# Possible Rot on my Phrag?



## Susie11 (Mar 1, 2012)

I have just noticed today a suspicious brown mark on my phrag Paul Eugene Conroy. I hope to God it isn't bacterial as I have no desire to get rid of this phrag. I have yet to get it to bloom and I have only had it for about three months! I have already taken preventative action by removing the infected parts and pouring hydrogen peroxide all over it. I have also repotted and crossed my fingers. If thee is anything else that I need to do please let me know.


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## Paphman910 (Mar 1, 2012)

Remove the the lowest leaf and then remove the other leaf with the rot! Hopefully it hasn't spread! I would treat it with H2O2 and cinnamon. It happens in the leaf axil when roots push out of the leaf and damages the leaf to let bacteria or fungus into the leaf tissue. 

Also check the root health of this plant to see how it is doing!

I am not sure if rockwool is a good medium for this hybrid as it has Phrag wallisii blood in it! This plant may like medium to be dry out in between watering but I am not really sure about it!

Paphman910


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## NYEric (Mar 1, 2012)

Paphman910 said:


> Remove the the lowest leaf and then remove the other leaf with the rot! Hopefully it hasn't spread! I would treat it with H2O2 and cinnamon.


PULL (i.e. not cut) them off and treat with the abovementioned or something stronger like a Physan solution but then it must dry out. 



Paphman910 said:


> It happens in the leaf axil when roots push out of the leaf and damages the leaf to let bacteria or fungus into the leaf tissue.
> Paphman910


that's not from root growth but from moisture sitting there.


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## Susie11 (Mar 1, 2012)

Paphman910 said:


> Remove the the lowest leaf and then remove the other leaf with the rot! Hopefully it hasn't spread! I would treat it with H2O2 and cinnamon. It happens in the leaf axil when roots push out of the leaf and damages the leaf to let bacteria or fungus into the leaf tissue.
> 
> Also check the root health of this plant to see how it is doing!
> 
> ...



Great advice paphman910. I have removed all of the affected areas and I can see no evidence that the rot has got all of the way through to the crown. Thank God for the h/P. I will also -just for precaution- dust with cinnamon. All of my phrags are potted in Rockwool -apart from my Wallisii x Caudatum (Tall Tails) and they are really doing well in it. It was originally in rockwool cubes but it is now in a spun rockwool and perlite mix instead. Fingers crossed.


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## Susie11 (Mar 1, 2012)

NYEric said:


> PULL (i.e. not cut) them off and treat with the abovementioned or something stronger like a Physan solution but then it must dry out.
> 
> 
> that's not from root growth but from moisture sitting there.




Hi Eric,
I pulled and poured hydrogen peroxide over it but I don't think that it was totally dry before I repotted?? Should I do it again?


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## NYEric (Mar 1, 2012)

Just make sure to use a tissue or something to blot any moisture from btwn the leaves. Then dust with Cinnamon. It sucks that plants that need so much water in root areas dont handle moisture in the leaves in a home environment.


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## Susie11 (Mar 1, 2012)

NYEric said:


> Just make sure to use a tissue or something to blot any moisture from btwn the leaves. Then dust with Cinnamon. It sucks that plants that need so much water in root areas dont handle moisture in the leaves in a home environment.



It's been quite dry in my house and I really didn't notice high levels of humidity so I am surprised that it happened. This plant gets less water than any other plants in my collection. When I repotted I did notice that there was bright coloured teal / greyish mold growing on the medium in the base of the pot so maybe that's what caused it? Anyway, it's been doused in h/p and repotted so I am hopeful that it will be o.k. I am just glad that I noticed it in time.


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## Paphman910 (Mar 1, 2012)

I find that using a fan to keep the air circulating really helps in drying out the moisture in the leafaxil during the cooler nights.

Paphman910


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## likespaphs (Mar 1, 2012)

NYEric said:


> PULL (i.e. not cut) them off ....



why?


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## Susie11 (Mar 1, 2012)

Paphman910 said:


> I find that using a fan to keep the air circulating really helps in drying out the moisture in the leafaxil during the cooler nights.
> 
> Paphman910



Thanks Paphman. That will have to be next on the list of things to get.


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## Paphman910 (Mar 1, 2012)

Cool nights in combination with moisture in the leaf axil and no air circulation leads to rot!


