sick dendrobium - newbie help

[quietgloaming]

Hello, I recently purchased my first orchid, a dendrobium, at Lowes. Unknowingly I purchased one with some sort of disease and am unsure whether it should be thrown away or treated. I now have two other orchids, phals, and don't want it to spread if that's possible. At the time of purchase, one leaf had black sooty spots with a lighter green ring around them. Two days later, four other leaves on another cane had turned yellow, then tan and translucent. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks! Kris

 

[jrod]

With a Lowe's orchid, it may be best to send it to the compost pile before it infects any of the other plants. We all hate to lose one, but the health of the others is probably worth it. You'll have a chance to replace it once a new order comes into the box store. The biggest reason for this if that, even if you save the plant, it could be years before it's large and healthy enough to bloom again. Sorry for your loss, but congratulations on the open space in your growing area~

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

Checkthe roots. The ring around sooty looking stuff is not a cuase for alarm right away. I suspect your roots are dead and it needs some TLC to grow new ones. I would buy the sickly plants to perfect my skills at growing. If they come back i am getting better at growing them, and when they flower it is a sweet success.

Ok pluck off the yello leave. Loosing leaves for a den is no big deal. Nothing to be alarmed about and with alot of species happens natraly. Repot it. you should do that with Every orchid purchased jsut to acess the root system. I bet it is planeted in LFS. Plant it in a bark mix and remember to just use a pot big enough for the roots that are left. I would recomend a clay pot because Dens can get top heavy. They like to be root bound of sorts. If there is no live roots. Place the canes in a back with some damn LFS untill you see some root growth. You may get some keikis groing along the cane and that is fine too. The sooty stuff jsut sounds liek soot mold to me goring on a dead part of the leaf. Nothing to really worry about to me.

Now of course this is contingent on whether you have enough grow space. I have plenty of grow space so I can keep plants for a long time without the need for them to flower. Jrod is right it will be atleast a year maybe 2 before the plant flowers again if the roots are gone from being over watered. So you have to balance the price of the plant with the space you have. So that is your call. That plant sounds like it can be saved and will flower again. Dens are very forgiving. Recovering plants teaches you patients because you need it with orchids. Some plants I buy will take 7 years or more before I see a flower because I buy alot of YOUNG plants. Paph rothchildianum normaly takes around 7 years from seed to first flower and I have a very young plant of it. Growing probably in non optimal growing conditiuon can take even logner to flower. So the call is yours. A picture would really help tell more of the story too.

 

[PlantAKiss]

You'd be amazed at how tough dens are. They can get down to nothing but a leafless, yellowing cane and make a new plant at the base. However, I would separate your den from any other plants just to make sure the problem doesn't spread. Any sick plant should be moved to a "plant hospital" to ensure the safety of the others.

So...don't give up on your plant. They are hardy lil' buggers.

Good luck.