Vanda Crown Rot - HELP

[OrchidAddict84]

About a week ago, I discovered I had crown rot on one of my Vanda orchids. (I'll try to post pictures later)

I decided to cut the visible damage from the new emerging leaf and treat with a soaking of hydrogen peroxide in the crown, drying up the residual and dusting the wound with cinnamon. I repeated this action every 3 days until I noticed the infection had spread down the rest of the new leaf and down the top three leafs.

Just this afternoon, I treated all visible infection with a cotton swabb soaked in hydrogen peroxide and rubbed with cinnamon.

I'm afraid I may need to take more drastic actions and cut off the damaged portion of the plant all together - chopping the top off.

Any other recommendations or advise on how to properly treat the plant after removing its top?

Thanks!

[JudyC]

Gosh, awful to hear. Lots of vanda growers here to help, but...

go post up on 5-6 more folks threads and you'll be allowed to post up photos. A good quality shot really is needed to properly try to help.

[OrchidAddict84]

Here are some photos I snapped - mostly close-ups of the crown rot.

Thanks!

[OrchidAddict84]

About a week ago, I discovered I had crown rot on one of my Vanda orchids.

I decided to cut the visible damage from the new emerging leaf and treat with a soaking of hydrogen peroxide in the crown, drying up the residual and dusting the wound with cinnamon. I repeated this action every 3 days until I noticed the infection had spread down the rest of the new leaf and down the top three leafs.

Just this afternoon, I treated all visible infection with a cotton swabb soaked in hydrogen peroxide and rubbed with cinnamon.

I'm afraid I may need to take more drastic actions and cut off the damaged portion of the plant all together - chopping the top off.

Any other recommendations or advise on how to properly treat the plant after removing its top?

Thanks!

[Ron]

Originally Posted by OrchidAddict84

About a week ago, I discovered I had crown rot on one of my Vanda orchids.

I decided to cut the visible damage from the new emerging leaf and treat with a soaking of hydrogen peroxide in the crown, drying up the residual and dusting the wound with cinnamon. I repeated this action every 3 days until I noticed the infection had spread down the rest of the new leaf and down the top three leafs.

Just this afternoon, I treated all visible infection with a cotton swabb soaked in hydrogen peroxide and rubbed with cinnamon.

I'm afraid I may need to take more drastic actions and cut off the damaged portion of the plant all together - chopping the top off.

Any other recommendations or advise on how to properly treat the plant after removing its top?

Thanks!

I would just top of the plant well below the infected area, keep the cut dry until it sets over.
The plant if the rest is healthy should send out new side growths after a month of so.
All is not lost, but do not over water it and keep it warm.

[willowbanks]

OrchidAddict84, looks like you have 3 threads going for rhe same problem, I think the Admins will fix it up soon.

I can't see the photos on the other thread, one more post on this thread and you should be able to post photos, I would love to see them, sounds interesting.

Bill

[OrchidAddict84]

Originally Posted by Ron

I would just top of the plant well below the infected area, keep the cut dry until it sets over.
The plant if the rest is healthy should send out new side growths after a month of so.
All is not lost, but do not over water it and keep it warm.

Thanks!

I'll see how it's fairing tomorrow.

But, guess time is of the essence with these types of situations. :/

[OrchidAddict84]

Originally Posted by willowbanks

OrchidAddict84, looks like you have 3 threads going for rhe same problem, I think the Admins will fix it up soon.

I can't see the photos on the other thread, one more post on this thread and you should be able to post photos, I would love to see them, sounds interesting.

Bill

Thanks!

Was just sewing many seeds for fruitful crop!

[bearded orchid]

Doesn't look like any of the pictures came through to me. Not sure if it is just me or not, though.

For what it is worth, if you do have to deadhead it (worst case scenario), the mother plant will generally shoot off some side growths from the stem and continue growing.

[willowbanks]

OrchidAddict84, if you are haveing trouble loading the photos, try down sizing them.

[OrchidAddict84]

Take a look and tell me what you all think...

The powder is the cinnamon that is still stuck to some of the wound and surrounding area.

Kind hard to blow it out.

[OrchidAddict84]

Hope these make it through.

These are some pix I snapped this afternoon - the powder is the leftover cinnamon.

[bearded orchid]

That definitely looks like crown rot. Surprising on a Vanda to me since they naturally grow upwards, unlike Phalaenopsis which are prone to crown rot since growing upright is against their traditional growing habits. Have you been keeping it somewhere humid or damp/cool without much air circulation? This could cause such a thing to happen if the plants aren't allowed adequate time to dry.

I would keep a close eye to see if it spreads. It might pull through and continue growing upwards, but if you see any progression of rot you will need to lop off the crown under the rot and cut down until you see healthy tissue. Then coat it with cinnamon and let it be with good vandals culture. You may want to cut back on the sun for a little bit because it will definitely go into some shock.