Paphman910


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## NYEric (Mar 1, 2012)

likespaphs said:


> why?


 If you cut them that exposed the cells inside the remaining leaf part and almost ensures infection. Glen Decker taught me that!


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## likespaphs (Mar 1, 2012)

okay, but i thought pulling could tear the leaf and make the wounds harder for the plant to heal itself.
if the leaf pulls off easily, that's a different story of course


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## Paphman910 (Mar 1, 2012)

NYEric said:


> If you cut them that exposed the cells inside the remaining leaf part and almost ensures infection. Glen Decker taught me that!



Pullling the leaf off can pose problems! My friend once pulled a sick leaf of a Paph sanderianum..... guess what happened? He pulled out the new growth out as well! 

What I would do is cut the leaf along the leaf fold and then strip the two parts off. Towards to bottom I would pull it to remove as much of the infected leaf.

Paphman910


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## Susie11 (Mar 1, 2012)

My leaves were extremely hard to remove as they were very tight around the growth. I pulled hard though and I managed to get them off. I am nervous now about seeing it on the next leaf but I suppose that if there is no reinfection overnight on the next leaf -that is covered with cinnamon now, then I can be pretty sure that I have got it all?


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## Paphman910 (Mar 1, 2012)

Susie11 said:


> My leaves were extremely hard to remove as they were very tight around the growth. I pulled hard though and I managed to get them off. I am nervous now about seeing it on the next leaf but I suppose that if there is no reinfection overnight on the next leaf -that is covered with cinnamon now, then I can be pretty sure that I have got it all?



Keep an eye on it for the next 2-3 weeks!

Paphman910


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## Shiva (Mar 1, 2012)

After using hydrogen peroxyde, I usually add a few pinches of sulfur on the affected area. I find it helps fight off other possible infections.


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## jtrmd (Mar 1, 2012)

Paphman910 said:


> My friend once pulled a sick leaf of a Paph sanderianum..... guess what happened? He pulled out the new growth out as well!



HAHAAHA!I am really good at that!I like to randomly knock plants off the bench when watering too


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## Rick (Mar 1, 2012)

Just as an alternative I use Dragons Blood instead of HP or Physan (which I never had much luck with in the past).

I pot my long petalled phrag species in moss baskets instead of pots of various media. That tends to insure I can water heavy and still have them dry out well.

Using the low K high Ca/Mg feeding the overall problems I have with erwinia have tapered off dramatically, and pretty much restricted to old growth when I see it at all now. As Paphman noted it is associated with new root or shoot growth cutting through the old leaves.

Adding a pinch of "Cichlid Sand" around the base of a rotting growth also seems to either contain the spread, or augment the effectiveness of the DB/cinnomen treatment. CichlidSand is aragonite. So kind of a topical local application of calcium carbonate. Apparently it's friable enough to modulate pH.

You probably could also a pinch of pelletized lime.


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## Erythrone (Mar 1, 2012)

I had a Phrag Grande that was very prone to rot when it was grown it in bark mix. It is now in straight rock wool and I didn't see any sign of rot since one year. Usually, I was fighting with disease from fall to spring on that plant. But maybe it is not the same kind of rockwool as yours. I buy rockwool "bread" that I cut in rather large pieces (more than a inch).


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## NYEric (Mar 1, 2012)

I would use Dragon's Blood also if I had any. Also, I use Captan or lime powder instead of cinnamon, for the record!


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## Susie11 (Mar 3, 2012)

Shiva said:


> After using hydrogen peroxyde, I usually add a few pinches of sulfur on the affected area. I find it helps fight off other possible infections.





jtrmd said:


> HAHAAHA!I am really good at that!I like to randomly knock plants off the bench when watering too





Paphman910 said:


> Keep an eye on it for the next 2-3 weeks!
> 
> Paphman910



Thanks Guys. I will keep an eye on it and hope for the nest. So far it looks fine, I can see now suspicious areas of brown soggy tissue so so far so good. I think it has been helpful experiencing this outburst as now I know what to do if /when it should ever happen again.


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## Susie11 (Mar 3, 2012)

NYEric said:


> I would use Dragon's Blood also if I had any. Also, I use Captan or lime powder instead of cinnamon, for the record!



Don't have any of those brands so I'll have to stick with good old cinnamon for now. I shall keep my eyes open though for some Dragon's Blood -sounds nice.


