new here - help! all my plants failing

[MelissaCrady]

hi everyone. my name is melissa and i live in louisville, ky. i decided to check out this site because my orchid collection is dying off and i was pretty upset. if you respond to me, please remember that i don't have any internet experience with forrums, so i don't understand all the internet abbreviations.

that said, i bought my first paph two years ago. i was told that they were easy to take care of, so i acquired a few more. everything seemed fine until a month ago...

now all of plants look like something is wrong. six have died in the last two weeks. the others look like:

* some have scarring on the leaves
* some have little black spots that look like burn marks or like something is trying to eat them
* some rotted at the base of the leaves... once this happens i do not know what to do to stop it
* one plant's leaves went from sollid green to almost a see-through yellow

i'm wondering if they have rot, a virus, bugs or a mixture.
obviously i had no idea what i was getting myself into when i took these plants home. the woman at the local orchid store said i was probably wattering too much... but they were fine with the way i was wattering them for well over a year. i tried cutting back, and they are still looking worse.
she also suggested i spray something called "7" on them, which with much reluctance i did. there are still more bite looking marks. they still look like they are getting worse daily and i'm concerned i'm going to loose all of them.

DOES ANYONE ON THIS FORRUM LIVE IN LOUISVILLE?

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[SlipperKing]

Melissa,
It does sound stressful but maybe not is all lost. First where are you growing your plants? inside? outside? It sounds like what you have discribe is cold damage. Also, water, stale air (no movement) and old potting mix equals death. This could be one of the reasons for your basal rot(bottom of the plant). First unpot some of the worst plants and check the roots if they are gone you must repot to fresh mix. remove any rotten parts before hand. Wash hands inbetween plants too. Also, a picture tell a 1000 words. Can you post PICs?

 

[SlipperKing]

I also forgot to say "welcome"

 

[goldenrose]

A picture would help as Rick asked. I know you said you have no internet experience so that could be a bit difficult. Do you have a friend or relative that does?

 

[MelissaCrady]

i do have a friend who knows how to post pics so i will get her to help then try and re-post with photos. thanks for the advice!

melissa

 

[Leo Schordje]

I'll assume you are growing indoors, either on a windowsill or under lights.

First - Add a fan to the growing area. A cheap $ 9 fan, table top size is enough, a cheap one from Lowes or Home depot, even a clip on type. Set it up so it blows air near or on to the windowsill or shelf the plants are on. You want enough of a breeze to make grassy leaved plants waive a little. Now leave the fan on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This won't be a cure all but it will help stop future spread of root rot, bugs, leaf spotting fungus, and stop further sunburn of leaves that are getting too much sun. So a fan helps in many ways.

Step 2 would be to adjust your watering. Many new growers don't quite get watering. Also the addition of the fan will change the frequency your plants will need water, so remember to use your finger to check your plants for when they need water. Never put your plants on 'schedule', if you always water on Monday and Friday you will always have trouble. If your collection is small, less than 100 plants - you basically should be watering each plant on its own schedule, when it needs it. They only way to know is to stick your finger into the potting mix up to the first knuckle and feel for moisture. If cool and moist, wait, if it is dry - its time to water. You can also tell by the 'heft' of a pot when you pick it up. Light = dry, heavy = wet. When a plant needs to be watered, walk it over to the kitchen sink and flood the pot several times with tepid water that is neither hot nor cold. Let drain a few minutes, then return plant to growing area. Do not use a watering can and dribble a little stream of water into the pot. This won't work in the long run. All orchids like being watered in this manner, the big differences are some types want a day or two more time at the dry stage (Cattleya), and some never really want to get all the way to the dry stage (Miltoniopsis & Paph), some really want to be watered again while still pretty wet (Phrags).


Next either post a picture of the suspected bugs or hopefully one of our members in the area could drop in and visit. But step 3 would be to treat the bugs.

I would move the worst of your plants to a separate windowsill, away from the healthy ones. Just to slow the spread if it is a disease.

Once you have the decline under control a bit, I would repot those that need it. Then down the road begin fertilizing and such. But the first couple steps should help stop the spread of what ever is going on. Note that you are doing this by changing the environment, adding the fan and changing the watering pattern.

Hope this helps

 

[goldenrose]

Good advice from Leo! The one thing I question is a newbie going to know what is a suitable potting mix for her & what type of water is being used?
There are 3 orchid societies, I believe, in your area -
Kentucky Orchid Society, Louisville
Central KY Orchid society, Lexington
Blue Grass Orchid Society, Frankfort.
The orchid societies hold monthly meetings, might even hold potting workshops, I'm sure if one of our members aren't in your area, one of there's would be. Anyone got a AOS directory handy & could look up contacts? I'm on my way to work, otherwise I'd do it!

 

[NYEric]

Welcome from NYC. It's pretty hard to telediagnose w/out photos so bear with us. Crown rot-the darkening at the base of the leaves usually comes from fungal problems caused by pests and or water and dirt sitting in the deep insides of the leaves. You should try to keep them dry and treat w/ an antifungal. do you see any small scale, soft mealies, or aphids on the plants, if so use a paper towel and rubbing alcohol to remove all of them. Check the roots, if they're mushy or dead remove them. If there are none left you can try what we call sphag-n-bag. on the bottom right hand forum jump to searchand type in what youwant info about "sphag-n-bag..." Good Luck.

 

[Heather]

Also, Melissa (welcome by the way!) if you can take photos and email them to me, I can post them for you.

 

[SlipperFan]

Welcome, Melissa. Lots of good advice above. Keep us posted on how your plants are doing, and I agree that good photos can tell us a lot.

 

[Corbin]

I do not know that I can add anything to what has already been said so I will just say welcome.

 

[PaphMadMan]

One more suggestion to add to the possibilities. When fall comes, plants growing in a window can suddenly be gettting more light, perhaps too much. With the sun lower in the sky you may be getting more direct light. Also, if the window was party shaded by trees before it may be much brighter with leaves gone. I'm not sure it can completely explain your problems but it could be contributing to all of them at least as extra stress and potential leaf damage.

 

[Rick]

Hey Melisa

I'm down in Nashville TN. I know there is a KY orchid society, and a Mid America conference has been held in Lousiville within the last couple of years, so there must be local growers up there. Also there are lots of growers in Cincinanti that aren't too far away either.

When you take your trip to Home Depot grab a couple of cheap thermometer/hygrometers for measuring temperature and humidity. Now that we've been getting some cold your heaters have been running, and dried the air way out.

Tropical orchids don't like dry air (less than 50% humidity) and some of your symptoms are typical of dessication. Trying to compensate by watering heavier usually rots the roots off, so if the air around your plants is too dry you need to figure ways to enclose them and increase the air humidity. Corbin came up with a very cool way to do this for a small indoor collection.

 

[Heather]

Thanks for the reminder, Rick. I need to work on this myself. Most of my orchids are cool growers that need a rest in the winter and don't require much water, but the succulents may be growing a bit too dry.

 

[biothanasis]

Welcome Mellisa,

I guess that you were given some excellent instructions!! Good luck...