New growth on orchid is yellowing.

[Wade Coleman]

So I got back about a week ago from vacation and that whole week my plants went without water. When I got back they all seemed alright. Some pseudobulbs were a little wrinkly, but all seemed well until a couple of days ago I noticed that my psycopsis’ new growth, that has been growing normally until now, is yellowing from the base of the leaf up.. I’m guessing it was because of the stress of not having water for a week (my psycopsis likes a lot of water). I’m not sure what to do or how to save this new growth. What do I do?

[estación seca]

All you can do is give it good care and hope for the best. The plant looks otherwise healthy, so it should push another growth if this one dies.

Not many orchids pushing new growth can keep the growth alive through a week of dry roots.

[Wade Coleman]

Okay, I’ll hope for the best. Next time I leave, I’ll be sure to have somebody water my plants with new growths. Thank you!

[PaphioAdict]

Might it be aborting the oldest growth naturally? Our plant died last year due to dryness too.

[Wade Coleman]

So I stopped by my local orchid nursery and asked the owner for some advice and he said that his best guess would be that spider mites are the culprit. It sounded weird at first, but as he explained it made more sense. I knew that there were spider mites and I was occasionally wiping the leaves down with alcohol, but not as frequently as I should have been. He said that because the pests tear away at the surface of the the leaf, it gives things like bacteria or fungi easy access into the tissue. So what I’m going to do is apply alcohol to the leaves twice a week to kill the little pests and remove any dying leaves and hope for the best.

[PaphioAdict]

Spider Mites.... good point. I have problems with these evil little bugs frequently in the past. This year it is scale all over everything. I have a paphiopedilum with it turning yellow toward the centre of the plant and the leaves are disfigured as well and I am wondering if it's spider mite damage. I think insect soap will stop the insect damage if that is what the problem is. I have used Safer's Insecticidal Soap and this deters most insects.