Pale leaves with green veining

[Roots]

I have two miniature paphs whose new growth is pale with green veining, Little Charlie and Sandra Helen's Maha. They are the only two in my collection which have this noticeable veining. They were on a windowsill here in the very dark PNW but were move under lights about a week ago-as were all my other plants.

I found a suggestion that sulfur deficiency could cause this veining in this thread: https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/too-much-light-for-newer-phrag-growths.57027/post-767701. I checked my tap water and it doesn't seem to have any sulfur in it. So, my last three waterings I have alternated between Epsom salts and gypsum, 1/4 teas. /g, instead of the normal cal/mag addition. I haven't seen much change.

I am wondering if this is a light issue or a nutrient issue? Am I too impatient and just need to give more time for the lights and the Epsom/gypsum to have an impact? Or, do I need to look deeper into my fertilizer composition? Is it possible this is a virus?

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas on this.

 

[CharlesD]

Plant will appreciate epsom salts regardless. I mean as long as it matures to a regular green as the leaf gets bigger I think it’s fine. Plant looks healthy. If mature leaf still looks like that then worth reassessing but I don’t think plant looks very nutrient deficient

 

[gonewild]

I believe the green veining you are seeing is actually underlying genetic leaf mottling. It becomes more visible when the leaves loose chlorophyll from an imbalance between light and nutrients.

 

[Roots]

Ahh, so maybe not enough light and too many nutrients? Thanks to both of you. Maybe with some additional artificial lighting and lighter hand with fert. things will improve. I appreciate the advice.

 

[gonewild]

Ahh, so maybe not enough light and too many nutrients? Thanks to both of you. Maybe with some additional artificial lighting and lighter hand with fert. things will improve. I appreciate the advice.

Usually pale leaves result from too much light and not enough nutrients.
What fertilizer do you normally use and how much do you apply?
What is your water qualities?
What is your light source and intensity?

 

[Stone]

When you grow hydroponically, your fertilizing has to be spot on since there are no colloides for cation exchange and buffering. No ''bank'' of nutrients from humus.
No humus means no buffering and you can quickly run into problems of deficiencies and toxicities (less frequent) and pH problems unless you are really on top of things. Each plant or cultivar behaves individually as well.
Chlorosis in the new leaves is usually due to a deficiency in either Fe, Mn, Zn, B or Cu. An imbalance between them can produce symptoms of something else. For example too much Mn can show up as an Iron deficiency etc.
You need to experiment with nutrients and pH but it's much easier to manage with an organic medium. Personally I think it's crazy growing Paphs hydroponically when they do so well in bark or fibre mixes.
Applying something like N or Mg can make thing worse!

 

[Ozpaph]

Basically, what he said ^^^^^^

 

[Ray]

Suggesting that growing plants a certain way is “crazy” is insulting and/or narrow-minded. There are multiple ways to accomplish anything in orchid-growing, considering the diversity in growing conditions.

Personally, I like growing in inert media, as that give me control over the feeding regimen and greatly reduces issues with media changes over time.

@Roots - what is your current routine feeding regimen? Fertilizer formula? Amount dissolved per gallon? Frequency of application? Application technique?