Sunburn aftercare
 

Hello,

I recently moved back to my apartment for the new school year with my 40 orchids. While I have done the six hour drive before without any issues, the heatwave I experienced lead to sunburn on my orchids in the front seat. I guess the direct sunlight was too much for many of them paired with the brief period of 100+ degree Fahrenheit weather. Impacted genera include Bulbophyllum, Phalaenopsis, Psychopsis, Cattleya, Paphiopedilum, and Dendrobium (not too worried about D. parishii as it will lose the leaves soon anyways). The impacted plants have large portions of black burns on their leaves which have lead them to become floppy despite the presence of water. Should I keep the impacted tissue on all of the plants?

Thank you for your time and help,

Nicolas D. Perez

Just leave them alone and give normal care. The dead parts will eventually dry and turn brown.

Yes, leave them alone. The burned areas can't "infect" anything. And any remaining leave tissue tht isn't fried can still support the plant. It will look ugly, but the best you can do is give them some love while they grow new leaves. Once they do, they will drop the damaged ones naturally.

I learned (the hard way) that sun coming in a car window can be very intense. Now, if I am driving to a show, or anyplace else where I might acquire orchids, I bring a piece of shade cloth that can be draped over the plants. (For larger areass, a white bedsheet can also help - white reflects light and heat) You can't do much about ambient heat, but typically, that's not the killer, it's the intense direct rays coming through the windows, where you get burning local heating.

Alway box up plants to be transported in the car. The heat is much less of an issue than is the direct sunlight.