Is this a sheath

I don't know..but I didn't notice that until you brought it to my attention...my first impression is a virus...

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Leave me...with your Borneo...I don't need...that much to keep me warm.

Clintdawley, I sincerely hope its the wrong impression.. If it were virused, wouldn't that mean it will be sickly, deformed and not growing well? As you can see the plant is normal and healthy, in fact another sheath is about to put out a spike.
I think the color streaks are just imperfections on the bud cover. Anyhow what would Bruce and other experts say?

Not necessarily. Some virused plants can appear healthy. On the next blooming cycle, check for the streaks again..if they appear on the flowers, have the plant tested.

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Leave me...with your Borneo...I don't need...that much to keep me warm.

The light will always let you know however, sometimes it can be hard to see it light or not. Caution when you do have a sheath; do let water get inside the sheath or your bloom will rot & will not form.

To prevent water from staying inside you can one of two things. First option, make a small cut at the base of the sheath, right where it comes out of the pseudo-bulb, or your second option is to make very thin a cut along the outside of the sheath to let water out. I have waited for 2 years to another bloom because the blooms from the year before rotted on me. I am actually waiting on a cattleya I bought 2 years ago with bloom with light blue/cream color and a great fragrant.

To add to that, there are several different kinds of viruses that could afflict a plant.
Several conditions need to be met in order for the virus to manifest its symptoms.

A particular orchid might be infected with a cymbidium mosaic virus and never show any symptoms, leading the grower to think that it is virus-free. It then comes into contact with a healthy cymbidium plant and ends up infecting the cymbidium.
The cymbidium then begins to manifest the obvious signs and the grower wonders where the virus came from.

As a precaution, keep the plant away from any other plant until you get definitive results on whether it is a virus or not.

Just because a plant looks virused, does not mean that it is.
Just because a plant does not look virused, does not mean that it is not.

To this end, I know of a company that sells testing strips you can use at home to test your plants for Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) and Odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV), commonly referred to as Tobacco mosaic virus - orchid strain (TMV-O).

Anyone who would like further info, just pm me...

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Geoffrey

Geoffrey,

I have read about those kinds of home test strips as well. It would be good for testing one or two plants that is really bugging you. However, to test my entire collection, it would cost me between $500 to $900.00. And this is only for a collection with 200 plants.

Imagine how much it would cost Bruce (or anyone else with really large collections) to test all their orchids.

well, yeah, I wouldn't suggest you test all your plants, especially ones that have given you no problems. However, if you have a plant that just doesn't seem to want to grow when others of its genus do well, that may be a candidate for testing. And then of course, if it blooms and its flowers have strange color breaks that would also be a candidate. Or if its leaves are mottled or streaked, and you've ruled out fungus...

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Geoffrey

Hi,
Going back to the topic of sheaths, attached is the picture of the same sheath now shriveling and drying out. Notice however the brown spots- is this a sign of the viral or fungal infection? Its been raining here, so thought that might have affected the sheath. I still have to search for a lab that can do the virus testing here in Manila. Perhaps the local Orchid Society can help.
Anyhow, note also a new sheath that has produced 4 new buds!!
Thanks for your advise!!

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