I hope this helps. Someone else can chime in too if I am off on advice or missed something. Good luck.

[jerrymeola]

Chop the top off now. The top will never grow again so why risk spread of the rot.

The plant will pick a spot down a couple of leaves and begin to grow from that point. Often it will branch and grow two or three new plants from that point. It is not a disaster and the plant will still give you years of pleasure.

[katrina]

Orchidaddict84 -- I have merged your two threads. There is no reason for 2 threads in 2 different sections w/the same plant and problem. It can get quite confusing.

I deleted the one that had not yet had any responses.

[willowbanks]

Well done Katrina.

[willowbanks]

OrchidAddict84, you were doing the right thing by cutting and removing the soggy part of the leaf in the crown. You can save years of growth with this little trick if done correctly.

Not sure about the Hydrogen Peroxide, never used it on my plants. The rubbing with H.P. and cinnamon on a cotton swabb was a big mistake, ground cinnamon has acted like an abrassive and caused more damage than you started with.

Also, ground cinnamon is not an anti fungal.

I can't tell from your photos how much damage is there, might be an idea to turn the plant on its side and rinse out the cinnamon so you can get a better look at what is happening in the crown.

Bill

[OrchidAddict84]

Thanks for all the replies!

This morning, I took a closer look at the crown and noticed very little viable new growth. So, I finally took the inevitable plunge and started cutting at the crown.

At first, I cute down three leafs. But, I noticed the crown rot had made it further down the center than I thought. So, I continued cutting.

In all, I took off 5-6 leafs - until I was CERTAIN that there was no more rot visible. I coated the wound with cinnamon and said a little prayer.

Here are some picks of my handywork.

[OrchidAddict84]

Originally Posted by bearded orchid

That definitely looks like crown rot. Surprising on a Vanda to me since they naturally grow upwards, unlike Phalaenopsis which are prone to crown rot since growing upright is against their traditional growing habits. Have you been keeping it somewhere humid or damp/cool without much air circulation? This could cause such a thing to happen if the plants aren't allowed adequate time to dry.
I would keep a close eye to see if it spreads. It might pull through and continue growing upwards, but if you see any progression of rot you will need to lop off the crown under the rot and cut down until you see healthy tissue. Then coat it with cinnamon and let it be with good vandals culture. You may want to cut back on the sun for a little bit because it will definitely go into some shock.

I hope this helps. Someone else can chime in too if I am off on advice or missed something. Good luck.

This Vanda is one of two I bought as my first - I've typically had luck with Cattleyas. So, without thinking too much into it, I had been dousing it with mists every 3 days or so - - the ENTIRE plant!

After I noticed the rot, I did a little digging and discovered that I should really avoid water near the crown and have now been fosucing my misting on the roots. I've seen people mention that it should be done daily. So, I've started misting daily, in the morning: once to soak the coating of the roots, and a second time 10 min later to get it really soaked in.

Since my orchids are in a patio that doesn't receive too much air cirrculation, I've started putting a fan out shortly after I mist and allow it to run for a few hours -- usually this is enough to dry out any excess water.

Thoughts?

[bearded orchid]

That should do nicely to help prevent it from happening again. You will most likely have to perform a lobotomy on this one, but the other one should be fine with this new system.

[OrchidAddict84]

Originally Posted by bearded orchid

That should do nicely to help prevent it from happening again. You will most likely have to perform a lobotomy on this one, but the other one should be fine with this new system.

Thanks Phil!

BTW - my second orchid is the same as you have in your profile pic! I'm excited to say that it's looking very healthy & can't wait for it to spike again!

[rlilia]

Originally Posted by willowbanks

OrchidAddict84, you were doing the right thing by cutting and removing the soggy part of the leaf in the crown. You can save years of growth with this little trick if done correctly.

Not sure about the Hydrogen Peroxide, never used it on my plants. The rubbing with H.P. and cinnamon on a cotton swabb was a big mistake, ground cinnamon has acted like an abrassive and caused more damage than you started with.

Also, ground cinnamon is not an anti fungal.

I can't tell from your photos how much damage is there, might be an idea to turn the plant on its side and rinse out the cinnamon so you can get a better look at what is happening in the crown.

Bill

Hi Bill,
I'm confused - I thought that's what was recommended on this forum, times and times again, to use Cinnamon on the wounds? No?? What do you use??

THANKS!!!
Lilia

[willowbanks]

Hi Rlilia, not sure where this cinnamon idea comes from, on this Website it is the first time I have seen it recommended as an anti fungal. I checked it out on Wikipedia and found it to be incorrect.

I use Mancozeb flowable powder fungicide to seal my (plants) cuts. I take enough out of the container for the job, add enough water to turn it into a paste and wipe it on, works great.

Bill