vanda

[pretty_bug01]

Now, some of the flowers on my vanda have these yellow blotches. Well, mucky yellow brown. Is that fungus, virus or pest? Also two of the buds died and didnt bloom. Was that due to the temp change and conditions from the store to my home? I'll post a picture probably tomorrow.

[LJA]

Right offhand I would say fungus or bacteria. And while there may have been a change of conditions from the store to your house, the store's in your neighborhood, right? Do they keep it *that* air-conditioned?

I don't think it had anything to do with anything *you* did. You haven't owned it long enough. Had the plant stayed at the store, I'll bet the same thing would have happened over there.

Use a single edged razor blade or a clean (wiped down with alcohol) pair of scissors, and nip off the bad flowers and the buds that blasted. The others may still be ok. Also, spray the entire plant with a fungicide / disease control like Orthenex.

(Maybe those stores do that kind of thing on purpose: sell diseased plants so they can then sell the stuff that fixes it.... Ok, they probably don't do that, but still, other than Traci's tolumina, every plant that's had problems on this board has come from one of those stores. Makes ya kind of wonder....

[pretty_bug01]

I've sprayed it with the Neem Oil stuff the first day I brought it home. I kept it in the house to minimize schock with the lighting difference. But it has been outside since. I think that most of them have it. Should I just return it? At least get a replacement.

[LJA]

If they'll take it back, it's sure worth a try. I mean, you ought to at least get a month's worth of decent bloom for the money before the plant croaks. If nothing else, for the 15.00 or whatever you paid for it, a month of nice flowers is worth the price, and you should get that.

[pretty_bug01]

Try 35 dollars. I'm just going to return it. I think im going to get a Neofinetia falcata. I'm not sure about it yet. The whole shipping thing is scaring me, but I'm getting one from Phrag, so I guess I will see how that goes first. I might get it from Fuch's site, but yea I agree that he is expensive. But if it will be a great plant then I trust your judgement. I don't know about the humidity thing with the neo so I am still debating. The dorms that I'm moving into have either oil or gas heat so it will be dry as all . Does it really NEED 80% humidity? Oh, and I checked out the room, and I will have pretty much the same amount of light there as I do here, only thing is that they are in the mountains, I'm at the beach. Should I treat them differently?

[LJA]

Peter shipped his plant to me very well, and if you're getting other things from reputable folks like Fuchs, the shipping isn't something you need to worry about.

We have a couple falcatas and they do great grown right along with the dendrobiums, getting nowhere near 80% humidity unless it's a cloudy day, the exhaust fans aren't running, and we just watered. If it's really dry where you'll be, just put the plants on trays of gravel and water, and mist in the mornings. It'll be drier (typically) in the mountains than at the beach, but you can compensate for that. If the light's good, it should all be fine.

[Paphraguy]

Thanks, LJA!

The lady who bought my Phrag wallisii division in spike emailed me today wwith excitement that the plants arrived in excellent condition and she was very happy to own her first Phragmipedium. This is coming from a person who thought Phrags were extremely ugly before she saw a photo of my Phrag wallisii in bloom and she fell in love with it ever since. So, I do agree with you that pictures do play a very important part in sales.

Peter