Brassavola Nodosa

[Sheryl]

Wow! Anyone want to take a stab at this? This year's harvest - spikes drying out or not developing, blooms looking terrible


This is how it previously looked and did years prior - what happened?

[Arne]

Did you get a lot of rain where you are living?

It was one of the rainiest summers here in Baltimore. Of my two Brassavola Little Stars, one was hanging outdoors the whole summer while the other one was inside (it is so big I can hardly move it). The one indoors is developing a lot of buds, the other one was brought indoors when it was getting colder about a month ago and it is having far less buds than normal.

[Sheryl]

Well we do get a lot of rain in Florida but I don't think more than usual this year. It isn't planted in any medium so roots have plenty of air. You sound like you have an interesting scenario there. Looking forward to seeing the blooms. Thank you!

[Dorsetman]

I was going to suggest that the compost was old and rotten, but if it is growing without, that cannot be the problem. but what do the roots look like ? You know whAt they say about growing orchids ? Just grow the roots - the rest will follow. And you certainly have some lovely clean and healthy foliage there.
I have seen it growing wild, and probably you have too - all the way round the mainland coast from Mexico round to Venezuela, at sea level ( meaning at all those Spanish Main ports which cruise ships call at - my dear wife used to love our cruises , and I loved the Caribbean sun and heat - nowadays alas she could not walk from one end of a cruise ship to the other, between restaurant and cinema, to save her life...) where it seemed to grow on the sides of the trunk of fair sized trees, surely getting a great deal of light and perfect drainage. But what is different about your conditions ?
But btw, Seeing orchids at sea level is a bit unusual - in the mountains is the usual place.

[raybark]

Sheryl, has the plant been treated with anything?

The general condition suggests two possibilities to me: a treatment that has "burned" the plant somehow, or it is the result of a pathogen that needs to be treated.

[Sheryl]

Thank you Ray but no it has not been treated. The only difference I can think of this year is that it's still hot. Normally by November when this plant blooms it's in the 70s during the day and low 60s, high 50s at night. This year, we're still in the high 80s and mid 70s at night. Come on Fall temps!

Sheryl, has the plant been treated with anything?

The general condition suggests two possibilities to me: a treatment that has "burned" the plant somehow, or it is the result of a pathogen that needs to be treated.

---------- Post Merged at 11:42 AM ----------

Thank you Leigh. Wow! Yours look very similar to mine. I was just answering Ray and Geoff that the only difference I can think of are the higher temps up here. But down there, you don't generally cool off as much as we do here. But have the temps been hotter the last couple of months down there than usual?

Here you go Sheryl. I didn't realize it but I grabbed B. Little Stars (1/2 nodosa) by mistake for the pic but it lives right next to my nodosa on the bench and they both are having the same issue this year. If you look closely you can see the funky looking flowers and 1 such bud in left center of photo. There are also numerous spikes that look to me like they completely or partially blasted at some point. Interestingly enough though, both of these plants now have a set of new buds that all look quite healthy. You can see those on the left side. Could they be trying to tell me they missed the TLC while I was away all summer?
Question to self........and the point of keeping 2 plants that are genetically different but you can't tell apart is??????????

---------- Post Merged at 11:45 AM ----------

Thank you Geoff! The roots look good - normal for this plant, just wrapped all over themselves and the basket. It has been considerably warmer these past couple of months than normal but not sure if that would cause this. Leigh seems to be having a very similar issue.

I was going to suggest that the compost was old and rotten, but if it is growing without, that cannot be the problem. but what do the roots look like ? You know whAt they say about growing orchids ? Just grow the roots - the rest will follow. And you certainly have some lovely clean and healthy foliage there.
I have seen it growing wild, and probably you have too - all the way round the mainland coast from Mexico round to Venezuela, at sea level ( meaning at all those Spanish Main ports which cruise ships call at - my dear wife used to love our cruises , and I loved the Caribbean sun and heat - nowadays alas she could not walk from one end of a cruise ship to the other, between restaurant and cinema, to save her life...) where it seemed to grow on the sides of the trunk of fair sized trees, surely getting a great deal of light and perfect drainage. But what is different about your conditions ?
But btw, Seeing orchids at sea level is a bit unusual - in the mountains is the usual place.

[Keysguy]

Sheryl- I seem to have the same or similar condition with my nodosa down here this year.
I'll try and post a pic later today. Would be interesting to figure out if related and what's causing it.

[Keysguy]

Here you go Sheryl. I didn't realize it but I grabbed B. Little Stars (1/2 nodosa) by mistake for the pic but it lives right next to my nodosa on the bench and they both are having the same issue this year. If you look closely you can see the funky looking flowers and 1 such bud in left center of photo. There are also numerous spikes that look to me like they completely or partially blasted at some point. Interestingly enough though, both of these plants now have a set of new buds that all look quite healthy. You can see those on the left side. Could they be trying to tell me they missed the TLC while I was away all summer?
Question to self........and the point of keeping 2 plants that are genetically different but you can't tell apart is??????????

[Keysguy]

It has been warmer than typical I think Sheryl.
2 weeks ago we had a beautiful weekend.....high 70's but before and since then it has been mid to high 80's with 65%+ humidity so feeling like mid 90's, especially days when the winds are down.....like today. And believe me, I am not complaining but wouldn't mind having a little front go through to cool us off for a few days..

[Dorsetman]

A thought - thrips ! Maybe you have not had them before, but 2018 has surely been the year of the insect in Europe. I use yellow glue trps ( horrid unaesthetic things, but good at trapping flying things ) above my plants , and I get to look at the corpses; in my hobby life-scientist life I have spent time studying entomology, and know a little bit about it, and I tell you, I am looking at corpses on my glue traps of insects I have never seen before.
Thrips are notoriously hard to deal with, and in the Spring this year I was getting a lot of cattleya flowers blasting , due to them. The AOS suggested that I sprayed the buds as soon as I saw new ones - and I started walking around the collection simply spraying all buds as they emerged. Whilst they suggested specific chemicals to use, inevitably I found that what is on sale in USA is not on sale here in Europe ( and probably vice versa) , but now I don't think resistance is important - they just curl up and disappear ( although they are too small or well hidden to see anyway ) with a direct blast of whatever general insecticide I happen to have handy - applied once a week, just to the buds.
It occurs to me that I have broken the cycle ; if I am killing new emerging insects,just for a few weks or months, there are none left. This has been 100% successful.
And btw - I have been growing orchids for 57 years now, and the first 54 or so I never saw thrips or thrips damage ; so things change - climate - pest distribution, et etc....So don't say " Oh I don't get thrips ! "


Ideas for you anyway.