Water Soaked Spots Spider mite induced Fungus?

[Irielicious]

Hello All
I recently rescued about 9 orchids. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what this little guy has. As you can see from the pictures it looks like this particular plant had some sort of pest that made puncture wounds in the leaves.

Now those spots have become water soaked from what I assume is a waterborne pathogen of some sort. I did shower this orchid a couple days after I got it as I removed all the old moss and dust. Is there any ideas how to treat? I currently have this particular orchid separate from all the other rescues. Should I cut the leaves?

[estación seca]

Did you repot it? Are the roots OK? The leaves have a strange yellowish color that makes me think it's been mistreated for some time. The sunken pits can be remnants of mechanical damage, bacterial or fungal infection, or overwatering after a period of prolonged underwatering.

[Dollythehun]

I echo ES. This looks like old physical damage. The first picture is the one I question but, perhaps it is the lighting. Some of my phals have that mottling and it was caused by a nutrient defficency due to my hard water. I started using Epsom salts and then cal mag. Can you spray with a good fungicide, isolate, and observe before you cut?

[Irielicious]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Did you repot it? Are the roots OK? The leaves have a strange yellowish color that makes me think it's been mistreated for some time. The sunken pits can be remnants of mechanical damage, bacterial or fungal infection, or overwatering after a period of prolonged underwatering.

The roots aren't great but there are plenty to keep it hydrated properly and it didn't have any root rot to speak of. It was originally in moss but is being kept bare root until I mount it or put in SWC. It was very mistreated and it had full bud blast along with 2 small flowers it had already dropped.The moss was bone dry and those spots look like old spider mite damage, mechanical damage or both . I've been soaking the roots about 30 min a day then letting them dry out for a day or two.

[jkofferdahl]

Most of the pictures look like some form of physical damage, but the moist appearance of those spots in the first worries me. I'd separate the plant from your others and treat it with a copper-based fungicide/bacteriacide. It's better to use it and not need it than to not use it until it's too late.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Chief question in terms of course of action: are any of the spots growing? Changing color? Showing any kind of change that could be considered "getting worse"?

If no, you may not need to do any kind of treatment of an active problem.

If yes, describe the changes. It is hard to say if the spots are due to a bacterial infection, are edema, or something else. I don't know of any fungus that would look like that.

I agree with DollyTH, calcium and magnesium would be a good preventative against future infections. CalMag is a good option, but I provide Ca and Mg, (along with S) as gypsum and plain Epsom salts. You can substitute Plaster of Paris for the gypsum. Very inexpensive. A teaspoon of each dissolved in a gallon of water, add several ounces of this solution (a cup to a pint) in each gallon of water you use for watering.

[Irielicious]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I echo ES. This looks like old physical damage. The first picture is the one I question but, perhaps it is the lighting. Some of my phals have that mottling and it was caused by a nutrient defficency due to my hard water. I started using Epsom salts and then cal mag. Can you spray with a good fungicide, isolate, and observe before you cut?

Yes I do have it very far from any other plant atm. Do you have any suggestions as to a fungicide I can safely use? I have a bayer 3in1 but I'm not sure how effective it will be? I have been taking pictures daily to see if the spots are getting larger. As of now I cannot see any real progression thankfully.

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 PM ----------

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

Most of the pictures look like some form of physical damage, but the moist appearance of those spots in the first worries me. I'd separate the plant from your others and treat it with a copper-based fungicide/bacteriacide. It's better to use it and not need it than to not use it until it's too late.

I totally agree with using it even if I don't need it just in case. Do you have a brand that I an easily find at a big box store?

---------- Post added at 12:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Chief question in terms of course of action: are any of the spots growing? Changing color? Showing any kind of change that could be considered "getting worse"?

If no, you may not need to do any kind of treatment of an active problem.

If yes, describe the changes. It is hard to say if the spots are due to a bacterial infection, are edema, or something else. I don't know of any fungus that would look like that.

I agree with DollyTH, calcium and magnesium would be a good preventative against future infections. CalMag is a good option, but I provide Ca and Mg, (along with S) as gypsum and plain Epsom salts. You can substitute Plaster of Paris for the gypsum. Very inexpensive. A teaspoon of each dissolved in a gallon of water, add several ounces of this solution (a cup to a pint) in each gallon of water you use for watering.

I was going to do my normal epsom salt soak about a week ago but the water soaked spots appeared and concerned me so I didn't do it. I like you thought it could be a mineral deficiency until they became water soaked. As of now they don't seem to be getting remarkably larger in size that is not to say they aren't slowly growing. The color seems to be about the same. I worry about buying bactericides/fungicides as I don't know which ones are safe for orchids.

[Dollythehun]

You can easily order Physan online. Sometimes I spray with Amber Listerine ( but not for serious issues). I have had trouble finding fungicides locally.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Do some research into orchid diseases, pests, and recommended remedies at the St. Augustine Orchid Society website, easily found with a Google search. Included are tables that list bactericides, fungicides, and pesticides, and specifically which ailment each chemical / chemical mix will treat. There are many photos and pdfs of presentations, guiding you through identifying your specific problem.

Note on that website, not every chemical will treat every problem. I have read too many posts on too many forums about Physan (or some other chemical) being (mis)used to treat every problem ranging from spider mites to depression . . .

[Dollythehun]

Since you're not sure what you have that is a great site. I was thinking generically. I've had to order chemicals from Amazon lately, so the research will really help you...I assume that everyone does research first, so I didn't suggest that. Apologies OW.