What happened to this violacea leaf?

[PaphLover]

Oh, disgusting!

[PaphLover]

Originally Posted by wintergirl

It is nice to have one of those digital microscopes in times like this. Whenever a leaf looks "funny" I can just look for pests that can not be seen with naked eye. You can spot problems before they spread. You could put it on those window critters too and see what there are. They are only around $15 on Ebay.

Here's a pic of the leaf using my iPhone and a magnifying lens.

What do thrips look like to the naked eye? I've seen photos of them magnified, but not sure what you would see on a leaf. Although, I've seen no damage to any flowers, which I believe thrips are most attracted to.

[silken]

I would be isolating it from everything else. Yours looks pitted in a more 'organized' way than many I have seen, but it sure looks similar to the Phal virus, sometimes called potyvirus or Taiwan yellows. There have been a few discussions in the last few years about this problem that literally wipes out any Phals in the near vicinity of affected ones. It could be something else but I would check the link below and look for other info on this. The new leaf always comes in nice and mine all bloomed, but they never got better and any Phals nearby ended up getting the same problem. I and other people I know ended up tossing all of our Phals in the end. I hope your issue is something else.

Pitting on Phal leaves

[PaphLover]

Oh boy! I certainly hope that's not it.

[silken]

Originally Posted by PaphLover

Oh boy! I certainly hope that's not it.

Me too, but until you figure it out I would treat it as if it is. I don't know that it is an actual virus, because viruses don't usually spread so easily, its more like a bacteria or fungus. My Phals would get it just from sitting on the same growing bench. I lost all my Phals and several years later have very carefully tried a few in the house. Not in the greenhouse as an attempt to put them there a year later failed even tho I sanitized everything with bleach.

[PaphLover]

silken, I've got it in the dining room and the rest are in the living room. IYO, is that far enough or should I relegate it to the second bedroom in my condo? Or is even that not far enough away? Oh, sadness!

---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------

I'm sorry for your loss of all your phals. That is heart wrenching.

[silken]

Originally Posted by PaphLover

silken, I've got it in the dining room and the rest are in the living room. IYO, is that far enough or should I relegate it to the second bedroom in my condo? Or is even that not far enough away? Oh, sadness!

---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------

I'm sorry for your loss of all your phals. That is heart wrenching.

If you have a decent place to grow it in a separate room where you won't forget about it, I would isolate it as far as I could. So far I have had a few small Phals in my living room window for about a year now and all is good. Enjoying some blooms. But I had some gorgeous ones-many NOID's but one I paid a fair bit and it was named. Tossed them all, pot, media, any stakes and clips. It is that contagious.

[PaphLover]

Ok, apologize it's super-annoying that I keep posting about this, but I'm obviously squeamish when it comes to pests. After I watered today and moved the violacea/ bellina and took photos of the critters, I wiped the windowsill down with Clorox wipes. I have another phal in sphagnum on the same sill, so I returned that one to the clean sill. I just removed it and found more specks under it and took a photo using the swiss army knife magnifying glass (goodness those knives are good for everything!).

It's not super-crisp, but there's definitely antenna and several feet. Uch! If you double click on the photo it opens up in another window and you can zoom in a bit more.

[Selmo]

Thrips?

[This Side of Paradise]

Springtails? If so they are harmless the eat decaying matter