Phalaenopsis orchid diseases and their treatment: photos of common problems, resuscitation of plant roots at home and how to save a flower?

Phalaenopsis - unpretentious plants that, with proper care, will never hurt. Otherwise, the flower can infect fungi, bacteria, insects.

If the symptoms of the lesion are not detected in time, then the flower will begin to grow poorly, develop, its flowering will stop. In the most difficult situations, the plant dies.

What are the signs of the most common orchid diseases? How to treat and prevent their reappearance - read on.

Plant features

All phalaenopsis are eliphites. They grow in nature on large trees, plant stumps as a support. The flower has one stem, no branching. Its height reaches 10-100 cm. Orchid leaves grow slowly, like the stem. Only a few green leaves may appear in a year. They are formed during the flowering period. It lasts 3 months. First, the upper buds open, and the lower ones are still formed.

How do diseases differ from pest damage?

Reference. Phalaenopsis disease is a common occurrence, the main reason for which is improper care. Diseases can be fungal, viral, and rot is also common.

Each of them has its own symptoms, allowing them to be distinguished from pests. Most often, when a flower is affected by a disease, the leaves almost instantly darken, dry out and disappear (more about leaf diseases can be found here). And when the plant was visited by insects, then this whole process occurs gradually: the leaves become stained, slowly fade, and only then fall off. This allows the grower to react in time and save the flower.

The most common flower

The most common diseases of phalaenopsis include:

Rot. Various factors can affect it. The main one is high humidity. If black soft patches are present on the stem or base, they indicate the presence of rot. All affected areas are carefully cut and then treated with charcoal. Transplant the plant into new soil.
Powdery Mildew This disease is characterized by the appearance of white plaque on the leaves. This is a fungal disease that slowly kills the plant. Pour the affected plant with a solution of colloidal sulfur.
Bacterial spots. This ailment is easy to recognize. Dark spots form on the leaves. Over time, they dry and the leaves become covered with wounds. To solve the problem, cut off the affected areas and sprinkle with activated carbon powder. If after some time the spots arose again, then it will be necessary to purchase special preparations.

What are the reasons?

The following reasons can affect the development of a disease in an orchid:

Violation of the light regime. Phalaenopsis refers to the shade-tolerant types of orchids. They feel comfortable on the windowsills facing north.Note! The sun's rays are dangerous for them, and when they directly penetrate the leaves, thermal burns can develop. They do not cause significant damage to the plant, but leave behind them ugly spots.
Wrong watering. Orchid prefers high humidity, but reacts negatively to constant watering. As a result, rot and leaf falling may occur.
Low temperature. At the orchid’s house, there’s little chance of freezing. Most often this happens during the transportation of her from the store or moving. Affected areas become covered with white spots and die off. A similar effect can occur when spraying a plant at low temperature and as a result of poor ventilation.

How to determine what happened?

The difficulty in making the correct diagnosis is that some external signs are similar to the symptoms of pests. So that to make a final diagnosis, you will carefully examine the flower.

If not only the symptoms of the lesion, but also insects were found on it, then most likely they are the cause of the problem. In addition, you need to know the main symptoms of common orchid diseases. Then it will be possible to understand for sure whether it is a pest or a disease.

What parts of the plant deteriorate?

Most often, the lesion is applied to the leaves, roots and stem of the plant. The leaf plate begins to turn yellow, fade and dry. The stem is darker and rotting. The root system is most often affected by rot, as a result of which its roots rot and die (for how to care for orchid roots, read here).

Description of problems, photos and treatment

View photos of each disease and its description.

Anthracnose

This is a fungal disease that forms due to increased humidity and stagnant water. As a result, burns form on the leaves of the plant.

To combat the disease, it is necessary to remove all affected areas to healthy tissue, and then sprinkle them with ash. If the lesion is massive, then the plant will have to completely treat Mikosan preparations. Install the orchid in a dry room and constantly drain the water from the pan.

Rust

The main reason for the development of the disease is errors in care. The defeat is applied to the leaves of the plant.

To combat the disease, cut off the diseased areas, sprinkle sections of the cut with activated carbon powder. For disinfection, you can use a 20% alcohol solution. If the lesion is too extensive, use Mikosan, Skor or Ridomil.

