Damage on Phalaenopsis leafs - what could it be and how to cure it?

[camille1585]

You probably won't lose the flowers by repotting. The greatest danger is of accidentally snapping buds off in the process. I would say that if you are concerned about the roots, by all means do have a look at what's going on, before it's too late and you run the risk of losing the entire plant.

As for the marks on the leaves, it's definitely bacterial, possibly Erwinia. Erwinia causes water soaked lesions that progress quite quickly, and there will be a yellow halo around the lesion. I'm trying to think of something you could treat it with, but there are not many products that work against bacteria available on the market in europe. I had the same problem on a phal, didn't have anything to treat it and in the end the only way I could find to stop the progression of the disease was to excise the affected areas, taking a large chunk of good leaf with it. The leaves are now ugly with big holes in them, but the plant is healthy!


I think the plants probably start to go downhill in the stores. My guess is that the problem is a bad potting medium. The mass growers will use what suits them best sometimes sacrificing quality for price. In their greenhouses that have perfect conditions the plants dry out fast so a poor media will not affect them much. But as soon as the plant is in a less ideal environment where the medium doesn't dry quickly, then you get rot.