Jewel orchid leaves going bad

[Nish07]

Hi,

I have several jewel orchids set up in a sealed tub (for humidity) planted in sphagnum with drainage. I think the conditions are fine and the ammount of light they're getting isn't too great. However, the leaves are starting to look burnt and chewed around the edges. Even new leaves are growing with spots underneath them where they look like a pest is eating at them. I'm fairly sure it isn't slugs as I got rid of that issue some time ago and the way the leaves are chewed (or burned) isn't as it was with the slugs.

Do any of you know what it might be that's causing this and what to use? I do not want to use a heavy insecticide as I plan on transplanting these into vivariums with frogs at some point.

Thanks,

-Nish

[littlefrog]

Have they just finished blooming? They die back a bit after blooming, and send new growths out from the base. That might be it.

Otherwise, I'd still suspect slugs (or snails). Try putting a nice juicy iceberg lettuce leaf into your container. I find that the inner leaves from the head work well. If you have slugs or snails again, they will be on the lettuce leaf within a day or two. Or you will see holes in the lettuce leaf.

[Ross]

I have many Jewells from Little Frog and some just have leaves the die for no reason. Plants just grow great guns, but a few back leaves turn yellows or reds and die. I figure it's part of the process. Don't know if this helps....

[Nish07]

Hey Rob,

The jewels grow just fine and I've even cut a few for propagation and they're growing fine. I had a few slugs initially but I CO2 bombed them for 24 hours and the few I found were dead. The way the leaves were dying when I had the slugs was different from now. I'd get holes in the center of the leaves. Now I'm getting burnt edges as the leaves grow and also from older leaves. It looks like a plant that's being burnt from too much light but I believe it to be some other pest as I saw a bunch of very very tiny white dots on a leaf at one point. Also, they're getting fairly low indirect light from some grow lights and 100 percent humidity so I'm nearly certain it's not the light. I'm considering spraying them down with alcohol in the event they're mealy worms but if they're mites I'm not sure how to deal with them in a way that would not be bad for the frogs.

-Nish

[littlefrog]

You might have managed the rare trick of too much humidity... The leaves might be rotting. The white dots could have been fungus? Try leaving the lid cracked a bit and sprinkling some cinnamon on them.

I doubt you have spider mites, they don't like high humidity. In a sealed terrarium I don't know where other pests would come from. Isopropyl alcohol is my first line of defense though. And the CO2 treatment is nice, but it won't get the slug eggs. You might have to do it a few times. I prefer 'sluggit' slug bait. It is perfectly frog safe, I have put it in tanks with frogs and absolutely no effect. It is iron phosphate.

I agree with Ross though. They go through phases. Winter is a time of year when you see some dead or dying leaves no matter how much you baby them. Perhaps because you are babying them...


EDIT: They aren't by any chance in a cooler spot, perhaps a slightly chilly basement or bottom shelf on the greenhouse? I've noticed in the last few weeks that the jewels on the lowest shelf in the greenhouse look like hell, I think they are getting too cold.

[Marty]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, quick question. Rob, where do you get slug-it? How do you apply it?

[Nish07]

Hey again Rob,

No, they're in my room which has daytime temps of 76 and night of around 68. The high humidity thing might be the problem... They're in a completely sealed tub (I used weather strip over the rim and then set glass on it). I also have a computer fan in the tub.

I do see a bunch of white egg looking things here and there but I don't know if they're responsible for the problem. I'll try lettuce to see if there are any sluggs but I checked them before repotting and didn't see any. I'll try cracking the lid a bit on some days to see if it changes anything.

-Nish

Originally Posted by littlefrog

You might have managed the rare trick of too much humidity... The leaves might be rotting. The white dots could have been fungus? Try leaving the lid cracked a bit and sprinkling some cinnamon on them.

I doubt you have spider mites, they don't like high humidity. In a sealed terrarium I don't know where other pests would come from. Isopropyl alcohol is my first line of defense though. And the CO2 treatment is nice, but it won't get the slug eggs. You might have to do it a few times. I prefer 'sluggit' slug bait. It is perfectly frog safe, I have put it in tanks with frogs and absolutely no effect. It is iron phosphate.

I agree with Ross though. They go through phases. Winter is a time of year when you see some dead or dying leaves no matter how much you baby them. Perhaps because you are babying them...


EDIT: They aren't by any chance in a cooler spot, perhaps a slightly chilly basement or bottom shelf on the greenhouse? I've noticed in the last few weeks that the jewels on the lowest shelf in the greenhouse look like hell, I think they are getting too cold.

[littlefrog]

You can get sluggit at any home center (home depot, lowes, etc). Actually there are a bunch of different brands with different names now. I can't remember all of them. I have a blue bottle of ortho brand 'dual action' snail and slug killer, it is the same thing. Probably all made at the same factory and labeled differently.

Look for 1% iron phosphate. The other 99% is filler and some sort of sugar based pellet stuff. The sugar molds and that is what attracts the slugs to the bait (I think). It doesn't look pretty but it works.

[Nish07]

Hey Rob or anyone else who might know,

I found a snail trail looking thing on the top of my tub today and got ambitious so I threw what I saw at the end of it under the scope (I could see it on my finger after pulling it off of the glass but it was a very small speck). I wasn't sure if it was a baby slug or not but I'm fairly sure it's not now. Here are some pics.







I'm not sure what kind of mite it is (or if it's something else) but I'd guess this is my main problem. I'm seeing similar trails in my other plant tank as well as tiny dots on one of my other plants that isn't in a tank.

Anyone have any suggestions?

-Nish

Originally Posted by littlefrog

You might have managed the rare trick of too much humidity... The leaves might be rotting. The white dots could have been fungus? Try leaving the lid cracked a bit and sprinkling some cinnamon on them.

I doubt you have spider mites, they don't like high humidity. In a sealed terrarium I don't know where other pests would come from. Isopropyl alcohol is my first line of defense though. And the CO2 treatment is nice, but it won't get the slug eggs. You might have to do it a few times. I prefer 'sluggit' slug bait. It is perfectly frog safe, I have put it in tanks with frogs and absolutely no effect. It is iron phosphate.

I agree with Ross though. They go through phases. Winter is a time of year when you see some dead or dying leaves no matter how much you baby them. Perhaps because you are babying them...


EDIT: They aren't by any chance in a cooler spot, perhaps a slightly chilly basement or bottom shelf on the greenhouse? I've noticed in the last few weeks that the jewels on the lowest shelf in the greenhouse look like hell, I think they are getting too cold.