Newbie with ?'s on Brasavola Nodosa

[edalfonso]

Hi folks,
I have been growing orchids for about a year now. I currently have a greenhouse that I have built in my basement where I get my little babies.
Recently I have found one of my orchids has a problem and I need some help. The plant has red blotches on it that look like it comes from inside the plant. If anyone has seen this before I would appreciate some help. I have included a photo

[mayres]

What kind of lighting conditions? Do you have this under high intensity lighting? If so, how close to the source?

[edalfonso]

It is under fluorescent lights 4 tubes, 2x Phillips Day-light Delux & 2x Phillips Natural Sunshine for about 14 hours. It is hanging about 6 inches from the bulbs.
Ed

[Daniel S. Barrett]

hi,
i've grown under light for years, & I've never seen a plant turn red like that from just 4 Flouresent lights. It would be possible from being to close to Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium bulbs. Turning red like that is usually a plants reaction from too much sunshine. Nodosas love the sun. if you're using Halide or Sodium Bulbs, move it further away before the plant burns.

[atcrosby]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Brassavola. I have read that they will have a red tint (blotches/freckles) if they are getting adquate light. They appear to be doing fine.

[prisana]

I thought when orchids of Cattleya alliance have purple tints on the leaves or stems, it means the flower itself will be purple or the like...Hmm. But it could be something else.

[mdomingz]

I'm going to play a little CSI here, but if you notice from the pictures, you can see that the red parts are all on the same direction of the plant (as moss grows to the north of trees), the ones in the back are perfectly green.

I'm not an expert on general orchid growing, but i think there is definetely something weird with the lighting, maybe too much exposure for too long. I have a brassavola n. too, and it's outside and gets half a day of tropical sun, and the rest is bright light shaded under some ferns. They do have reddish speckles here and there but in your pic, that particular leaf seems to be turning absolutely red. Maybe some different management on light could turn it back to more green. Check the roots, as long as they are thick and healthy, then i don't think there is much to worry.

manuel
panama

[Maddy]

Mine has red freckling, too, but not quite to that degree. It's in a south window that gets about 8 hours of sun this time of year. (I'm in southern New York, so right now too much sun isn't a problem.)

I have one catt that's supposed to be a very deep purple - it hasn't bloomed yet, so I'm not sure - and it doesn't have reddish leaves, but my deep fuchsia phal does. (It's also in spike right now *happy dance*)

[prisana]

ok, this book says the purple or red tint or speckles on new growth or sheath may happen if the plant is of "coloured" flowers. The plants that give pure white flowers won't have any.

[jerrymeola]

I have the same result this summer but not as extreme.

It was this Bassavola hybrid



The plant has been in the same spot 5 years and is twice the size of the photo.

This summer I have been away and it has not gotten its daily watering (outdoors Florida). The red spots and some accompanying wrinkling was the result of less than its usual water. As it adapted the plant came back to its old self.

You may lose some of the leaves, but that is not unusual with all plants. Some Bassavola hybrids do badly when their roots dry too much and stop growing. Try to keep watering on a regular pace.

[jerrymeola]

The color of the leaf has nothing to due with the color of the flower.

Overall red is often a sign of excess sun, but not usually freckling

[prisana]

I'm sorrry I wrote a wrong word on the first post, but it was not supposed to say just " leaves", I tried to correct it in the following post. It was sheath or new growth.. on plants that have been given enough light, MAY show purple pigment in those areas if they are plants that give colored flowers. On the leaves' underside there maybe a hint of purple pigment also . I just thought it was a good info to someone who's wondering what it was. It helped ease my worries, a lot of my plants have the red and purple tint on some area , too.