Black areas on new cattleya-Help!
 

I just got this cattlye from Crystal Star Orchids who in turn got it from Sunset valley Orchids. I suspect it has been bare root and wrapped for likely a minimum of 1 1/2 weeks :(

I got it bare root, very wet and wrapped in saran. There are several OK roots and the rest are queastionable. I cut off some dead ones, cleaned them well and soaked in water with KLN and a bit of SuperThrive and sugar. Then I let them have some air overnight as they were already saturated. But I noticed that the lower part of several leaves and those pseudobulbs have black areas. It is firm to the touch and I wiped them with hydrogen peroxide. I don't have Physan or anything as we can't get it here.

any ideas of what this is. I am leaving for the weekend to the orchid show in Calgary tomorrow morning so can't even keep an eye on it. Guess I will also put some sulfur powder on it and keep it away from everything else unless someone has some ideas.

If not for the soggy roots and this black, the plant looked fairly substantial and healthy. 2 small new growths, but one was broken off :((

I think someone else has just asked about the same sort of thing, black rot, in another post.
Leafmite

I saw that post and read an attached article but none of the descriptions seemed to match mine. the leaves are firm even under the black (so far). No wet sunken areas or anything. Or shrivelling and drying either.

I'm glad it isn't the same thing. That link was sort of worrisome. Maybe sunburn or some past damage? When I have a problem, there are a few sites I go to for help. Cloud's is one at Cloud's Orchids and another is: St. Augustine Orchid Society - North Florida Orchid Growing that also has great pictures and explanations. I probably have a few others bookmarked if you don't find it on one of these. The question is: Why do our orchids do this just before we have to go somewhere?
Hope it is nothing,
Leafmite

Thanks Leafmite. I did check but still don't see anything similar. I suspect its from being shipped bare-root and packed with wet roots for a long time. I did use peroxide and will maybe swab it again before I leave in the morning. Clouds had no picture but said it could be cold damage. That is possible, but then the others that were shipped with it should look the same and it would likely be leaf tips.

Oh well, I will hope it stays as is till I get home at least. It is in a fairly warm, draft free place in the house away from all others.

The best way to figure out what it is ... is to watch what it does.

But watch it closely in case it is something fast-moving.

I've had luck using alcohol to stop a very fast moving rot. Maybe dab the black spots with alcohol or a fungicide/bacteria killer to be on the safe side before leaving (Too bad we can't use bleach on our plants. Sigh. Love that stuff.). You might want to do the rest of the plant as well, in case the infection is spreading, just not yet visibly affecting the plant. As Eyebabe has pointed out, even if it sits there innocently now, it might spring into action when you are gone. I am concerned that it could be bacterial. I had a pear tree that got a bacterial infection called fire blight. The leaves,branches and fruit would look burned. Dry as a crisp, black. It would ignite into action after you saw a few little spots on the leaves. We had to cut the branches off, seal them in bags and dispose of them. We had to sterilize the cutting tools in between cuttings. And we sprayed with a spray, especially for fire blight. Finally, the tree had two branches left and we gave up and cut it down. Never was there anything mushy or soft. I don't know if orchids get this sort of thing. I hope not. Just concerned, of course. Maybe a little paranoid. Probably, it's nothing.
Leafmite

Well, after being away for 3 days and unable to do anything if it did spread, the plant loos the same and no worse. I would have said sun burn had it not been in the lower more shaded areas and left soaking wet en route for many days.

I did wipe it down again with hydrogen peroxide the Fri. morning before I left and so far it looks OK and the black hasn't spread or turned soft. guess I will just watch and wait!

Silken, I was just given a pair of Brassavola noid seedlings, and they have similar black spots/blotches on them. The guy told me that the spots are normal. I am very new to growing Catt alliance, but I have been told by different people that these type markings are normal for certain species. I know Ascocentrum miniatum gets spots similar to this when it is getting sufficient light. Hope that helps. I would look up the lineage of your new addition and see if any of them carry these marks. :)

Thanks for the info. I will see if I can dig anything up. These are hybrids with quite a few different types in the background and none of my other hybrid catts have this. However, at the moment it seems to not be causing a problem, so that may be the case. Come to think of it, I did get one catt from a grower with similar black on the back of a leaf and it was fairly extensive. I circled it and it never increased and the plant seems quite healthy and robust. But that too looked like possible sunburn although on the back of the leaf. It may be the same thing. I hope you are right and I have nothing to worry about. Just got back from an orchid show with 6 new plants :)