sticky substance on underside of Phal leaves
 

Hi guys, I don't know if this is a problem or not but for the longest time, I would have 'chids who had some sticky residue on the underside of some of the leaves. These leaves are not totally covered in the residue but I am curious on what it is. It also reminds me of the crystals on sugar. I don't know if the plant is secreting something like maybe getting rid of excess salts or something. The plant looks great otherwise, it has even started to throw out new roots in preparation for new leaves and spike.

mary

It's probably just some honeydue, It's supposed to taste sweet. Perhaps for us, it could replace toast and jam? :biggrin:
I tend to clean mine off when I see it, It has led to mold on my dends.

Hi Gloria, I have been cleaning it off, but wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something the plant needed to keep or it was trying to tell me something. Do you have any idea what it actually is? If its sweet, maybe its another attempt by the plant to get pollinated by insects? regards, mary

I have read it is a result of high moisture pressure in plant cells and they exude a bit of moisture to balance pressures. All I know for sure is I see it lots of plants - not just orchids. I get it on flower spikes, etc.

What he said.

I used to have a huge Aerides lawrencea that produced tons of the stuff. Especially on the buds / tips of the growing inflourescences. It was so thick, i looked like i poured syrup on them. The ants loved the stuff. They'd sit there all day drinking. It tasted kinda like sugar. Didnt make me hallucinate, and i seem OK otherwise.

That is one thing to watch for, as it can be quite an insect attractant. It washes away easily with water.

I tasted it off my phals also and it was sweet as sugar water - no hallucinations either :coverlaugh:

I always have sugar ants coming on my porch searching all of the flowers. They usually stay towards the back-side of the flower, eating all the secretions. They don't hurt anything, I guess they're just cleaning them off for me.

I saw little droplets of sap when I had a mite problem. They don't just burrow in and feed. They bite a hole here, then a hole there. Pretty soon you have a leaf underside drilled full of microscopic holes and "bleeding". Wash leaves well with tepid water to reduce population, then treat with mitricide. you could also coat leaves top and bottom with Neem oil using a damp paper towel if you dislike pesticides.

It's almost certainly not just honeydew and IS a problem. Mealies (the mealy bug) cause this problem and it doesn't have to be an infestation to cause it either so you may not even see the mealies. But the sap is a dead giveaway! I treated a phal of mine at home by using a cottonball soaked with rubbing alchohol and wiped down the leaves, making sure to remove all of the sap. If you've caught it early enough this should work just fine. Keep a close eye on it as you may need to treat it a few times. This is exactly what I did with my phal and it is doing really well now. And no, the alcohol does not hurt the plant. Good luck :)