Yellow rings on Cattleya

[Violet]

Yellow rings appeared on three of my Cattleya orchids. They are not depressed areas on the front of the leaf or the reverse. There was no sign of insects before this happened. What caused this problem?

[estación seca]

Hi Violet, Welcome to the Orchid Board!

That could be a lot of different things, but it is suspicious for virus. Where did you get the plants? How long have you had them? What is the weather like where you live?

[Violet]

I suspected a virus too. I isolated the plants for 3 months and tossed out the diseased parts. I am now growing them one floor away from my other orchids. I live in NY and the plants are grown on a light cart which has a 4 bulb fluorescent fixture over the tray of orchids. Thanks for your prompt reply.

[Nexogen]

It may be virus ...

http://www.orchidsocietynsw.com.au/D...id_Viruses.pdf

[silken]

It may be but for 3 to show it at the same time, (if they did) unless they all came from the same source, seems suspicious. Virus is slow and often only shows when a plant is struggling. Not like bacterial or fungal problems that can spread and become obvious quite quickly. You could get some Agdia virus test strips and test for CMV and ORSV if you are really concerned and cannot replace these easily. It only covers two viruses, but they are the main two that seem to plague Cattleyas and some other orchids.

[Violet]

Where is the best place to purchase the virus test kit?
Also, do you think that I should discard the 3 orchids? I've taken off all the bad looking leaves and the plants are fairly small now. By the way they came from different places and I've owned them for more than a year.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Test kits available from https://www.agdia.com/

Or send samples for lab testing to Critter Creek Laboratory

[silken]

I wouldn't want to toss them until I determined whether they will now grow out some clean growths. Unless they test positive for virus, then they are gone. But that is just me. You need to decide what's best for you.

[kg5]

This talk about viruses unsettles me!