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  #1  
Old 02-22-2016, 10:32 PM
Rothrock42 Rothrock42 is offline
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Default Cattleya with white on leaves

I've got this white pattern on the leaves of a cattleya mounted on a shingle. Is it powdery mildew? Something else?

What should I do to treat it?


Last edited by Rothrock42; 02-23-2016 at 12:41 AM..
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Old 02-23-2016, 12:38 AM
gngrhill gngrhill is offline
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can't view the picture, sorry
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Old 02-23-2016, 12:42 AM
Rothrock42 Rothrock42 is offline
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Whoops. Don't know what happened there. I'm still trying to figure out how to upload images here.
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Old 02-23-2016, 01:14 AM
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Minerals in your water. Just like on your windshield and beverage glasses if allowed to drip dry. If you're using tap water, it means your dissolved solids are way too high for orchids. But it could also be from your fertilizer solution.
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Old 02-23-2016, 09:19 AM
katrina katrina is offline
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Most often the minerals in "hard" water that cause that residue are calcium, magnesium, iron, lime and some other minerals that I don't now remember. They aren't salts so not as much of a problem for the orchids.

FWIW - Andy of Andy's Orchids once told me that the calcium in hard water is in a form that is virtually useless to plants and even though I have a lot of Ca in my water supply...I still have to supplement w/it. I get a white residue on all of my pots in the winter months when I'm watering w/only tap but I have a friend who waters w/rain water only and she gets that same white residue on her pots but not as heavily as mine. Either way...it's how I've been watering for all my plants and the only ones I've had trouble with are those that require extremely "pure" water...like phrags, masdies and some of the other cloud forest plants.

I do clean the leaves though because the residue can reduce the ability of the plant to perform photosynthesis. Like a shade cloth on the leaves. There are a lot of home remedies for the film...diluted lemon juice in water, milk, diluted vinegar and water...they all seem to work. I clean and then rinse the leaves well. In the summer, w/the summer rains hitting the plants I don't see much of that residue. I would avoid those leaf shine type products as they have been reputed to clog the pores. I don't know if that's true but it's what I've heard. Plus, for orchid shows...I understand those leaf shine products can get a plant disqualified. If you don't want to mess w/mixing something up on your own...there are a number of citrus based leaf cleaners on the market. Repotme has one...as does Ray, I believe.

Side note - if you just got the plant and the grower was using fungicide as part of his/her protocol...that can also cause a white residue. If there was a fungus problem I would leave the residue until the problem appears to be resolved.
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Old 02-23-2016, 09:48 AM
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I think Andy should have payed more attention in chemistry class... The calcium in the water, whether it be from the local geology or from the fertilizer or additives we use, is the ion Ca++, and that's what the plant absorbs.

All epiphytes benefit from pure water, as that's what they have evolved with, since the nutrition is pretty much limited to whatever washes out of the forest canopy during frequent rainstorms. Even then, as little nutrition as that may be, it still is only present in that water for the first instant of the storm, and after that it's pretty much pure water.

Many orchids are tolerant of high mineral content, and calcium is an essential mineral that should be supplied regularly, but that doesn't mean they like it at high levels, and an excess can actually lead to deficiencies in P & Mg, with regular levels of 100 ppm or more, according to a Penn State publication I saw.
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Old 02-23-2016, 10:55 AM
Rothrock42 Rothrock42 is offline
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Hmmm given my other thread about water quality I'm perplexed. I'm pretty sure that I have very soft water. None of my other plants have this. This is the only one I have mounted so I do mist it more than the others. It is next to a napenthes carnivorous plant that also gets misted often and that doesn't have a single bit of it -- and my understanding is those are even more sensitive to water quality.

The main difference is fertilizer. The orchid had recently started putting out some roots so I had started fertilizing a bit stronger.

I'll give the leaves a good rinse and dial back the fertilizer regimen.
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Old 02-23-2016, 01:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray View Post
The calcium in the water, whether it be from the local geology or from the fertilizer or additives we use, is the ion Ca++, and that's what the plant absorbs.

... calcium is an essential mineral that should be supplied regularly, but that doesn't mean they like it at high levels, and an excess can actually lead to deficiencies in P & Mg, with regular levels of 100 ppm or more, according to a Penn State publication I saw.
Good to know! And, this (Mg deficiency) could explain a couple of catts that I feel are deficient in some nutrient but I couldn't pin-point what it was. Again, good to know...guess I'll be pulling out the epsom salts.
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Old 02-24-2016, 12:07 AM
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We have been wondering what this was too, a similar problem. We have had this cattleya for 10 years and it has never bloomed. Each year we hope this will be the year. It looks like this could be the year. But back to the problem. Our plant has a similar white waxy substance on the leaves. We use RO water, but we do use peter's professional water soluble fertilizers, at 1/4 strength every other watering. So I can't see it being a water/mineral/salt issue. We just thought it was a different type of cattleya, because it is different than any others we have. Is this the same or something different?
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Old 02-24-2016, 02:42 AM
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Looks like that has a lot of Rhyncholaelia digbyana in it. That plant has very waxy leaves. As the leaves shrink and expand with drying/wetting, the wax sometimes flakes off. The solution would be to keep it more evenly moist, but that is risky in a pot.
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