Mutliple orchid probelms possible fungus/wrinkled leaves

[shadoh1]

Hello, I have a few orchid problems and was hoping for some help. I have done searches on possible problems and some seem to have multiple possibilities so I was hoping some pictures would help to have someone point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.

The first picture is of some fungus or something that I can't seem to shake. I had some kind of ball mushrooms or fungus growing last year around the same time I saw this, and now it seems to be back. This is after multiple dips of Physan which seems to help with most of the fungus issues I have seemed to have, but never get rid of it completely. This is a grey/white fuzzy mold with what almost looks like eggs in it.

The second picture is some white fuzzy mold growing on the roots, this is after being drenched in physan, and repoted with new mix and its still cropping up, notice it mostly on the underside and top of medium, when I repoted it, it was here and there in the old mix.

The third picture, shows some wrinkled, leatherlike leaves. I have repoted this one as well. The roots weren't super healthy, looked like they had a bit of root rot here and there, and I cleaned it up, and repoted but the condition does not seem to be improving.

The fourth picture shows a leave that is getting black stuff on its end, and some of the leaves are getting wrinkled as well, this is the same one as the second picture. it was recently repoted (a month or so ago) and its condition has not changed.

The fifth picture, is leaves that are actually curling and wrinkled.

The 6th picture shows some tiny black specs all over some fairly new growth, I have seen this on multiple plants of this nature and I'm not sure if its normal or not.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I typically water once a week. I live in the Olympia, WA area. I fertilize typically every other week.

[RobS]

Part of your problems are comming from a lack of or acces of water. Are you heating or something through the grating? If so they air might be to dry leading to your plants to dehydrate. Do you let the plants dry between watering? The moldy roots can be caused by overwatering. But it's also important to use a well draining medium especially with Cattleya type plants. When repotting it's important to remove all the dead roots. They'll just rot in the pot otherwise. If the plant has no roots left to give it enough stability use some wire or sticks to support it while rerooting.

[shadoh1]

They are on a windowsills on humidity trays. The one with the exreme curling/wrinkled leaves is above 4ft higher then a heating/ac vent. Pic 1,2,4 and 5 are on that window sill thats facing south. The rest are on the widnowssill above my kitchen sink, also facing south. I have been hesitant to water more then once a week with mold fungus issues. There are a couple of plants on each sill that are doing wonderful.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You're using diatomite, (Aussie Gold, if I'm not mistaken).

Diatomite has excellent water retention. But it can also dry out very quickly.

Do you monitor how long it takes for the roots to dry out between waterings?

I don't recommend newbie rules like watering once a week, especially when you're using something like diatomite. You've gotta pay attention and look at the root system.

Are there any green roots left on any of your plants?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you're not used to using diatomite, I recommend using a clear plastic pot and see for yourself how good a product like Aussie Gold is at retaining water or how fast it can also dry out. This way, you have a better understanding of how the potting media is affecting your plant's root system.

[shadoh1]

Your correct, Aussie Gold. I'm planning on checking it more actively with a wood skewer. I just watered today and treated the ones with fungus to a physan watering again.

I've just really been hesitant to water more due to the fungus, last summer I was watering them twice a week. I have some green tipped roots on about 8/10 of my orchids, when I repotted 3 of them about a month ago, there was no green roots in the medium, and it looked like a bit of root rot, so I had assumed I was watering too much.

[shadoh1]

Also pic3 just got transplanted in to aussie gold from just a bark growers mix it came with.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try removing the humidity trays.

Then try increasing the air circulation a bit. Possibly use a small fan, or open the window just a crack.

It's easy to over water something like a Catt using Aussie Gold. This is why you have to monitor not just the surface of the medium for how wet/dry it is, but also look at how wet the roots are staying underneath all the potting medium.