virus or pest on this orchid?

[Miller]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I really don't think its the wood from my arbor since many orchids have bloomed under it with no problems. I don't socialize with the neighbors so can't speak for chemical use on their part. The only known chemical is the mosquito truck that sprays monthly or so. I have an encyclia that and an Oncidium that is in bud now, I will wait to see if they flowers are affected on those.

Angela, I hate I did not get to see your orchids this week, my trip was cut short by a day and I was planning to meet up with you on my last day in Barbados.

Miller

[plucker]

Chemicals are the only thing that has caused me similar problems. I once sprayed fungacide and got those results, as too pesticides etc. The best solution is keep the flower dry. Perhaps it has rained and the residuals have leaked from somewhere.

The top flower looks age related.

Normally when you have a scented Catt, it will stop smelling about a day before the flower closes and dies.

[Miller]

Thanks for the input. The oldest flower is only about a month or so old, so I don't think it's an age issue. I'm gonna go with the consensus of chemical. I have no idea where the chemical came from. I do have an overhead watering system that may be the issue. To quote C and C music factory, "Things that make you go hmm"

[plucker]

Thanks for the input. The oldest flower is only about a month or so old, so I don't think it's an age issue. I'm gonna go with the consensus of chemical. I have no idea where the chemical came from. I do have an overhead watering system that may be the issue. To quote C and C music factory, "Things that make you go hmm"

For a large white catt, a month in flower is a long time. I average about 2-3 weeks depending on time of year.

[OrchidAddict]

I'm pretty sure Plucker's right on that one. I don't have a large white that has bloomed for me yet, but even my smaller ones only bloom for 3 weeks or so, and that's inside the house, in an air-conditioned, controlled environment.

What you've got going on here might simply be a time, heat, and water issue. If you have an overhead watering system, you will have water getting on those delicate blooms. Add the sun, and you've got a recipe for flower spots and blemishes. Add a month of time, and, well, those blooms would be looking poorly even in an air-controlled display box.

I've always heard that one should never get water on an orchid's flowers, since it can cause exactly what you have there... spots on the blooms. And I know a lot of people who bring their blooming orchids indoors to preserve the blooms from the sun/heat/environment. Catts have some of the most delicate, fragile flowers in the orchid world, so they are among the most at-risk for sun/water damage. I think you'd have less of this with a waxier bloom, but those frilly whites will show EVERYTHING.

Given the age of the flowers, it's highly likely there's no chemical involved here at all, but that the damage is simply due to heat, age, and the overhead watering system. The next time this particular Catt blooms, you may want to bring it inside. Your blooms will likely stay pristine, but they will still only last a month at the longest.

That's a very well-performing plant to have lasted that long, and it's something to be proud of!

[Miller]

I learn something new everyday!

For a large white catt, a month in flower is a long time. I average about 2-3 weeks depending on time of year.

[plucker]

I find inside the house is less humid and the flowers last for less time. I have also heard they go off faster with food products around.

[OrchidAddict]

I find inside the house is less humid and the flowers last for less time. I have also heard they go off faster with food products around.

Hmmm.... really? The flowers drop faster for you indoors? That's interesting. Now I'm tempted to experiment by leaving one of my flowering beauties out, but there are so many pests near me that would attack those blooms in 2 seconds flat that I'd never know if they'd last longer or not, because they'd be eaten within 2 days! (I am still debating whether I even want to TRY to grow petunias this summer, because they always get attacked by caterpillars and other little bugs that I can't quite remember the name of at this point. It's a fight all summer to keep the pests away, and I end up having to spray my plants with all sorts of nasty chemicals. At least with petunias, they're such vigorous bloomers that even if all the flowers get eaten, a whole new bunch will come in a few more days. Not so much with orchids).

I have definitely heard that they should be out of sun and heat for the blooms to last longer... do you have your blooming plants in a shaded area?

As for the food products being damaging... I remember there was a discussion in a thread a while back about decomposing fruit and foliage being potentially damaging to plants. We were trying to figure out why some flowers were wilting, and someone suggested perhaps they were near fruit, which give off gases as they age that can apparently be harmful to orchids. I wish now I could remember what thread that was in...

I've never noticed any difference with my bloomers, whether we're in fruit season or not.. during the summer our kitchen is so full of tomatoes at various ages of ripeness... you'd think any plant nearby would be affected. But I keep blooming orchids on the kitchen windowsill above the counter where the tomatoes sit, and the blooms last just as long as they do any other time of the year, even if there's a rotten tomato right under them! (Believe me, this has happened accidentally on occasion, when there's a bad tomato at the bottom of the basket that we don't discover until we've eaten all the others...)

Perhaps it affects different types of orchids differently? My phals don't seem to care, at any rate. I'd be curious to try the indoors/outdoors experiment, but I'm so protective of my blooms... I don't think I could leave them out, exposed to "the elements" without being a nervous wreck!