Fungus/Bacterial infection hitting Catts.

[FLaCo]

Hello everyone. I have a small problem...every time I go out of town and come back I get an unpleasant surprise. I come back to fungal attacks and black/brown spotting on my leaves...usually the catts are the ones that suffer the most. My hypothesis is that the plants get stressed because their daily regimen of watering is cut off;therefore, more susceptible to attacks.

I took care of them problem, somewhat, but the Catts fungus or bacterial continue to linger. Leaves are green since I took out the leaves with the spotting, and I am treating them with Physan. I have moved all the catts to the top deck of my shelf (it is outdoors) in hopes of better airflow equaling less humidity for the fungus to feed off.

This morning I find Catt leaves green but two bulbs soft and brown. Working from the bottom up. The plants have all been repotted with fresh/airy material consisting of some new bark/perlite/alifor and charcoal. The roots were not good but I treated them with a light solution of Physan 20. Anyway, I tore out the bulbs and placed some cinnamon on the wound.

I'm sorry for the long post...but I just needed to vent and thought that maybe you guys can give me some suggestions. I am thinking of never ever potting Catts...I just rather put them on mounts...this high humidity in summer is heaven for diseases. I will take this as a learning experience and take my 30 odd plants to my parents house or maybe bring them indorrs when I am out of town. Oh well, thanks for reading...excuse any typos.

Oh, another thing...on of the Catts have a black marking but it is hard and at the very bottom or the top of root ball. It is near the oldest bulb. I think it is just a age marking but who knows. I will get pictures when I get home.

[articuno75]

Damien, What I'm wondering that you could do is pot in hydroton. I know that JoBeth (Psych1210) uses only Alifor for her orchids. Since you do a lot of traveling I'm thinking that maybe if you potted in something that drained fast and dried quickly this could help with the root rot.

The medium that you are using is building moisture and with the humidity spells disaster for Catt roots. You might have to water a bit more frequently, but I don't know. Might want to look into it though.

I have a couple of Catts in Hydroton. They seem to really like it. It's nice and airy for the roots and the roots get just the right amount of water when it comes to watering. Stuff dries out nice and even.

Hope this helps.

[FLaCo]

I am going to try that...(I don't have much left but most of these catts are in 3 in pots)the only one that have in alifor got hit but got rid of it and is now healthy. I also noticed how nurseries use only alifor for their catts. another uses lava rocks.

Thanks Jenny.

[NancyG]

I would second the alifor or hydroton. It seemed to help mine alot.

NancyG