This is my first post and I am an orchid novice and would greatly appreciate any help. I bought this lady slipper about 3 weeks ago. About 10 days ago it developed a spot on one of its leaves. I thought it might be a sunburn, so I move it. The spot has since spread and is getting worse each day. I don't know if this is some type of fungus or what to do about. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance. Here's a pciture (I hope this works).

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4939/p11805698al.th.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p11805698al.jpg)

First of all welcome. I would cut the leaf off as close to the base of the plant as possible. At least into the green. I would then douse the cut area with some cinnamon. It doesn't look too terribly threatening, but I would try the cutting and cinnamon before my next move---> Compost pile!

TADD :devil:

Thanks for the quick response. I will do this tonight. I kind of jumped into this without being fulling prepared in that I bought a few plants and now I'm struggling with a couple of them. Do I just put the cinnamon on the cut? Thanks again.

Howdy, I would put cinnamon on the cut and the rest of the leaf, no need to be neat! What plant is this?

At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, I don't know what it is exactly. The tag doesn't say. I suspect it might actually be a Phrag. Here's another picture of it.
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/5805/orchid32so.th.jpg (http://img74.imageshack.us/my.php?image=orchid32so.jpg)

No need to feel like an idiot! We were all beginners once, some of still are!! That looks like a paphiopedulim rothschildianum hybrid of some kind. Maybe you could take a better picture of just one flower for us to see as a close up? What does the tag actually say if I can ask?

Welcome to the forum! What you have is a Paph and not a Phrag, looks like a hybrid to me. I agree with what Tadd said. It is nothing serious, just cut the affected area and the plant should be fine. Thanks for joining the SOF!

Thanks everyone. I will take a close up tonight of one of the flowers. One of the flowers actually died before it opened. I didn't even notice it was there until I was up close inspecting the plant. Anyways, it just caught my eye at the orchid store and was the only one like that that they had.

Hi!
Welcome!

You have a Paph, definitely (not a Phrag) - a multifloral (YAY! They're the BEST ones!!) Looks like it has some kolopakingii (a species) in the breeding maybe? A little hard to tell from your photo.

I would do as Tadd indicated as well. It looks like fairly normal leaf die back to me. Or sunburn maybe? Did you re-pot when you got it or not? I notice the tips of other leaves are a bit yellow. You might want to re-pot if you haven't already, at least when it finishes blooming. It might be worthwhile to check the roots and make sure there isn't some fertilizer burn going on. Make sure you flush the pot well the next time you water, also. One thing I found really helpful when I first started growing was to re-pot into clear pots. That way you can sort of keep an eye on things going on underneath. You know when new roots are a-growing, etc.

Good luck! Keep us posted!! Glad you found us. :)

Hi and welcome! This leaf die back has happened to me several times. I am not sure what causes it yet, or if it is even the same cause every time. I think it is just the result of a stressed plant. Stressed from moving, shipping, or slight changes in culture. Usually one older leaf turns brown like that and dies, then that's it.

I'm glad I found all of you! Someone on another board told me about this place. I have not repotted it since I got it and you are correct that the tips are a bit yellow. I will get some more pics tonight and will post what the tag says. Thanks. :D

Looking forward to hearing more from you!

welcome!! and TADD has some good info for your little leaf problem. as for the plant it looks great!! :clap:

Just beeping in to say welcome and..."Another frog person?!?!"

That's OK. You're in good company. :?

Looks like you've already gotten all the advice you need, so I'll add some more! Cut the leaf back into the green tissue. Sterilize the scissors before you cut it - at least with alcohol. I also like to spray or dab alcohol on the open wound where the cut is, then the cinnamon sticks better. If you look closely at that leaf, it looks like there's an original injury or something towards the tip, a big black blotch. But I also was wondering why the other leaves are getting yellow tips.

Okay. Here are a few more pictures. The flowers are now starting to die. Also, I noticed some spotting on other leaves (I might just be getting paranoid now). Oh, and the tag that came with it just says "GOA 729." Thanks again!

