vanda rotting spikes

[karate kid]

Hello guys and gals so here I am again trying to get some help with my vanda ,as I have said before I don’t grow vanda in wires or basket I I grow them to my improvised wood like they were grown in the Philippines the only difference is I use a wood from home depot ha ha ha ..anyway heres my story been growing vandas for 3 years now here in the USA but been around with them in the Philippines for a while and for the first 2 years all is well everything is blooming fine for every pot that I have which is with 3 pieces of wood I place 6-7 vandas out there and it just keeps on blooming and every spike will bloom into completion what I meant is full bloom that would last from 1 month to a 1 ½ or maybe 2 months ..well right now its showing differently.heres what is happening.

1. At one point in time I have 15 spikes that would bloom to 15 comple full bloom completion for 1 ½ month.right now 15 spikes will bloom but only 1 or 2 will bloom fully .its either the the spikes will get brown and die or they will bloom I would say half bake because they don’t open fully or they will bloom but only for 5 days and start withering..pls don’t tell me that some occurs naturally which I understand that they turn brown or what but this is occurring 13 out of 15 spikes that’s not natural that is a disaster..wont be adding any vanda to my plants now (have 30 of them)till I fix this problem with the help of you guys.ok I hope I have the images sets in

2.this were my interventions.im fertilizing them weekly /weakly ok and I thought I kind of burn them tried to switch to different fertilizer ,I tried not to fertilize them for 3 months if there is any effect on the newly formed spike ,I tried to fertilize the roots only and not the leaves but im telling you I water them first before fertilizing ..im doing I think what a responsible orchid grower will do but no effect or change.in addition not a lot of new root formation ..when I apply fertilizer I put them on a 3 galon sprayer and just spray it on.

3. Tried to look at the brown spike and flowers and notice some insects black ones and tried insecticide and fungicide and still I have the same problem .

Ok I need to know from you intelligent people what is the problem that my vanda is going on right now and the intervention that I need to do so I will be a happy grower instead of a frustrated one??any suggestions is always welcome guys/gals thanks in advance[IMG][IMG][/IMG][/IMG]
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[karate kid]

adding another image[IMG][/IMG]

[karate kid]

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2 rotten spikes

[karate kid]

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heres how i grow my vandas

[taipan]

Although the plants look fine it appears that the roots dont seem to attach themselves to the timber your using. You say you bought the timber from Home depot. Do you know if they treat the timber with any sort of chemicals, alternatively if it is a pine it may release resin which would inhibit root growth. Back in the P/pinnes you were probably using a hardwood which would be suitable for growing orchids also the timber would not have been treated. As mentioned the plants look fine as the foliage & roots ( in the air ) are taking up the fertilizer.

[dgenovese1]

Hi Karate Kid,

While I don't see any thrips in your photos, they way they look and what you are describing sounds to me like you are having a thrips infestation. Thrips feed on orchid blooms and buds...they are very tiny and very fast, and you don't see them during the day very much unless the infestation is severe. They can be brown, black or greenish yellow, depending on your location. I know from my first exposure to them...and it can be heart sickening to encounter the damage in one's collection.

I use Orthene to control thrips...it does not damage the blooms or buds if used according to the instructions, although it sometimes leaves a whitish residue. You need to spray at least twice, and sometimes 3 times depending on how bad the problem is, about 7 to 10 days apart. This way the babies that hatch from the eggs after the first spraying will die before they lay even more eggs.

i know that you mentioned you sprayed once, but I would still suggest you get out your magnifying lens and see if you can catch any of these little buggers in the act. Good Luck!

[Marissa]

Protection from the Elements
To withstand the elements, wood is chemically protected through a process called pressure treating, which wards off insects, microorganisms and fungal decay. The most common types of chemical used to treat wood are Alkaline Copper Quaternary (ACQ), Copper Azole (CA), and, the newest type, Micronized Copper Quaternary (MCQ). Pressure treated lumber can last 20 years or more, and most pressure treated wood comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

This was taken from one of Home Depot's supplier of Lumber, although I have no clue how the chemical they use to treat the wood affect orchids. I'm sure a lot of other members will be able to help you.

Home Depot's here in Cali carry grapewood in different sizes which they usually use to mount Tillandsias and Bromeliads or you can check this website Rainforest - Ruggedly Elegant Outerwear for Men and Women

[Marissa]

Okay, for some reason the website did not come out right. It is w w w.rainforestflora.com

[karate kid]

to taipan,
thanks for the help but as far as i am concern this are not treated woods and if you look closely that is a brand new wood im talking about the lighter color wood ..my vandas were actually transplanted from a real tree bark then to this wood about 6 months ago the tree bark just wears off easily ,decayed after a year- so knowing this guys they dont want to be messed up specially the roots so i opted to something that would last at least for so many years but actually on the wood that i bought from home depot the one that is 3 years old now they attached themselvespretty good there and still have a lot of aerial roots ..do you know of anything that would burn their roots and any remedy at all?..i just noticed that they would have like the green color then eventually turn to brown and stopped growing ,i water before i fertilize i apply superthrive once a month just started 3 months ago..any suggestion would be highly appreciated

[karate kid]

to david ,
thanks for the help i think i would really agree with you i did spray them with that 3 in one fungicide and insecticide x 1 time only because im scared that it would damage the plant but i did see some of those black tiny insects inside the rotten spike and the newly erupted spikes,,a lot of them you are very right im probably have thrips infestation ..im just 50/50 of leaning towards thrips or chemical fertilizer burn at the time because of i dont know that much information about thrips till i heard from you and the link on that sticky thing ....anyway thanks so much ...you mentioned orthene is that available on local stores like walmart ,lowes or depot? and can i spray it all over the plants from down the roots to the leaves and blooms without damaging the plant? thanks so much in advance .