Brand new Paphiopedilum Pinocchio disaster - Orchid Board

Ary · #1 04-25-2022, 01:14 PM

Hello! Firstly, I do apologise in case I'm doing something wrong in terms of posting here, this is my first post on a forum.

I had a slight disaster today, I just received my Paphiopedilum Pinocchio in the post today! My first paph! It was amazing... It had one mature fan with a flower spike with its first bud, just about to open. There are two more fans that are maturing they are fairly large as well as one little tiny one.

The issue came about as I was taking the paph out of the box, I checked it and saw that there were a few mealy bugs on the flower! I tried cleaning them off, however in the process I snapped the tip of the spike! I realise that there is no point keeping the spike as it can't rebloom anymore. Should I cut it?

How long does it take for the new fans to mature and flower again? This is my first paph and I was very excited to see the flowers! Any advice on how to perhaps speed up the growth?

As for the mealy bugs, it doesn't seem to be a bad infestation, they seemed to be on and around the bud only, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks guys!

Ray · #2 04-25-2022, 02:15 PM

Yes, you may remove the remains of the flower spike.

How long for the others to mature is as much about your culture as anything, but I'd say 9-12 months from their emergence isn't bad.

If the plant has mealy bugs, you need to treat the plant AND the potting medium, as they can live on the root system, too.

Ary · #3 04-25-2022, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray

Yes, you may remove the remains of the flower spike.

How long for the others to mature is as much about your culture as anything, but I'd say 9-12 months from their emergence isn't bad.

If the plant has mealy bugs, you need to treat the plant AND the potting medium, as they can live on the root system, too.

Oh that's good! I was worried it would take a lot longer!

As for the mealy bugs, I thoroughly inspected the plant and I could only see the bugs on the bud. I have it far away from my other plants. I ensured to spray and take off the bugs that I saw (around 5), I used isopropyl alcohol.
Should I use something else instead?

Thank you so much!

Ray · #4 04-25-2022, 02:50 PM

If you are sure you killed every mealy bug you saw, wait and see if they return. If they do, you'd be better of using a commercial insecticide.

estación seca · #5 04-25-2022, 11:35 PM

Unfortunately there are almost always more mealy bugs you can't see. There are several ways of dealing with mealy bugs. You can read about them here on Orchid Board in the Pests and Diseases forum here, accessible from the left yellow menu.

The vendor should not have sent you a plant with bugs.

Optimist · #6 05-16-2022, 09:13 AM

I have seen for the most part, orchids have one or more "new growths" that grow to mature size and then each have a flower. It is similar to Iris, (the plant), or even "bromiliads." The old growth acts as the factory for photo synthasis, but it is basically beyond maturity, and is a "provider" leaf until it dies. The new growths have the flowers. How long it takes to maturity is either a full "season," or maybe a bit longer. Good light and good care should help it stick to one season per growth. Like Iris (also) they do not have flowers if they are kept in a "too shady" spot. So (similarly) if the orchid does not get enough light it will grow and produce leaves, but not flower. If it goes one year from the last bloom without having another flower, it is usually a light issue (and I do not mean the artificial light schedual some nurseries give the plant to make it pretty to sell it.)-- Anyway, that is my experience and observation. -- And I have indeed had issues with blooming in the past. It was only after raising the amount of light they were given to far above what I "thought" that they started to reliably provide blooms on their natural schedual.

realoldbeachbum · #7 05-16-2022, 10:04 AM

Don't lose heart Ary! I did the same thing with a minature paph. They seem to bounce back quickly if given good growing conditions. Don't be surprised if the older fans turn brown and crispy. That happens often in my collection. (Don't pull them off, let them fall off on their own.)

Now to the mealy bugs: I have success with BioAdvanced Rose & Flower Spray 3 in 1 Formula. The two active ingredients are Tau-fluvalinate and Tebuconazole. I spray the entire plant and drench the media. So far this has been the best defense against mealy bug infestations in my environment. Happy growing. ROBB