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9093/p11905742es.th.jpg (http://img32.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p11905742es.jpg)

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7035/p11905769yj.th.jpg (http://img32.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p11905769yj.jpg)


http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/6035/p11905834vz.th.jpg (http://img32.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p11905834vz.jpg)

From what I can see from your pics, it looks like a Paph Bel Royal to me. Nice flowers and thanks for posting! :D

Out of curiosity, what water do you use on the plant?

And I would guess the plant is Paph David Ott (rothschildianum x supardii). The cleft chin indent on the pouch is classic supardii.

--Stephen

I use tap water. Should I change to something else?

These are my other two.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3179/p11905733yt.th.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p11905733yt.jpg)

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3442/p11905843dz.th.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p11905843dz.jpg)

Hi Derf,

I moved those 2 photos to the Paph Gallery. Thanks for posting!

Opps! Sorry. :embarass:

I thought I had screwed up and not posted. Yikes.

Hello, I would, as tadd suggested, start by cutting off the infected leaves. Find the point where you think the yellowing starts on all the leaves, then go an extra inch toward the base and cut the tip off. If you can remove the leaf that's got the large brown spot without hurting the others, I would go with that. Cinnamon's a decent antibacterial, but I always go with good old fashioned chemicals. Spray the cuts with either Physan 27 or Phyton 20 (I may have reversed those numbers?).

I would also suggest using distilled water for a few weeks and see what happens. If your tap water is particularly bad, the leaf tips could be getting severely burned. If the yellowing stays away, you can back off to using distilled every other watering.

--Stephen

Hi, your plant seems to be a roth. hybrid- very impressive and nice plant! I think that this ugly brownish spot is caused not by infection but physiological problem. My opinion is that it is worth to repot the plant into a fresh media and examine the roots,use clear water without fertilizing in few weeks , cut all the sick parts and desinfect these areas with antibiotics.I had similar problem with one of my sanderianum baby and i did best i could.In spite of that the spot spreaded and the involved leaf completly died but the disease doesn't spread onto the other leaves.I think it is caused by shock of shipping- my other plants that i received at the same time got well and produced new leaves and growth under the same condition.

Isn't it nice to be bombarded with all this advice? :poke: Just to be on the safe side...take a look at the underside of your leaves. Get a wet tissue or cotton ball and wipe the underside of the leaves. If it comes off clean no prob. If it come off with a red-ish brown residue, you could have spider mites. Just something to rule out. The close-up of your leaf, I can't tell if there is some pitting there or not. and it could always be from a past infestation, but better safe than sorry.

This is why I love this forum.

Welcome to the forum Derf! :hi:

This leaf damage looks suspiciously like cold water damage.

Thanks everyone! I did as Tadd suggested and cut off the leaf with the huge spot. I cut it close to the base and put cinnamon on it. I am going to try using distilled water for a bit and see how that goes. The oldest of the flowers came off this morning.

Do keep us posted and in the mean time post more photos of your slippers here in the gallery. :D

I won yes!!!!!!!!!!!! :poke: :devil: Now send the plant to me.... (Let's see how that works....) I would contact the seller of these plants, and ask them for an identity to them. They might use a number system.

Nice flowers but the picture of flowers is too small. It reminds me of Paph Bel Royale which is a cross between Paph rothschildianum and Paph kolopakingii. This is a Paphiopedilum that requires bright light and intermediate temperatures of 65 F at night and 75 F at day. Medium would need to be kept moist all the time. I think your plant might be over fertilized due to leaf tip burns. Please amputate the leaf that has brown parts spreading. You should repot the plant when the plant is making new roots. I bet the plant have been though a lot of stress.

Paphman910

I won yes!!!!!!!!!!!! :poke: :devil: Now send the plant to me.... (Let's see how that works....) I would contact the seller of these plants, and ask them for an identity to them. They might use a number system.

:lol:
The place I got it is in my neighborhood, so I will ask the next time I'm in there. Thanks again.