Virus, disease, bacteria or other

[ldvazquez]

Hi,

I moved to the city of Chicago and bought a Sharry Baby last spring which had bloom two times already. The orchid always got its morning sun and was doing alright. I water it one time a week and give its food when watering. Now, that is very cold and my orquid was by the windows, I move it in front of my heater. I been very busy this past weeks with work and I just realize one morning that my orchid is like drying up or has a disease. I do not know what provoke this and what it is. What is the care procedure if it is a disease. Any guidance is very welcome. Thank you








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[chemist]

How close to heater was it standing? It might be heat burn or something like that.

[Chris in Hamilton]

My guess would be that when it was in the area that was cold, at some point water was sitting in the area where the leaves join the pseudo bulb and that led to rot. You can see some of the bulbs have begun to turn brown at those points.

[raybark]

I obviously cannot be certain of the particular disease, but that's definitely a bacterial or fungal infection. I'd guess erwinia. If you want to save that plant, you will need a systemic treatment like Phyton 35, as a topical treatmeant like Physan (nice of them to have similar names, no?) will be ineffective. Phyton is copper-based, so may be toxic to some, more delicate plants and dendrobiums, but the oncidiums should not have an issue with it.

A good soak and then periodic sprays with Inocucor Garden Solution is another alternative, and it'll beef up your plants, too.