For a while I keep thinking why orchids in natural setting are not in so much trouble as our plants.
This is what I think happens, in the home environment, the insects are not blown away by wind, are never drown in rain storms, never get eaten by other predators etc...
The insects are killing my plants left and right , they will stay hidden in the growing point of the plants, where the leaves are the youngest & most vulnerable. Because they suck the sap out, the leaves collapse on themselves & never open, so it will be harder to get to the insect.
When I decide to do what peoples say not to do[this "no water in the crown" conventional wisdom has been printed so many time in the orchid magazines], I water right into the crown, make sure spray more water so it will stay inside the leaves (after all this is what happens in nature after every rain storm) You will see that the very symetrical damages (when the leaves in the folding state, the insects eat continuously on both sides ) by insects stop, and the leaves have a chance to grow.
This is what I think happens, in the home environment, the insects are not blown away by wind, are never drown in rain storms, never get eaten by other predators etc...
The insects are killing my plants left and right , they will stay hidden in the growing point of the plants, where the leaves are the youngest & most vulnerable. Because they suck the sap out, the leaves collapse on themselves & never open, so it will be harder to get to the insect.
When I decide to do what peoples say not to do[this "no water in the crown" conventional wisdom has been printed so many time in the orchid magazines], I water right into the crown, make sure spray more water so it will stay inside the leaves (after all this is what happens in nature after every rain storm) You will see that the very symetrical damages (when the leaves in the folding state, the insects eat continuously on both sides ) by insects stop, and the leaves have a chance to grow.
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