It shakes our gardener's heart to the core when the lovingly tended orchid falls ill. Now a detailed analysis of the causes is important in order to choose the right method of treatment. This overview gives you the most important symptoms of common orchid diseases with tips on possible treatment methods.

Diseases and pests do not stop at orchids

Recognize and treat fungal infections - this is how it works

Stubborn fungal infections are widespread among orchids. Regardless of the current pathogen, the disease manifests itself as a white coating due to powdery mildew or as brown-black spots due to leaf spot disease on the previously lush green leaves. If the infestation is limited to the foliage without affecting shoots, bulbs or aerial roots, fight the fungal disease with natural means. That is how it goes:

  • Quarantine the infected orchid to prevent further spread
  • Cut off the affected leaves with a disinfected scalpel and throw them in the household waste
  • For brown leaf spots, mix a paste of lime-free water and cinnamon and brush the plant with it
  • If the coating is white, add 125 ml of fresh milk to 1,000 ml of soft water and spray on every 2 days

Ecologically oriented orchid gardeners also treat these diseases with garlic broth. To do this, bring 500 ml of water to a boil and pour over 4-5 crushed cloves of garlic. After half a day, sift off the liquid and spray the infected orchid with the decoction every 2 days.

Bacterial diseases target soft-leaved orchids

If sharply defined, black spots without a light border appear on orchid leaves, you are dealing with a life-threatening bacterial disease. As the patches expand, the remaining tissue becomes slimy-damp and the foliage dies. The popular Phalaenopsis in particular are prone to infestation due to their soft leaves. How to deal with orchid disease:

  • Immediately isolate the diseased orchid from other plants
  • Cut off the affected leaves with a disinfected scalpel
  • Dust the cuts with cinnamon or charcoal ash

In the quarantine room, the orchid is no longer sprayed and watered more sparingly. If the plant has a stable constitution thanks to professional care, it will fight off the bacteria and recover. Effective treatment methods are not yet available, so that weakened orchids are hopelessly lost. For some time now there has been hope, since fungicides based on difenoconazole have proven to be helpful in practice.

Blossom drop is not always a symptom of disease

If the foliage is affected by a disease, sooner or later the supply to the flowers will come to a standstill and they will fall off. Successfully combating the disease on the leaves also stops the fall of flowers. However, if the flowers fall off despite healthy leaves, the shortcoming stems from an omission in the care protocol. To get to the bottom of the cause, carefully examine the site conditions:

  • A cold draft over a long period of time causes the flowers to fall off
  • Continuously warm heating air from below damages buds and blossoms
  • When there is a lack of light, the orchid sheds its flowers

Do not place a fruit basket with ripening apples, pears or similar fruits near your orchids. The escaping ripening gas ethylene causes the flowers to wither prematurely.

Lice carry sooty mold with them

All kinds of lice act as biting and sucking pests. During their shameful activities, aphids, scale insects and the like excrete honeydew. This sugary excretion forms an ideal breeding ground for sooty mold. This is a widespread sooty fungus that begins to spread on the underside of leaves. The resulting black spots hinder the vital photosynthesis. Fighting lice also cures the disease. That is how it goes:

  • Shower off the orchid infested with lice using the hardest possible jet of water
  • Then wipe the leaves on the top and bottom with vinegar water
  • Alternatively, make a spray solution from 1 liter of water and 15 ml of pure soft soap (€44.90) and use it every 2 days

Stay on the heels of the lice until there are no more pests cavorting on the leaves. If you are dealing with hardened scale insects, they are immune to the classic soap solution. In this case, you cannot avoid dabbing the lice one by one with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol. Most orchids react by shedding their leaves when they are sprayed over a large area with solutions containing alcohol.

tips

One of the mainstays in the care of orchids is the use of lime-free water. Collected and filtered rainwater is ideal, as the noble flowers are used to from the tropical rainforest. Where there is no space for a rain barrel, resourceful hobby gardeners use this trick: 1 liter of peat is filled into a cotton bag and hung in a large watering can. Within 3 days the peat has removed most of the lime from the water.

Category:

Indoor plants