gramm scriptum: downhill fast

[mrobert]

No pics yet.
Gramm scriptum, 2 mature growth, one new growth.
Leafs on middle bulb have gone from spot free, leather tough and deep green, to a creeping light green followed by browning and then it becomes floppy. Seems to work from top of leaf down.

Amputated the worst leaf today and did post mordem... no idea what could be going on. No obvious bugs that I could see with naked eye, then again not too sure what to look for on the specie.

Plant gets lots of light/water, but is inside. New growth and oldest bulb show no signs of this "issue". I'm extremely ignorant on pests, could this be a mites problem?
I don't think it's rot of any kind as I always have a fan on. It is about 18-inches from the glass where it gets some pretty intense morning sun, could it be getting cooked?

Why is it contained to only one bulb? Please help, I'd like to save it.
-Mateo

[mrobert]

Bump because please someone....help

[Gin]

Hi , It could be to much sun, but doubt it , first get a magnifying glass and a flash light check the leaves close , mites love Gramms. Gin

[Daemos]

Check between the leafs. Check the substrate if any. Mites won't crawl over your leaf in plain sight. I usually use a flash light and shine into all the dark spaces between leafs and underneath the plants as well. If you really want to be sure. Spray with deltamethrin once and those nasty bugs will crawl out form everywhere.

[mrobert]

I've never had a pest problem, but since I started taking in orphans all kinds of crap is breaking loose.

What the heck is going on here? Is the plant salvageable?
I have it in "solitary" for the moment.

Whole Plant:


Localized problem:


Taken 24-hrs after I cut the leaf off:


Overall healthy?

[Daemos]

Doesn't look like mites and such. It looks more serious. Looks like sporopsis type fungi. I have no experience with viral infections but I doubt that. You state it started all when you got new plants. This sounds like pathogen to my ears. There are though some ways to get rid of pathogens. You can cut of infected parts in case of bacterial and fungi infections and fungi infections can be controlled by keeping the plant dry for a long period. In the most cases the plant just gets ugly and sometimes completely heal up in time. In a bad case its viral (I doubt) and your plant will slowly become destroyed.

Did you check the substrate by taking the whole plant out? Check the roots carefully and the inside of the pot (you should see some white or bleuish stain on the inside). Also root mealy bugs may cause nasty dry leaves like that. If you have root mealy's kill em all with imidacloprid or permethrine and post pics of your victory. As I think we all hate mealy bugs

[Gin]

I don't think it is pests, are the leaves that are dying older ones ?
Roots look great , mine has lost a couple older leaves but is growing new ones seems to be a normal thing . Does not look viral . Gin

[mrobert]

Gin- it is the leaves off the largest bulb, the bulb that I suspect is the "middle child".

[QueenJewell]

I may also have a virus on my paf. It started really slowly and now its spreading through my plant, it looks dark black. can anyone help me?

[Daemos]

Thank god never had to deal with viral plant infections but I have seen other pathogens on a regular basis. What I do these days is when buying a new plant I put it somewhere in quarantine far away from the rest and observe it for at least a year. If nothing happens it joins the rest. I really learned my lesson after a nasty erwinnia infection.

What also could be is that the plant is simply becomming older and thus showing its part of the aging proces. Good examples can be seen when growing cacti. They sometimes turn horrible brown and ugly. Most people trow them away thinking they are dying or infected but in fact its just the plant reaching a certain age. They continue to bloom and grow healthy.

The second photo still looks extremely like spore infection. It will propably not kill your plant but weaken it big time. I don't think I can further explain the problem. For that I really have to hold he plant in my hands and have it here for at least 2 months which is impossible. Lets hope its just the plant aging.