Damage to blooms?
 

I have Lc. Walter Winchell in bloom. The edges of the petals and lip
look like the pigment didn't make it all the way to the edge, so the
blooms appear to be outlined in white. The veins in the bloom show up
as white streaks. It has bloomed for me before, a medium purple with a
darker lip, without the white on the petals.

The growing are is heated to between 55 and 60 F. As cold as it's
been, it may have gotten colder. I watered with a pump sprayer on
Monday (2 days ago), but don't recall spraying the buds. The orchid
receives light from a SE window. It has been cold outside and
overcast, so the room hasn't been open. I didn't see any indication of
condensation dripping on the blooms. Fans are running.

Could this be because of cool temperatures, too much light, or a
fungus? Should I have the plant tested for virus? Sorry, but didn't
have the camera with me, so haven't taken photographs. Will post
photos later in the week.

Nancy

Damage to blooms?
 

"Nancy G." wrote in message
ups.com...
I have Lc. Walter Winchell in bloom. The edges of the petals and lip
look like the pigment didn't make it all the way to the edge, so the
blooms appear to be outlined in white. The veins in the bloom show up
as white streaks. It has bloomed for me before, a medium purple with a
darker lip, without the white on the petals.
....
Nancy


I've seen pictures of virused plants that look like what you describe. I've
never seen it in my collection or heard of those symptoms being caused by a
fungus or bacterium. There may be some weird combination of chemical, local
condition and bacterium or fungus that can cause this. I'm not an expert,
Nancy, so don't go throwing it in the trash until someone else confirms but
I certainly would put it on the suspect list and isolate it. Good luck
Gary

Damage to blooms?
 

"V_coerulea" wrote in message
...

"Nancy G." wrote in message
ups.com...
I have Lc. Walter Winchell in bloom. The edges of the petals and lip
look like the pigment didn't make it all the way to the edge, so the
blooms appear to be outlined in white. The veins in the bloom show up
as white streaks. It has bloomed for me before, a medium purple with a
darker lip, without the white on the petals.
...
Nancy


I've seen pictures of virused plants that look like what you describe.
I've never seen it in my collection or heard of those symptoms being
caused by a fungus or bacterium. There may be some weird combination of
chemical, local condition and bacterium or fungus that can cause this. I'm
not an expert, Nancy, so don't go throwing it in the trash until someone
else confirms but I certainly would put it on the suspect list and isolate
it. Good luck
Gary


That has happened to my catts too and I don't know why either. If anyone
knows, you'd be helping 2 people.

K Barrett

Damage to blooms?
 

Nancy, wondering if you have used any systemic type pesticide lately.
A number of years ago I had a few catts that had streaky, blotchy flowers.
Since I religously tag & note everything, I noticed all the ********ed flowers
were from a group that Cygon was used on!
I segregated them & they all bloomed normally in their later years.
I would isolate Walter being extra careful with him, ie touching,trimming etc.,
until he blooms again.
Good luck.
--
Cheers Wendy

No Spam Email Address Invalid

Nancy G. wrote:
I have Lc. Walter Winchell in bloom. The edges of the petals and lip
look like the pigment didn't make it all the way to the edge, so the
blooms appear to be outlined in white. The veins in the bloom show up
as white streaks. It has bloomed for me before, a medium purple with a
darker lip, without the white on the petals.

The growing are is heated to between 55 and 60 F. As cold as it's
been, it may have gotten colder. I watered with a pump sprayer on
Monday (2 days ago), but don't recall spraying the buds. The orchid
receives light from a SE window. It has been cold outside and
overcast, so the room hasn't been open. I didn't see any indication
of condensation dripping on the blooms. Fans are running.

Could this be because of cool temperatures, too much light, or a
fungus? Should I have the plant tested for virus? Sorry, but didn't
have the camera with me, so haven't taken photographs. Will post
photos later in the week.

Nancy

Damage to blooms?
 

Nancy: I don't think that light, temps or even fungus would cause what you
describe. Thrips might _possibly_ account for the edge damage, but not for
the white streaks on the veins as well. As someone else mentioned, if you
sprayed a strong chemical back when those particular buds were just forming,
that might also be a possible cause. But if the plant is of sufficient
value to you, I'd say spring for the virus test, because unfortunately, that
sounds like the most likely culprit.

I trust you have already isolated it. Kenni

"Nancy G." wrote in message
ups.com...
I have Lc. Walter Winchell in bloom. The edges of the petals and lip
look like the pigment didn't make it all the way to the edge, so the
blooms appear to be outlined in white. The veins in the bloom show up
as white streaks. It has bloomed for me before, a medium purple with a
darker lip, without the white on the petals.

The growing are is heated to between 55 and 60 F. As cold as it's
been, it may have gotten colder. I watered with a pump sprayer on
Monday (2 days ago), but don't recall spraying the buds. The orchid
receives light from a SE window. It has been cold outside and
overcast, so the room hasn't been open. I didn't see any indication of
condensation dripping on the blooms. Fans are running.

Could this be because of cool temperatures, too much light, or a
fungus? Should I have the plant tested for virus? Sorry, but didn't
have the camera with me, so haven't taken photographs. Will post
photos later in the week.

Nancy

Damage to blooms?
 

wendy7 wrote:
Nancy, wondering if you have used any systemic type pesticide lately.
A number of years ago I had a few catts that had streaky, blotchy flowers.
Since I religously tag & note everything, I noticed all the ********ed flowers
were from a group that Cygon was used on!
I segregated them & they all bloomed normally in their later years.
I would isolate Walter being extra careful with him, ie touching,trimming etc.,
until he blooms again.
Good luck.
--
Cheers Wendy

I alternated spraying with orthene and Gardensafe, a citronene and neem
oil based spray in October before I moved my plants inside for the
winter. The final spray was with the citronene and neem, the plants
were still dripping when I carred them inside. Have sprayed no
chemicals since then, about 6 weeks to 2 months. I don't like to spray
with toxins or systemics because the room is tightly sealed. The
plants were misted about a month ago before the weather turned cold.

Until the frigid blast around the 1st of December, we had unseasonably
high temps and the doors were open for fresh cross ventilation. I heat
with oil filled electric space heaters, haven't seen any sign of them
leaking. Maybe the room hasn't been getting enough fresh air. It was
closed up tight, and with the snow, I didn't go in for a week. CO2
depletion?

Oh darn. Wally is so cute, it is hard to keep my hands off him.

Nancy