Yellowing/browning of leaf tips, other symptoms, various orchids
 

Please tell me these aren't the result of a virus and that it's fixable... These are orchids at my grandmother's house.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...rchidIll/1.png

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...rchidIll/2.png

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...rchidIll/3.png
Plant 2 - Closeup 1
Plant 2 - Closeup 2

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...rchidIll/6.png
Plant 3 - Closeup

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...rchidIll/8.png

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...rchidIll/9.png
Plant 5 - Top view of leaves
Plant 5 - Another part of it

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...chidIll/12.png

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...chidIll/13.png

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...chidIll/14.png

Does anyone else ever feel like they shouldn't be owning orchids when things go wrong one after another? :duh:

When my Pleuros started experiencing problems I felt like throwing in the towel. Then I remembered all the Pleuros I used to grow and how they were not difficult to grow. Then I calmed down and took a more proper course of action to solve the actual problems. The prognosis for the mini Pleuros don't look good. But the larger ones I have more faith in. I just try to keep my chin up and say to myself, for the ones that are dead, I'll grow another one on the next opportunity. For the ones that are dying, I hope for the best. If they don't pull through at least I know I did whatever it took to help them survive even if it didn't work out. Then I figure I'd try them again later. I can only appreciate the fact that whatever I'm left with, that's what's going to be around for me to appreciate, so enjoy them and not worry about anything else. Remember, this is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby, not torture.

I encourage you to put all those frustrations, doubts, and anxieties aside and figure things out one-by-one. The biggest piece of advice I could give you is to take it easy and break a big problem down to smaller more manageable ones.

Another few things to consider are, prepare to spend some money on Phyton 27 and Physan 20. I recommend doing a search on information about these two products and how people use them. I know there's an article someone had written about this. Next, start researching the plants in your care and their cultural needs (light, temperature, air circulation, etc.). Then figure out if the conditions of the growing area are providing the cultural needs of your orchids.

If me or anyone wrote a detailed response to your situation, it'd take too long. Hopefully these general answers will motivate you and help with making the moves to better your situation. If you relax, you'll be surprised how creative you can be in solving your problems.

BTW many of the problems you're experiencing with your plants are solvable and the plants themselves are salvageable.

What I see is a bunch of plants that simply are not getting what they need to flourish.

• The one in the basket is too dry.
• "Plant 1" looks like a bacterial or more-likely fungal infection, probably from "going to bed" wet.
• "Plant 2" has the beginnings of sunburn - too much direct sun.
• Most of the rest look like combinations of the above.
• The epidendrum (the last one) is definitely suffering from a fungal infection.

What the plants need are proper conditions (they are not all the same for those), and a better watering and feeding regimen.

Don't despair, just study a bit.

Thanks King of Orchid Growing... it gives me comfort and confidence, knowing that there are others who are more experienced than me that still run into trouble now and then :)

No virus? Thank God is all I can say. To kill plants that have been there for decades would be a bad thing, lol.

Ray: The hanging plant was previously too wet and had gotten root rot in the weeks after I bought it at an orchid show - I ended up cutting the roots off until it had but two left, and stuck it in the basket... It WAS doing ok until recently. I've noticed it likes its roots exposed to air (it keeps growing them out of the basket sides and bottom). Also, the pic was taken before I watered it :D

Plants 1-4 get about 3-4 hours direct morning sunlight, then they're in the shade for the rest of the day. Perhaps I should move them to shade for the whole day?

Also, I will be investing in a couple books that seemed to have some good info in them.

A question. I always see people talking about quarantine. What I want to know is... how far from the orchids does a plant have to be in order to be quarantined? Are we talking a couple feet? A couple yards?

When I quarantine in the house, I use separate rooms, when I quarantine outside, I use separate sides of the yard.
Joann

Ah ok, I thought so but wasn't sure. I have mine across the yard, but being that the yard is only several meters apart... I'm not sure how effective a quarantine that is.

Plant 1, I found out the other day, had SCALE. So, armed with cotton pads and a little bottle of rubbing alcohol, I tackled the problem. There were TONS of the nasty things. I will need to re-do the treatment in a week, I believe. The other aforementioned plants thankfully seem scale-free.