Orchid with a sunburn

[mantorp]

I have what I think is a dendrobium and after reading that it likes lots o' light I decided to put it outside. In my stupidity surveying the spot I miscalculated the amount of direct sunlight that would hit the shelf I placed it on and as a result it got badly burned. I moved it back inside as soon as I realized my mistake where it receives a tad of very early morning sun only. Anyway, three of the leaves have large white thin spots on them and several others are now yellow (formerly nice and green).
Do I leave the damaged leaves alone or do I cut them off? Thanks, hope I am not the first person to make this mistake

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by mantorp

Thanks, hope I am not the first person to make this mistake

I'm sure you are not... If you could post a picture it would help us to make a proper assessment of your plant's condition. Without that, any advice we give would be nothing more than conjecture.

[mantorp]

Just don't get too mad at me :P

[mantorp]

Thanks for looking.

[jay]

I did the same thing last winter. I thought, "It's winter and the sun is not as intense, my plants should be ok." I was wrong and severely burned about 6 plants.

Your Dendrobium looks like it will recover fine. I personally left the leaves on the plant so that the plant could take any nutrients from the leaves before they eventually died. I think some believe you should cut and disinfect the leaf. I am curious to see what others will say.

[NancyG]

I've done the same thing. Thought I was putting it in filtered light and it tuned out way too intense. I would do the same as jay and leave the leaves fall off naturally. The orchids will rebound even thought they won't look as nice for awhile.

NancyG

[11Orchid126]

I have burned leaves and they've stayed on for months and even years. They're still valuable to the plant, even though they don't look so pretty.

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by mantorp

Just don't get too mad at me :P

We don't get mad here, we're all a family of which you are now a part!
After viewing your pictures, all I can think to say is "Oh my!" (The way Dr. Sulu of Star Trek used to say it). I've never seen one burned quite so badly! Dendrobiums grow like weeds,though and like the previous posters have already advised, leave it be. It should be O.K.

[patlee]

Hi Mantorp, I have some good news for you and your plant. Last summer I put some phals out on our front porch for the summer. Because it is a covered porch I didn't think there was much of a chance of too much sun, so I watered them before I left for work. Then the sun hit them (for only a few hours) and the water magnified the intensity of the rays.You know the result
Now on to the good news. When an orchid is severely stressed (like ours) it will sometimes through a keiki in a last ditch attempt to save itself. So a year after the sunburn incident I still have a scorched and not-too-pretty leaf, but I also have a basal keiki growing with four new leaves and a couple of roots that are only 1/2 inch long, but growing like weeds. Dens are famous for throwing keikis so just sit and wait (and grin because you just might have a new orchid baby). Good growing and good luck

[mantorp]

I'll leave (pun intended) them be until they fall off on their own. Maybe I will shock it into flowering. How can you tell if it has a keiki, it keeps growing new parts of itself all the time?

[katrina]

Hi Mantorp!

You're not alone in having a sunburned plant. This spring I put some catts in a spot that last year was a perfect summer spot. I watered them very thoroughly that morning then placed them in their summer vacation home. Since they'd just been watered and they lived there last year...no reason for me to check them later that day OR even the next day.

Unfortunately, I forgot that my neighbor's apple tree had been removed last November...it was THE tree that shaded half that area for a better part of the afternoon. YIKES!

Results = 4 severely burned catts. I couldn't salvage 2 because they were just completely cooked! But...the other 2 (a little less full sun) are doing OK. I cut off a couple of the leaves that were too far gone...left the rest. They aren't pretty and the sheaths cooked up so no blooms this year (prob best so they can use their energy to get better) but these 2 are actually starting to put out new roots. AND...even though I can't believe it...one looks to be starting a new growth.

There is definitely hope for your den.