Phrag leaves -yellow sections

[Chas]

Can anyone suggest a reason for the yellowing of portions of the leaves of my phrag Paul Eugene Conroy plants. All plants (about 20) from the flask I bought a year or so ago have had this characteristic from the beginning. In some cases the yellowing gets more pronounced as the plants, which appear very healthy, grow on. My orchid friends say that the plants will grow normally as they mature, but this has not been the case. The plants are growing in a shaded greenhouse along with other compot seedlings that show no signs of yellowing. I use MSU fertilizer with RO water on all my phrags. Occasionally I water with epsom salts. Two of the larger plants are in the photo below.

Thanks
Charles VanDyke

 

[NYEric]

More water.

 

[Roth]

No, it is a genetic problem... some wallisii seedlings and hybrids exhibit this kind of strange bleaching. I have seen a few dozen thousands affected plants in the Netherlands a few years ago, and it was absolutely parent related. Klinge who was the specialist for phragmipedium in the Netherlands though it was maybe a virus ( it's not I believe), but anyway, most plants never grew out of that problem.

What is very strange is that the pattern of chlorosis for that problem is not logical, it can be stripes, but usually is a kind of bands or patches, pretty much like if we were spraying bleach in the crown and on the leaves, with chlorotic transversal patches emerging as the leaves grow.

 

[Shiva]

I've had a few phrags with this problem. I tried to feed with a little more iron, repotted plants, without any success. In the last case, I did nothing but water it normally. The green has come back after several months though I can still see lighter green patches. In my experience, this phenomena is not limited to wallisii seedlings and hybrids.

 

[Shiva]

Chas!

This one was a look alike for your photos when smaller. I didn't do anything special and the problem essentially corrected itself as you can see on this photo of Phrag. Twilight Rising Rocket 4N AM/AOS x warszewiczianum.

Last time I heard, warszewiczianum is the new name for wallisii.

The only other one that had this problem seriously in my collection was phrag. exstaminodium. I tried everything to save it but it died. I probably killed it with kindness.

 

[tomkalina]

Could be a phyto-toxic reaction due to fertilizer sitting in the crown of the plant during leaf development? I remember seeing this type of chlorosis a couple of years ago on a few Phrags. when I was using a combination of MSU for R/O and Epsom Salts. At what concentration are you applying the fertilizer?

 

[SlipperKing]

I had the same thing happen to the one and only Phrag Paul Eugene Conroy that I had. It died (not from this) before I could figure it out. I think genetics too. In Paphs, I've had Julius's do this same thing or hybrids of Julius. In the case of the Paph I began adding Epson's salts to my watering and it disappeared.