Powdery mildew

This disease can be affected by increased humidity and temperature. You can recognize the ailment by a whitish coating on the leaves.

If the first signs are found, carefully water the orchid, and after 2 hours, treat it with a solution of colloidal sulfur using a spray bottle. You can also use Fitosporin. They spray the leaves 3-4 times with an interval of 10 days.

You can use folk remedies, for example, soap-soda solution. To prepare it, take 25 g of soda, 5 g of liquid soap, 5 l of hot water. First dissolve the soda in water, and only then add soap. Once the solution has cooled, spray once every 7-10 days.

Sooty (black) mushrooms

This disease affects the leaves of the orchid, which become sticky (about sticky leaves in phalaenopsis read here). The resulting black coating does not allow the leaves to receive sunlight in the required amount, so that the plant weakens.

For treatment using the drug Mikosan, Ridomil, Topsin-M, Scor. Folk remedies here are powerless.

Rot

Black

She is one of the most common. The first manifestations of the disease are observed 12 hours after the lesion. Most often young shoots suffer. They turn black and become clammy.

Important! If black rot is detected, it is necessary to isolate the diseased plant from the healthy one.

The transmission of the harmful fungus occurs by contact, so treatment is difficult. Its essence is that it is necessary to remove the affected areas, and treat the places of cuts with a defect of cinnamon or sulfur. After they dry, treat them with a fungicide.

Watch a video on how to cure Phalaenopsis from a fungal infection on the neck:

Root

This is a bacterial disease that forms at high humidity and temperature. Orchids begin to darken and rot. The leaves at the same time acquire a specific brown hue.

Root resuscitation should be started by treating the plant with a fungicide solution and removing the affected areas. Soil is also treated. To do this, use Fundazole or Topsin. Treat at least 3 times with an interval of 2 weeks.

We talked about the treatment of this root disease, take a look at how this problem looks in the photo:

Gray

it the disease is the result of a violation of the rules of care. With the development of gray rot, spots appear on the flowers. They are dark in color, and then covered with a gray coating.

Note! If untreated, the plant will become weaker and die.

Treatment boils down to the removal of affected areas and the treatment of fungicides. If there is no positive result after the first treatment, then a similar preparation cannot be used, since the pathogen of gray rot has acquired resistance to it.

More information about gray and root rot can be found here.

Emergency resuscitation at home

What it is?

Emergency resuscitation is a therapeutic measure that allows you to save plants in a short time and prevent orchids.

When is required?

On a note. The main sign by which it can be understood that the flower will die soon is the presence of dry and sluggish leaves, a dried flower stalk.

If 1-2 leaves dried out at the bottom, then this phenomenon is normal. But with the spread of this process to the entire sheet plate, urgent measures have to be taken. Help your orchid if it is sick and save it from death.

How to save?

Here is a detailed plan on how to resuscitate an orchid yourself:

Rinse the roots, remove the affected ones.
Prepare the container, pour expanded clay on the bottom, and on top - carefully steamed and peeled sphagnum.
Moisten the mixture well.
Lay a leaf rosette and until the plant grows roots 3-5 cm long, keep it under cover.
For resuscitation of an orchid, the following conditions must be observed: temperature 22-28 degrees, humidity - 70-100%. Lighting should be 12-14 hours a day.

Prevention of occurrence

In order for the orchid to bloom and delight with bright colors for a long time, and the disease never struck it, the grower will have to follow the following preventive measures:

Lighting. The plant wishes to be located at a place where dissected sunlight is present. In winter, you can extend the duration of daylight hours with the help of spectral lamps.
Temperature. For an orchid, temperature indicators of 25-30 degrees in the summer and 20-25 degrees in the winter are considered optimal.
Air. Ventilate the phalaenopsis regularly, but avoid drafts.
Humidity. It should be in the range of 60-80%. To increase it, you will have to place a container of water near a flower pot.
Watering. Only moisturize after the bark is completely dry. To do this, install the pot in a container of water for half an hour. This time is enough for phalaenopsis to absorb the required amount of fluid.

Phalaenopsis is a type of orchid that, with proper care, is resistant to disease. But you should not relax. The flower grower should regularly inspect the plant, and if abnormalities are found, immediately begin treatment.