What is this?

[Bolero]

I probably should know but have never seen this in any of my plants.......only a couple are affected but they are fairly rare hangianum hybrids so I want to save them if I can.

Will it spread? How do I treat these plants? None of the plants around them are affected so far. I have only had them a month or so and have been watering about twice a week.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Darren

[gerneveyn]

It looks like crown rot. I would remove the affected leaves and spray with an antimicrobial like physan.

[Ross]

Personally, I'd take it a couple steps further -- I'd trim all rot from any leaves with sterile tools (sterilize with heat and/or alcohol) then I would soak the entire plant (minus the potting material) in the Physan 20 solution. I'd get rid of the pots (or bake them to sterilize) then, if there are still any healthy roots left after all this, I'd repot with fresh medium and bag the plant/container without watering (just to keep humidity up but let cut parts dry and heal). Just my two cents.

[Bolero]

Thanks rsfrid, I am soaking them in a solution at the moment. Can't get physan in Oz but I think I have something similar.

I will leave them in it for 12 hours. Should I rinse off the solution before repotting them or should I leave it on them?

Thanks

[Ross]

You don't need to soak that long. 5-10 minutes should do it. Longer probably won't hurt, but isn't necessary (at least with Physan 20) Be sure to disinfect any blades you use before and after cutting the rotted tissue and roots away. Good luck.