If the mother plant has a virus does it mean the "baby" plant is contaminated too?

[orchid_lord]

My cym has a virus and it made a few pseudobulbs, with perfect green leaves. Does it mean the new pseudobulbs are contaminated? (please tell me no )

[mayres]

I'm going to say yes, absolutely. Many plants and portions of plants carry the virus without any symptoms (at least for a time). Sorry. mike

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Are you sure the plant was virused? Did you have it tested? Do you have any pictures of symptoms? The only case where a plant can have a virus in only part of the plant, it is my understanding, is if the infection is caused by a cut, stab, or whatever with an infected item to cause the infection in recent growth. What I have heard is that virus does not travel backward to older growths, so someone, and probably on this forum, reported they were able to save a plant by removing the older bulbs and coax them into new growth. But this assumes that you knew on what part of the plant the infection took place.

[orchid_lord]

well, i cut many times its leaves without sterilizng the knife... Now i observed that the marked leaves fell and the plant looks a little odd... Here is a photo (i hope it will appear cause i don't know very much how to attach photos ) :

[orchid_lord]

sorry . i must exercise with the attachments... hope it has now the photo...

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, I can't tell for sure looking at the picture. If you were lucky, the other plants you cut with the tool did not have a virus that can be transfered to orchids. Before doing anything with the plant, you should send in a sample to Critter Creek Labs to be tested. This will cost you 5 or 6 dollars. Be sure to use approximately one year old leaf material, as older or dehydrated material will not give accurate results. I prefer the double well test, as it is more accurate also.
http://www.crittercreeklab.com/

[orchid_lord]

I am not from the USA. There are no such things here ...

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Check the plant for bugs carefully. There may be another reason for poor growth. What are those small white spots all in a row. Make sure they are not scale. You might want to inspect the roots. If it has not been repotted for a long time, the roots could have been damaged from a decaying mix. Virus does make plants grow poorly, but I have not seen very poor growth in Cymbidiums, so check all else first.

[orchid_lord]

the white spots I think it's the dirt . Yes, I think there something at the roots. the strange part is that when the plant makes new pseudobulbs, they are all rotten, and their leaves fall very easy (EVEN IF I DON'T WATER THEM) . It is a very strange plant...

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

One way to tell how healthy the root system is for a Cymbidium, is to try moving the bulbs. An established Cymbidium with a healthy root system should be rock solid in the pot. If the plant wobbles a bit, you can be suspicious that there are not very many roots. How long has it been since the plant was repotted and what king of mix did you use, as your location might make finding a quality material a bit difficult I suspect?

[orchid_lord]

well, i didn't find sphagnum moss, so I used bark . the plant hasn.t been repotted for 6 months... But I will repot it again, separating the new pseudobulbs from the old ones.and this time I will search for sphagnum.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I would not use sphagnum moss for a Cymbidium, absolutely not. The best is fir bark, from fir trees, and a mixture of sizes, so that the smallest particles help to hold moisture. I would npt repot it again. Its poor performance right now may be because it was repotted, or because it has not had enough time after repotting to show you it is happier. Regular pine bark will degrade much faster, and may have some fungi spores in it that will also speed up decomposition. But don't worry about it now, it will just have to be repotted a little sooner.

[orchid_lord]

Well, I want to cut the rotten roots and eliminate all bugs... (I saw horrible creatures in there ). I also want to mix the bark with soil... (to maintain the humidity). Anyway, I observed that its leaves started to turn yellow and fall. I want to separate the new pseudobulbs.

[Aniko]

Could you find in your country REAL orchid potting medium,or just made an "improvisation"? Possibly the problems have started here...if the bark was not specially treated for this purpose.

[orchid_lord]

Yes, It can be found real orchid potting medium, but at the shop from where I/m buying there wasn't so I bought a big sack with simple bark.

[Aniko]

Then, listen to Cynthia (she has a great experience) and do not re pot.Soil is not recommended .Just kill the bugs.

[orchid_lord]

Yes, but you said that the landscaping bark isn't good... So i must change it...

[Aniko]

Yes, but I did not know earlier what kind of bark you have.Your situation is very special because you don't have the basic means for growing orchids in your country.So we have to find a way.
But before doing something just think and gather information. Read about different types of potting media, for example semi hydroponic and others - than ask for help how to do it.

Trebuie sa gasim o solutie, dar nu e usor.Mediumul trebuie sa fie sterilizat pe linga alte calitati.Se fierbe in aburi din cite stiu - dar nu sint specialista in asta.

The main thing wrong with regular pine bark is that it breaks down more quickly than fir bark. Also, the size of the bark will make a difference. Leave your plant in the pine bark for now and try to kill the insects first without stressing the plant any further.. Then when you do go to repot, you won't be transferring bugs into the new, good mix.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Never want to use garden soil. It is way too heavy and holds way too much water. A little fine organic stuff added is fine, like maybe 5 to 10% leaf mold or compost.

If you want to separate bulbs (divide the plant), remember that you don't generally want to have less than 2 mature bulbs for a division. Separating off the oldest bulbs may be valuble to try to get a new growth started on them to see if they might be viral free and grow better, but such bulbs will be a very long time in growing before they are blooming size. Take the oldest bulbs, probably as individual bulbs, and half burry them in the same mix and keep it damp until new growth starts from the base and rooting begins from this new growth. Then pot it up with roots just covered.