# Phrag. Pearcei dark streaks



## BobR (Jun 8, 2011)

These appeared quickly 2 weeks after I brougth it home, 6 weeks ago. As I began to increase the water & humidity,by placing them in stone filled trays on humidifier trays, they diminished but obviously haven't gone away. Any ideas?
I'm also reluctent to fertilize since most folks I've talked to say they like very
little.


----------



## Leo Schordje (Jun 12, 2011)

Just seeing a photo, I can only offer a speculation. Use your own observations to decide if what I suggest fits. 

I most often see die back of the leaf tips appear in Phrags where the plant has been allowed to dry out hard between watering. In my experience fertilizer and hard water have never caused this. One episode of drying out too hard is all it takes to cause this, if you keep the plants moist from here on out, it won't spread. Just keep your Phrags wet. Don't treat Phrags like Paphs, they come from very different environments. Think of Phrags more like an aquatic Cymbidium. They want it wet, & sunny. I usually stand my Phrags in individual trays of water, or for seedlings a group will go in a large shallow tray of water. 

I find healthy Phrags with active root systems actually crave fairly frequent fertilizing. They will yellow suddenly if they are trying to grow quick and are not getting enough fertilizer. Do feed your Phrags frequently, a dilute to moderate concentration of fertilizer. I feed dilutely with every watering, essentially twice a week. I use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of Greencare's MSU Orchid Special fertilizer for RO water. Those that write about Phrags claiming they are very sensitive to salts in the water simply do not realize that they are keeping their Phrags too dry. Drying out causes leaf tip die back. Keep em wet & bright and they will be happy.


----------



## SlipperKing (Jun 13, 2011)

I dido what Leo said!


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 13, 2011)

I agree, but I also think that a coarse, loose medium is helpful in getting air to the roots.


----------



## likespaphs (Jun 14, 2011)

if the leaf/leaves are damaged, the damage will not go away but if the problem is solved, it won't appear on the new growth
is it a new growth, a previously flowered growth?


----------



## BobR (Jun 19, 2011)

Apparently it's not in as much trouble as I thought. I just repotted. A couple of folks said there might be a problem with the roots since the spike has stopped growing. But not only did they look OK but it has 2 new plants forming. Could they be taking energy from the "mother ship" and be the cause of the spike not growing?


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 19, 2011)

I've had a couple Phrags whose spikes never fully developed. At some point, you probably should just cut it off and let the growing energy go to the new growths. And hope they bloom properly.


----------



## BobR (Jun 21, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> I've had a couple Phrags whose spikes never fully developed. At some point, you probably should just cut it off and let the growing energy go to the new growths. And hope they bloom properly.



You're probably right. But since I'm a softy and it's the first and only Phrag spike I've had to date, that's going to be hard to do.


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 21, 2011)

Yeah, I know -- we all like instant gratification!


----------



## BobR (Jun 26, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> I've had a couple Phrags whose spikes never fully developed. At some point, you probably should just cut it off and let the growing energy go to the new growths. And hope they bloom properly.


Of course you were right. ( I really knew you were, just couldn't bring myself to do it). When I did and sliced open the bud it was beginning to rot.
Going to change my watering habits - I'm going to remove the pebbles from the
saucers and let the pots stand in water until it has evaporated, and water
every 2 or 3 days. Going to try the MSU liquid fert. This stuff must be very
different - everything else suggests 1/8 - 1/2 tspn. per gal., this suggests
2 TABLESPOONS per! 
Thanks to all


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 27, 2011)

BobR said:


> Going to try the MSU liquid fert. This stuff must be very
> different - everything else suggests 1/8 - 1/2 tspn. per gal., this suggests
> 2 TABLESPOONS per!
> Thanks to all



It all depends on the concentrate. You can't compare the quantity of dry to the liquid form. Does it tell how how many parts per million N for the 2T per gallon?
The dry formula as we get it from the manufacturer (Greencare) is for 125 ppm.


----------



## BobR (Jun 27, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> It all depends on the concentrate. You can't compare the quantity of dry to the liquid form. Does it tell how how many parts per million N for the 2T per gallon?
> The dry formula as we get it from the manufacturer (Greencare) is for 125 ppm.


This is the analysis -
Macronutrients:
13.0% Total Nitrogen (Nitrate Nitrogen 12.5%, Ammoniacal Nitrogen 0.7%)
3.7% Available Phosphate (P2 O5)
15.9% Potash (K2O)
8.0% Calcium (Ca)
2.6% Magnesium (Mg)
Derived from calcium nitrate,magnesium nitrate,potassium nitrate and
monopotassium phosphat
Micronutrients:
0.177% Iron (Fe) - 0.088% Manganese (Mn) - 0.044% Zinc (Zn) 0.044% Copper (Cu) - 0.018% Boron (B) - 0.018% Molybdenum (Mo)
Derived from IronEDTA, manganese sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, boric acid, ammonium molybdate
Hope you understand it better than I do - no, I'm SURE you understand it better than I do!


----------



## SlipperFan (Jun 27, 2011)

What I meant was that 1/2 t. of dry might be the same ppm as 2 T. of liquid. Your supplier just has already dissolved the dry ingredients in water so you don't have to.

I posted this link in another thread, but maybe it will help here, also:
https://www.msu.edu/~goddengr/publications/publications.htm


----------

