Thursday, July 03, 2008

Phalaenopsis Orchid

This orchid has had its share of problems. I got this moth orchid back in winter from a big retail store. It flowered well and even developed a leaf before I transplanted it about a month ago. It has had an infestation of white fuzzy mealy bugs which I have tried to keep under control. I have not seen any of these pests in about two weeks. Luckily those did not spread to my other orchid (yet). Now it has another infection which keeps expanding. It looks like a bruise on the leaf. Perhaps it is bacterial brown spot.
This disease is most prevalent in phalaenopsis, it is especially active under wet and cool conditions.

Symptoms: Infection by Pseudomonas cattleyas, the bacterium involved, starts as a brown, watery blister on a leaf and quickly spreads, engulfing whole leaves. If it reaches the growing center (the crown), then the plant is essentially gone.

What to do: Act immediately. Remove infected leaves with a sterile cutting edge.

I did recently move it to a new location, a bathroom with a skylight. Looks like the bathroom is not a good place for an orchid. Perhaps it is not getting enough sun or it is too damp there. I moved it back to the location in the kitchen which it was doing well in before. I guess I will cut off the leaf, I hate to do it but I guess the plant needs tough love.

1 comment:

Lady Bug said...

I cut half of the leave off and sprinkled cinnamon on the cut. It seems to be alright now. I will continue to monitor it.

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