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## Susie11 (Mar 3, 2012)

Rick said:


> Just as an alternative I use Dragons Blood instead of HP or Physan (which I never had much luck with in the past).
> 
> I pot my long petalled phrag species in moss baskets instead of pots of various media. That tends to insure I can water heavy and still have them dry out well.
> 
> ...



I have a Tall Tails in moss and it is doing just fine in it. I like it as a medium and will use it more I think as I get more phrags.




Erythrone said:


> I had a Phrag Grande that was very prone to rot when it was grown it in bark mix. It is now in straight rock wool and I didn't see any sign of rot since one year. Usually, I was fighting with disease from fall to spring on that plant. But maybe it is not the same kind of rockwool as yours. I buy rockwool "bread" that I cut in rather large pieces (more than a inch).



All of my other phrags are in rockwool and it is the best medium I think -for me anyway. I use a mixture of rockwool spun or loose and about 1/3 perlite. It is very easy to use and it is really convenient. My Mont Fallu has put out four new growths in about six months so for me, it works very well.


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## NYEric (Mar 3, 2012)

Susie11 said:


> Don't have any of those brands so I'll have to stick with good old cinnamon for now. I shall keep my eyes open though for some Dragon's Blood -sounds nice.


Dragon's blood is sold by a STF member Gonewild's company. It is made from natural resins from some plant in Peru and works really well against rots. Since I grow in water mine is almost always used up!


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## Susie11 (Mar 3, 2012)

NYEric said:


> Dragon's blood is sold by a STF member Gonewild's company. It is made from natural resins from some plant in Peru and works really well against rots. Since I grow in water mine is almost always used up!



Well I shall have to Google and see if it is available over here -I doubt it but you never know. Thanks Eric. 

So do you grow in semi or full hydroponics?


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## NYEric (Mar 3, 2012)

Not exactly hydroponic, i sometimes use organic media; besides that, both.


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## Silvan (Mar 7, 2012)

Funny but I had the same type of rotting on my Leslie's Hair (Nitidissimum x popowii) last summer.. almost lost the plant... and I assumed it was due to the heat (slightly over 80F)
Maybe your plant is suffering from heat too ?


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## Susie11 (Mar 7, 2012)

Silvan said:


> Funny but I had the same type of rotting on my Leslie's Hair (Nitidissimum x popowii) last summer.. almost lost the plant... and I assumed it was due to the heat (slightly over 80F)
> Maybe your plant is suffering from heat too ?



Suffering from the heat? -in an English winter?? lol. - I wish! I don't heat my house as it would mean that I would have to win the lottery to do so so no, I don't think that it was that. I think what happened was that I misted the air a few times a few weeks ago as I noticed that my humidity was quite low. Normally in my house, because I am on the 14 floor of a tower block my humidity is at about 60 -70. However, I noticed that on a few days it had gone down to 40 and so I decided to help out my phrags by misting them. I haven't done it before and so I believe that the extra moisture added to the many cold nights that we have been having must have allowed the leaves to harbour liquid and so I developed rot. Hence to say, I will not be spraying again.


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## Silvan (Mar 7, 2012)

Susie11 said:


> Suffering from the heat? -in an English winter?? lol. - I wish! I don't heat my house as it would mean that I would have to win the lottery to do so so no, I don't think that it was that. I think what happened was that I misted the air a few times a few weeks ago as I noticed that my humidity was quite low. Normally in my house, because I am on the 14 floor of a tower block my humidity is at about 60 -70. However, I noticed that on a few days it had gone down to 40 and so I decided to help out my phrags by misting them. I haven't done it before and so I believe that the extra moisture added to the many cold nights that we have been having must have allowed the leaves to harbour liquid and so I developed rot. Hence to say, I will not be spraying again.



ok, it just seemed similar to the rot I had... but at the same time wallisii is suppose to be one of those that are more heat resistant..keep us posted 
I know misting can be one of the worst idea ever.. had a really bad experience with my kovachii..





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## Susie11 (Mar 7, 2012)

Silvan said:


> ok, it just seemed similar to the rot I had... but at the same time wallisii is suppose to be one of those that are more heat resistant..keep us posted
> I know misting can be one of the worst idea ever.. had a really bad experience with my kovachii..
> 
> 
> ...



Hope your Kovachii is ok now. I want one of those beauties myself.


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