Frustrated with phal leaf issues

[Joseia]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I would say that is a typical symptom of potyvirus.
If it is valuable, I would send a sample to a lab for testing.

Do not share water with other orchids with this one. You will spread it.

It does look like potyvirus. I once had my cucumbers and lettuces plants wiped out by it back when I had a small garden.

Pictures of phals infected with potyvirus can be found at

Hark-Orchideen - Competence in Orchids

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Joseia

It does look like potyvirus. I once had my cucumbers and lettuces plants wiped out by it back when I had a small garden.

Pictures of phals infected with potyvirus can be found at

Hark-Orchideen - Competence in Orchids

Not what I was hoping to see... If that's what my Phals have, then it's my own damn fault. I usually water all the plants individually, but 2 years ago I had a lot on my plate and the orchids went to the back burner. I didn't really take care of them, and was sticking them all in the same tray to water....

Looks like I'll be tossing out the worst of them, and keep the suspicious Phals in a separate room to try to keep my recently acquired Phals healthy.

[lepetitmartien]

Brevipalpus acarians with associated fungus will give you the same thing, and you can on top have OFV propagated by Brevipalpus but you would then be very unlucky.

Brevipalpus besides being a tough little beast really small can be a real issue to get rid of, the most important is to treat everything and get on a good management fast. They really thrive over bad management. (Been there done that… in fact I'm into it too)

Note that the attack can reveal something else, as you can have some plants infected by a dormant virus without knowing it altogether, and with the bigger issue occuring, the virus starts to thrive. But only a test can tell as most virus manifestations are not decisive save let's say: color strikes/breaks on flowers, some concentric chlorotic motives on leaves. Outside of this it's not conclusive.

[silken]

One article that I read (don't remember where) is that it can go by the name of Taiwan Yellows because it comes out of Taiwan where many of the Phals come from. They use so much pesticides and antibiotics in the greenhouses that these diseases have become immune to most things. And now it is spreading without anything to treat it. Supposedly the plants arrive here with the virus but because they had such perfect conditions in the greenhouse it doesn't show up until they arrive in your home under less than perfect conditions. Don't know if this is true, but it seems to spread without touching or sharing water or tools as once I had the problem in a few, I used every precaution. New clean Phals still got it. It's why I had to just quit growing Phals altogether.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by silken

One article that I read (don't remember where) is that it can go by the name of Taiwan Yellows because it comes out of Taiwan where many of the Phals come from. They use so much pesticides and antibiotics in the greenhouses that these diseases have become immune to most things. And now it is spreading without anything to treat it. Supposedly the plants arrive here with the virus but because they had such perfect conditions in the greenhouse it doesn't show up until they arrive in your home under less than perfect conditions. Don't know if this is true, but it seems to spread without touching or sharing water or tools as once I had the problem in a few, I used every precaution. New clean Phals still got it. It's why I had to just quit growing Phals altogether.

How depressing...
Like I said, I have a lot of Phals, because they grow really well for me, and make up about 60% of my collection. But now I'm thinking that I'll halt Phal purchases (or drastically limit them), until I sort of know what is going on with my plants. At least my new place is full of south and west facing windows, so I may move a bit more into Catts and Oncs.

[silken]

Originally Posted by camille1585

How depressing...
Like I said, I have a lot of Phals, because they grow really well for me, and make up about 60% of my collection. But now I'm thinking that I'll halt Phal purchases (or drastically limit them), until I sort of know what is going on with my plants. At least my new place is full of south and west facing windows, so I may move a bit more into Catts and Oncs.

Sounds like a wise move. I love Phals and they did well for me and are so easy to acquire. But I decided to quit pursuing a frustrating situation. And you never know what that virus IS doing to other orchids that aren't currently showing signs. That bothered me too. But it only seemed to affect Phals.

[camille1585]

Having a hobby where you collect living things is so expensive... Between the ones you kill, the ones that get sick, and then outbreaks like these, and the potting supplies, and costs to run lights in the winter, I have sunk a lot of money into the hobby. It's depressing to have to throw away plants. Sometimes I envy my colleagues who collect seashells or minerals....

[silken]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Having a hobby where you collect living things is so expensive... Between the ones you kill, the ones that get sick, and then outbreaks like these, and the potting supplies, and costs to run lights in the winter, I have sunk a lot of money into the hobby. It's depressing to have to throw away plants. Sometimes I envy my colleagues who collect seashells or minerals....

I hear ya! But my hubby figures my hobby is not so expensive compared to his. He built himself a mo-ped last spring and I bet the time and $$ he has put into upgrading, modifying, personalizing etc. that thing has already exceeded my 150+ collection of orchids, including my dearly departed ones

At the recent orchid show we had here he told me to "go crazy" and get whatever orchids I wanted. I think it was just so he wouldn't look so 'crazy' with this blasted mo-ped!

[The Orchidist]

This thread i started has caused so much grief and learning all at the same time , . I have cleaned out all my phals , washed and sanitized everything in my area of growing , perhaps taking in rescue phals will have to be crossed off my list . Perhaps closer chosing of species phals with reputable sellers , may be my next option or just look the other way when i see a fantastic phal . Time will tell

[NYCorchidman]

Large scale commercial greenhouses pack in soooo many plants close together and with the high humidity and temperature, it is not just comfy place for phals to thrive but also certain fungal/bacterial organisms.
Thus, to minimize the loss, they do spray heavily.

This has nothing to do with virus as virus is not killed by some spray.

I read that virus rate in greenhouse can be from nearly zero (I've seen figures like 0.3 %, but then I forgot the total number of plants sampled, so while the number seems small, it depends on the total number of plants in the greenhouse. likely a lot!!!) to as high as slightly over 30%! which is just crazy!

They are also doing a lot to minimize the virus rate.
I believe most virus cases are due to handling. Imagine deflasking and repotting every so often and I've seen people doing it with bare hands, pinching off some roots or leaves (if they look bad enough, they just remove them manually while repotting). I've also seen people working with gloves but I doubt they change per plant. It just won't happen because of cost.
So, you can imagine how easily virus can spread from plant to plant during this procedure.

I'm not sure if certain mite transfer virus with their mouthpiece, but very likely since they puncture through the plant tissue.

Anyways, I love phals, but since they are all too common and cheap, I tend to just buy one in bloom and toss. and even these, I pay attention so as not to potentially "contaminate" my other orchids that are long time residents with me.

I plan to get a test strip and test phals and any other mericloned orchids before adding to my collection.
even then I will have to be very careful and practice sanitary culture.

I almost get paranoia over virus.
What if some virus from potatoe or onions that I chopped remained on my hands and somehow transfer on my orchids? kind of thoughts. I know, it sounds crazy. haha

and when I see some wrinkled edge on the flowers of phalaenopsis, I begin to worry, 'is it just nothing or work of virus?' I have read that CymMV or ORSV, or both together cause phal flowers have slight deformity.
I never look at the phal flowers the same way after that.

Gosh! it's sometimes a bit too much, but I can't help.
Orchid hobby is making me crazy a little bit.

Originally Posted by silken

One article that I read (don't remember where) is that it can go by the name of Taiwan Yellows because it comes out of Taiwan where many of the Phals come from. They use so much pesticides and antibiotics in the greenhouses that these diseases have become immune to most things. And now it is spreading without anything to treat it. Supposedly the plants arrive here with the virus but because they had such perfect conditions in the greenhouse it doesn't show up until they arrive in your home under less than perfect conditions. Don't know if this is true, but it seems to spread without touching or sharing water or tools as once I had the problem in a few, I used every precaution. New clean Phals still got it. It's why I had to just quit growing Phals altogether.