Brown sunken areas on Paph leaves

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SB have you tried Dragon's Blood on any of the spots or the
end of the leaf affected in the photo?
Angela
i have heard of Dragons Blood for years but don’t know much about it’s use for plant pathogens. Please enlighten me re use and source. Thank you!
tom
 
Fungal infection.
Dragon's Blood is a tree sap of Croton lechleri. You can search online. There are other plant product sold as Dragon's Blood, so make sure that you are getting Croton lechleri.
It has antimicrobial properties and works very well against these spotting and rotting diseases.
Just put one or two drops of it and smear over the affected area. Usually that stops further spread.
If you have wet rot like pseudomonas or erwinia, you want to cut the affected area ASAP and apply DB on the cut section as well as near the severed area.
 
SB have you tried Dragon's Blood on any of the spots or the
end of the leaf affected in the photo?
No, I have Dragon's Blood, but it seems to have sort of dried up. I added R/O water today and am letting the bubbles settle after I shook it. In my experience, Dragon's Blood permanetly stains cattleya leaves. Do I dare use it on a section of leaf this large?
 
What do the roots look like? Does the media need refreshing or maybe it’s not liking the current conditions. I’ve found issues that start at the tip of the leaf like this usually signal issues with the roots not being happy.
 
Amazon has the Dragon's Blood. Eric posted the name of the
one we use somewhere.

SB I'm running low on the original I obtained from Eric that
isn't available now. I just add a bit of water and shake it
up. Seems to work just as well.
 
The name of the DB that I use is Luna Sundara on Amazon.
It's not cheap, but you don't have to use much. I use a Q-tip
to spread it on damaged leaves. As a bonus, it dries up
poison ivy quickly. A real boon for me.
 
It's like fert burnt to me. Any chance you supplemented something like with Boron?
Gego, I use MSU, ½ teas/gallon to give me the appropriate PPM. It has micronutrients including boron, but nothing has changed. Except: I took this plant to the Paph Forum, hoping it would open enough to exhibit as Hadley said (last bloom) it was special. Unfortunately, it stopped opening and never opened completely. Perhaps exposure to cold, perhaps a change in environment,,. Who knows??? When I brought it home I did increase the light (for reasons not related to this plant), so I wondered if it could be too much light?
 
What do the roots look like? Does the media need refreshing or maybe it’s not liking the current conditions. I’ve found issues that start at the tip of the leaf like this usually signal issues with the roots not being happy.
Wow, perceptive!! I knew it (from a time standpoint) needed repotting soon, but I didn’t look before (duh) and now, I don’t see roots (it’s a clear pot)!! I hope I haven’t loved it to death because it was special to me.
Here is its history: Purchased 1/3/20, first bloom 1/27/21 (Hadley’s seedling and he loved the first bloom—said to get it judged, it was definitely an AM. Obviously, blew me away!). Well, I was recuperating from double hip replacement at the time, so clearly didn’t get it judged!! Re-potted 4/10/21, bloomed again 2/1/22 (actually not as nice a bloom as the first, but I had moved it up to a windowsill), & 1/25/23 (back in the grow room, then taken to Paph Forum) when it didn’t completely open. So, I will repot immediately. Mix is Orchiata and doesn’t look bad, but it is starting to climb) and I can check the roots. I have removed the damaged parts of the leaves and put sulphur on the cuts. Will watch them and treat again if necessary. I’ll report after I re-pot. Thanks!!!
 
SB are you using Orchiata straight or mixed with charcoal and
perlite? May I recommend a slotted clay pot with Orchiata,
charcoal and perlite of medium size? This medium can usually
go two to three years before it needs to be repotted and the
roots get sufficient air circulation. Lowes sells clay pots
with holes around the sides of the pot.
 
I agree with Pete. A lot of leaf-tip issues originate with an imbalance in the pot, whether that be insufficient water, overfeeding, or potting media contaminations/decomposition.

Organic media have a reasonably stable breakdown rate in any individuals' growing environment, but if there is an accumulation of nutrients, especially nitrogen, that stimulates the microbes' populations to explode, accelerating the process.
 
Gego, I use MSU, ½ teas/gallon to give me the appropriate PPM. It has micronutrients including boron, but nothing has changed. Except: I took this plant to the Paph Forum, hoping it would open enough to exhibit as Hadley said (last bloom) it was special. Unfortunately, it stopped opening and never opened completely. Perhaps exposure to cold, perhaps a change in environment,,. Who knows??? When I brought it home I did increase the light (for reasons not related to this plant), so I wondered if it could be too much light?
 
I think you have a case of spider mites…they love dry and warm conditions. Also try cinnamon. I received a gorgeous Paphiopedilum…a bellinI/violacea hybrid…with a wet smelly leaf tip. A good coating of cinnamon stopped it.
 
SB are you using Orchiata straight or mixed with charcoal and
perlite? May I recommend a slotted clay pot with Orchiata,
charcoal and perlite of medium size? This medium can usually
go two to three years before it needs to be repotted and the
roots get sufficient air circulation. Lowes sells clay pots
with holes around the sides of the pot.
Angela, I mix it with charcoal and perlite. UNC has done a study that Orchiata rapidly becomes acidic at 3 years if used straight, however, the process is much slower if it is mixed with charcoal/perlite. Almost all of my clear plastic pots have a center cone aerator (Quarter Acre Orchids) made to fit the size of the pot and I use a soldering iron to put holes on the sides of the pot (usually about 6). So, when I repot, it's rare that I have any rotted roots. I will repot this one asap (but it may not be until next week as we have a show that will tie up my time Thurs-Sun and report on the root conditions. In my room if I use clay I have to water too often to keep up with it.
 
Clay dries up pretty fast for paph. The reason behind double potting is to keep the humidity/moisture around the roots really high. Instead of double potting, I use a bigger plastic container and place several pots in it. The pots are elevated high enough the bottom do not touch the water level
The water level is controlled by the height of the drain. The drain are small so that when you water/drench, the water will rise up to the top of the pots, leaching out everything. Then let the water just drain down slowly.
Roots loves water..it actually seeks water or moisture. When the roots don't go up to the top and just stay at the bottom, that means the top part of the potting is not moist or humid enough. New roots coming out will just die or stop.
Drenching with tap water will correct the pH back to acceptable level as long as your tap has acceptable TDS level with calcium bicarbs.
Here is a roth whose roots are out of the pot immersed itself to the fert solution.
20230225_085955.jpg
 
The leaf tips are not affected on both of those leaves. Fertilizer burns (this isn't the case here) or leaf issues from something wrong in the potting mix thus affecting the plant start from the leaf tip, literally from the very tip and work their way in.
There is also a fungal disease that does that also, so differentiation can be not so easy.
The two photos above to me look infection rather than typical leaf tip issues. Again, they are not leaf tip, near the tip to be exact. There is a big difference between the two.
Both symptoms are rather common on complex (bulldog) hybrids in the nurseries I have been to.
 

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