# Problem with Phrag. Andean Tears



## Missgreen (Sep 25, 2013)

Oh no, one of my favorite orchids, a Phragmipedium Andean Tears is getting brown spots on the new shoots, it almost looks like the whole new growth is rotting away. 

I grow it in Greenmix, an inorganic medium I use for most of my Phrags excepts for my P. caudatum. I keep the Andean Tears wet at all times. Do you think I need to grow it more like my P. caudatum that seems to be thriving? I gorw that in a bark mix and water much more rarely. Please help :sob: I really adore this plant


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## goldenrose (Sep 25, 2013)

It's possible, I treat wallissii & caudatums the same. Kovachii is in my ebb n flo with bessies & hybrids. These hybrids could go either way. In the meantime are you treating it with fungicide, bactericide... ?


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## Missgreen (Sep 25, 2013)

No and I wouldn't know which one to get :-( I live in Denmark, Europe and it's extremely difficult to buy fungicides etc. unless you have a special license.


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## Erythrone (Sep 25, 2013)

I have one big Andean Tears and I have grown it very wet for several years (water in the saucer) with success. But now, since I potted it in a 10 or 12 inches pot, I don't let water in the saucer anymore. I decided to do this because it is now in straight rockwool wich is very water retensive.

It get bacterial rot last sping on a few shoots afterI spayed for mealybugs with Botanigard. Fortunatly it was easy to cure. I just remove the diseased leaves and spayed with a cinnamon alcool infusion (useful against bacteria, fungi and mealybugs!) a few times.

http://www.firstrays.com/remedies.htm


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## Missgreen (Sep 25, 2013)

That cinnamon/alcohol solution sound really great. Do you happen to have a recipe? 
Luckily the oldest growth seems to be doing well. I was growing this in a bark/leca mix and it seemed to be doing okay but never produced any proper roots and kept falling out of the potting medium. Then I repotted it in Greenmix, which is very similar to rockwool. Should I remove the diseased leaves you think?


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Sep 25, 2013)

I just toss 2-3 cinnamon sticks in a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and add a sprayer attachment. When the alcohol level drops, I just add more. It smells really good when its sprayed too.


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## Missgreen (Sep 26, 2013)

Does it have to be rubbing alcohol or is it possible to use other types as well?


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## Secundino (Sep 26, 2013)

You could try aquavit. Or just plain water and aspirin. And lots of ventilation.


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## Erythrone (Sep 26, 2013)

Missgreen said:


> Does it have to be rubbing alcohol or is it possible to use other types as well?



From First Rays' website

_Spray:

You can prepare a cinnamon spray using either alcohol or water as your solvent. The alcohol infusion is faster to prepare, and offers some insecticidal properties as well. This is my preferred method, and has been effective at eliminating all sorts of fungus problems, including damping-off of deflasked seedlings.

bullet	
Put 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of cinnamon powder in a pint (500 ml) of isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Shake well and let stand overnight. Filter the solution to remove the sediment (coffee filters work well), and use the brown liquid as a spray. (While it's not a big problem for most orchid growers, I've heard that this is good for powdery mildew, as well.)
_


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## Erythrone (Sep 26, 2013)

Missgreen said:


> Should I remove the diseased leaves you think?



Yes! It is important to remove the diseased parts of a plant.


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## goldenrose (Sep 26, 2013)

Secundino said:


> ..... Or just plain water and aspirin. And lots of ventilation.


I read that on another thread and thought the source was 1st rays, one 500mg aspirin to a quart of water I believe.


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## Missgreen (Sep 29, 2013)

I took away the rotten leaf and took the plant inside. So far it's been in my balcony greenhouse. So far it's looking a lot better, the other growth seems to be doing well. 

I wonder if I should repot into a spaghnum/perlit mix instead of the rockwool mix? I just repotted it in late August, but I'm not sure it's happy with that medium at all. I thought it was a "thirsty" Phrag. but now I'm not so sure.


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## Erythrone (Sep 30, 2013)

Mine is a thisty one. But I use fast draining rockwool, not the moisture retensive one.


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## Missgreen (Oct 1, 2013)

I don't think Rockwool mix is the real problem, but that I have had it standing in a saucer with water at all times


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## SlipperKing (Oct 1, 2013)

Without pictures its very hard to determine whether you really have a microorganism rot issue. I bet my money on too much fertilizer and salt build up in the leaf tissue causing shut down of the tissues. One way to tell for sure, are the old leaves browned off on the tips with die back as well?


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## Missgreen (Oct 2, 2013)

I haven't figured out how to upload pictures :-(


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## SlipperFan (Oct 2, 2013)

Missgreen said:


> I haven't figured out how to upload pictures :-(


We use services like Photobucket and Flicker to store our photos and use their links to place into Slippertalk. Slippertalk doesn't have the bandwidth or storage capacity to place photos directly into it.


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## Missgreen (Oct 31, 2013)

My Andean Tears seems to be doing much better. I repotted it in sphagnum moss and vermiculite and I keep it a little on the dryer side. It doesn't show any signs of new growth but I'm optimistic.


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## NYEric (Oct 31, 2013)

Good luck.


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