Oh no! Did I bring a virus home?! - Orchid Board

turock · #1 11-09-2015, 05:49 PM

I have no experience with orchid viruses, but they were discussed yesterday at my orchid society meeting. I saw an example of a virused phalaenopsis and noticed a similarity in one of my plants at home.

I know the only way to be sure is to do a test, but I wanted to see if you think it's worth ordering one of those tests.

I bought this orchid about three weeks ago, even though the leaf had yellowed, indented spots. At the time I thought the damage looked like sun damage or insect damage. However, I now see a definite resemblance between these spots and the examples of viruses I saw yesterday. What does it look like to you?

I always clean my cutting tools, but learned yesterday that my cleaning methods might not be sufficient to kill all viruses. Also, while I watered this plant separately, it hung beside and above a few of my other plants, and now I'm very concerned that it could have touched or dripped onto these plants. It is now quarantined in a room far from my other plants. I don't have the money to order enough kits for my whole collection... Is there anything I can do to help the protect the plants I may have put in danger?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

silken · #2 11-09-2015, 08:13 PM

I don't know if it's worth ordering a virus test because you need to know what virus you are testing for. It does look like possible sunburn, but also it could be mesophyll cell collapse from chill or too cold of water. Or, it could be virus. A few years ago I had one Phal that began looking similar. It spread to most of the leaves. Every new leaf that grew was clean and good and I figured it was getting better. But it too would gradually turn like the rest. After lots of research, I found out there is a virus that supposedly originated in Taiwan where so many Phals are produced. It is sometimes called poty virus, or a micro virus. It spreads very quickly and I have heard of growers losing entire greenhouses of Phals to it. I only had about 7 or 10 Phals, but eventually every single one succumbed to it. Even after sanitizing my grow area with bleach and Physan and trying a new one a year later, it got it. All of them of course went into the garbage, pots, clips everything that was involved with them. It didn't seem to affect any other type of orchid, and I have quite a few, just Phals. To this day I haven't dared put a Phal in my greenhouse. I have a few new ones I keep in the house and they have been fine. It looks so much like mesophyll cell collapse that people keep insisting it is, but it isn't. So I would keep this very separate until you see if it continues to spread. Possibly do some sanitizing around where it was. And if it is easily replaceable I would consider tossing it.

Others told me it was spider mite, even tho I could see nothing. But it was very contagious and spread to all my Phals. Google Phalaenopsis yellows, or poty virus and you can likely find some pics to see how yours compares. I hope it's something else tho.

Orchid Whisperer · #3 11-09-2015, 09:14 PM

I would have guessed mesophyll cell collapse as well, or possibly mild sunburn. Silken speaks from experience, so I would follow her advice - isolate and observe.

turock · #4 11-09-2015, 10:30 PM

Oh my, Silken, I'm sorry you had to go through that, and I definitely appreciate the wisdom you gleaned from the experience. Currently, I'm keeping the culprit isolated, and will clean the area where it hung. Then, I'll just hope and pray that the damage does not spread and that the new leaves mature normally!

I feel sick just thinking about losing all my phals. Most were anniversary presents, and I've already nursed some of them back from the brink of death. So yes, "isolate and observe" it will be!

silken · #5 11-09-2015, 10:34 PM

Make sure you give the new leaves time before deciding they are normal. I kept believing they were normal, but time told me another story. I hope your others are OK and that this is something else. It can easily be the other things mentioned, but wanted you to be aware. The strange thing is, mine, even while looking terrible, grew good roots and leaves and bloomed in all their glory-which made it all the harder to toss them

Luckily most were NOID's but beautiful and sometimes unique ones and there was one named hybrid that I paid good money for.

Frustrated with phal leaf issues Here is a link to a fairly recent thread with similar concerns. There is a lot of discussion on it and a link to something about this virus I refer to. I don't know what happened with this OP but you might want to check it out.

turock · #6 11-09-2015, 11:27 PM

Thank you again for all your help. How long do you think I should wait to be sure a new leaf is not showing symptoms?

Leafmite · #7 11-10-2015, 12:02 AM

When I have a suspicious orchid, I keep it separate until I can verify it is not a danger. You don't want to rush to add this one back to your collection. As Silken says, there is something out there that can destroy an entire collection of Phals. It is just not worth taking a risk. I would keep it in another room for a few months (at the very least). It would be best if you can give it a few months after a new leaf has grown and matured.

DMT · #8 11-10-2015, 03:39 AM

Hi, I have a Phal that looks just like yours, I vote for sun damage. I discovered my several weeks ago and it has not gotten any worst, and a new leaf is growing.

BirminghamGirl · #9 11-10-2015, 07:24 AM

I had a Phal with yellow lines around the leaf edge, and then a second one next to it. It did have slightly sunken areas in the leaf, somewhat like your picture. I decided it was magnesium deficiency, as I had been using distilled water and not supplementing minerals. I started adding Epsom salts to my tap water ... the light leaf areas mostly filled in, and the yellow line faded until it disappeared. The leaf looks almost normal now except for the sunken areas. This year both of those Phals have new leaves and they look perfect.

Kelly in Birmingham
Orchids, herbs, succulents, Hoya... Never met a plant I didn't like.

To be clear, the leaves in question had looked normal before, and then showed a yellow edge at some point. The next leaf on the sicker plant had sunken, lighter areas along with the yellow edge.

silken · #10 11-10-2015, 11:25 AM

The yellow stripe around the edge is not the problem. That is probably the type of Phal that it is. Some have a slightly variegated leaf. It is the yellow and sunken spots throughout the rest of the leaf that are the concern. turock's isn't real extreme yet, so if it doesn't continue to develop it may be fine. If you know for a fact that it was subject to too much sun, or poor growing conditions then it may be something else. I'm just saying at this point there is some cause to be concerned about the Phal virus which spreads like wild fire. If you have it and there are Phals near by, it is pretty much a guarantee, the others will develop the same problem.

turock, as Leafmite says, I would let a new leaf be mature for a good while before deciding it is OK. And by then, if it is this virus, it will likely start showing on the other older leaves too. If the one leaf is the only one that ever shows the problem, you can likely cut it off, wait a while and decide that it was mesophyll cell collapse. Good luck and fingers crossed.