Paph is sick, please help!!!
 

Hi, guys,

One of my paphs produced an offspring and it is growing well so far. But the mother leaves at the base got brown like rusty... I do not overwater it, I don't know what kind of disease it is or a fungus. I'm afraid if the mother-plant will die prematurely, the baby won't survive or if the mother will pass the disease on its baby.. :(
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/8...ture078fv3.jpg

What might this be?? I love this plant a lot, I can't think of it dying:pray:

I couldn't wait for responses and took the plant out of pot. My gosh!! It didn't have any single alive root! All were rot!! I can't find the cause of it, I can't believe I overwatered it! I touched some roots--they easily slipped out, leaving long threads. This is the first time I saw such a mess. I also found some tiny pests in the pot. Now, I washed carefully all the roots in warm water, then sprayed it with fungicide. Then I potted it in a fresh mix, and now the only thing I can do is to pray for it. I still can't figure out what caused roots to rot, overwatering, pests, or fungus (that is still undefined) on the base of paph???? Is there any hope it will survive????

I looked at the pics and thought decayed roots as well...
good luck with the plant. The new growth may sprout new roots. I would have it in sphag

What caused roots to decay??

I think it was overwatering. The mix does look decayed and a decayed mix hold more water than before. remember to repot these guys, they'll do much better

Thank you, smartie2000,

I changed the pot and the mix. Can it survive like that or is it really necessary to have it in sphagnum?:roll:

Sphagnum is good but it will probably do okay in what you are using. Keep it warm, humid and under lower light...and don't forget a bit of air movement.

Do you know what sort of bug was in the mix? There are some pests that can prematurely decay the mix even if you do not overwater. If you do not know specifically what the pest was, then please try to describe it the best you can.

My first thought was over-watering. Paph's like to be a bit moist but they can be easily over-watered like any other. Do keep this orchid under lower lighting and keep good air movement, they like fresh air. Paph's are slow growers to you have to be patient. :pray: for a quick recovery.

The white speckles on the medium is that the pests you saw, could be the breaking down of the medium.

I have two others--paph and phrag, and they are doing well under the same conditions. God only knows, why it had decayed roots. I spotted some tiny, fast-moving pests in the old mix. I threw it away, washed thoroughly the roots and sprinkled them with fungicide. Then I put it in sphag and spray it every other day to keep it moist. It looks like the baby keeps growing!! So, I guess, will be fine!

Sounds like your doing exactly what it needs, sphag an mist every other day to promote root growth...good luck.

It's ironic with orchids of the same alliance that different growing conditions happen...I have just today moved my paph's around again, due to some producing some being just down right lazy...will only take a week to see a difference in the enviroment change....frustrating but extremely challenging.

This tiny pest is a first sign of overwatering. If you see them it means you need to decrease the amount of water or to repot the plant in another mix that will hold less water. Good luck with the paph!

Repot. Get rid of any dead roots.
Good air movement may help as well.

I wasn't sure if the threads which I encountered during repotting were "roots". I guess the velomen came off, but are they still alive? I didn't cut them, and, besides this was my first paph repotting process, so I decided not to experiment that far.

I don't have great experience with Paphs and Phrags, but that bark I recognize! It's way past time to repot! White specs are most probably rot-related and I think just about all orchids appreciate driesh conditions for the roots (that means they like to dry out over night).