Den. cane (pseudo bulb) darkening.
 

Hello, I have a question regarding a plant which I purchased about 2 months ago. The tag labels it as a den x (atroviolaceum v. compalum x finnesterae x atroviolaceum). This is my first encounter with this type of orchid so I'm not to sure what to expect (it was purchased out of bloom).

When I bought the plant it was fairly healthy except for a few black spots on one of the leafs (i removed the effected leaf just to be on the safe side). It had 2 fairly new growths with 2 new ones sprouting up. I brought it home and set it up under my t5 lights and soon enough I started to notice flower spikes growing from out of the older bulbs. Everything was going well and as far as I can tell still is.

Last week I noticed that the cane/bulb of many of the older growths are turning a brownish color (pictures are below). I figured that the plant was getting to much light and was reacting by darkening. I came to this conclusion because the undersides of the bulbs which do not get direct light are still fairly green. I lowered the plant so that it is further from the light then before yet is still directly under it.

My main questions is this; is the plant o.k. and will the bulbs return to normal? I find the color change odd as it is only occurring in the bulbs and not the leafs, all the leafs are still a healthy dark green. Furthermore I have noticed that now all the bulbs on the plant are spiking so I have to think that I was doing something right. What should I do if anything? I'm really excited to see what the flowers will look like so anything I can do to help this plant along the way to ensure that it does not loose any of the spikes and flowers will be done. Thanks for reading and I apologize for the length of the post (its my first post :biggrin: I'll try to keep them shorter in the future.)

Picture of plant with new green growth in foreground and older growth turning brown in background.
Attachment 36

Close up of older growth turning brown. Notice the black spot at the base of the leaf, is this something I should worry about?
Attachment 37

Close up of underside of older growth which is still green where as the other side is turning brown.
Attachment 38

Picture of plants showing older growth turning brown.
Attachment 39

This is normal - as long as the bulbs are still firm, it's probably just a reaction to light. Looks like a really healthy plant!

Welcome to the Orchid Board. You have come to the right place we have almost 16,000 helpful members. Your Den. looks pretty good to me, Mine have turned a little bit that way, due to strong light. It should help it bloom better.

Thanks for the encouraging news, I feel much better about the bulbs however a new condition has came up, black spots on the leaves. I posted a thread in the beginner forum in hopes of finding some help there but I thought it might be a good idea to mention it here as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Some of the flowers are starting to open and I cant wait to see what they look like and would love to save the rest.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...pike-buds.html