A magnification of 10x is good enough, but 30x is fine too. You'll need a jeweler's loupe for Lepanthes anyways, the small flowers are hard to see without one.

[vraev]

I just saw this...this is the last telipogoniflora in my tank that was growing well until this damage started...slowly the plants decline. I have lost 2 orders of $300 lepanthes in this slow decline with similar signs of damage.

this is taken just now. Dammit. I went and bought safers slug/snail bait but then returned it again without using it.. I read online that the Iron eta based baits don't work on these bush snails. I am going to get dry ice tomorrow and seal up the tank with some dry ice. I need to deal with this..I have lost $500--$600 in lepanthes due to this kind of damage.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I have had 2 leafed Lepanthes telipogoniflora come back and turn into a little clump again. Don't give up hope on these.

---------- Post added at 11:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 AM ----------

Btw, look in the evening or night time hours. They're for the most part nocturnal, although, sometimes you might catch them during the day, you'll have better luck at night.

[vraev]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I have had 2 leafed Lepanthes telipogoniflora come back and turn into a little clump again. Don't give up hope on these.

---------- Post added at 11:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 AM ----------

Btw, look in the evening or night time hours. They're for the most part nocturnal, although, sometimes you might catch them during the day, you'll have better luck at night.

I did try to look at night...I just can't see any snails. I used to find them..but not anymore. I know as this is sitting on a pot/media/moss...the snails may be fast enough to go and hide in the moss.

Any suggestions on how u grow these?

I used to have a spectacular clump in my big tank.

https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6058/...69f49591_z.jpg

But in my new tank...I just cant get them to grow properly. Is too much light a problem?