leaf pitting and black under leaf

[aileenf]

Hello,
I am newby and I have a phalaenopsis. I was growing it inside the house and it was getting too much light. The leaves withered, and some turned yellow and fell off. The roots were doing poorly too. It was almost dead, but new roots started to grow and a new nice leaf started to come out. So happy that it was going to survive, I repotted it and put it outside under the shade eastern exposure, so it could have more humidity. Now since about 4 days of being outside the new leaf has small pittings and the underside of the leaf has dark blotches. I noticed that the plant had some knat looking bugs and some ants in the medium a couple of weeks ago, but now I don't see any bugs. Help! What's going on?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sounds like nature is doing its thing. Wild collected plants always look terrible. You may want to bring the plant back in, spray and drench with neem oil, mixed according to label (or repot and spray the whole thing while mixless), and then keep this in a cool and fairly dark place for a day or two. Heat and bright light can make some strange reactions to neem oil. Phalaenopsis are not your usual plant to summer out doors tho some with especialy warm and humid climates do. Phals like people conditions, so putting them outside is not always benificial. You may want to put your location in your profile. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[love2cee]

Cynthia, I bought some and put some in and on my outdoor Cyms, than No. Cal got 4-days of 100+ degree weather. How will I know if the oil is damaging my plant? And part of the directions say to use dishwashing detergent with it. Do you use dishwashing soap and if so what works well for your orchids??

Thank you

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The version I buy probably has the soap built in. I think the brand name of mine is fertilome, but there are others that have the same mixing instructions. The damage that neem does is to make the chlorophyl (green color) become blotchy. If you had a day between application and the heat, you may be OK. I have heard some say that you just have to let the oil dry. Well, I've seen color changes too often, so I assume more time is needed. Cynthia

[captripppp]

I use neem oil on a regular basis. Neem oil is systemic when used on plants; meaning that when you first use neem oil you should spray once, then aweek later spray again, then spray again in two weeks, then spray once more again in two weeks. After that your plants should have the neem in their system and you should only spray about once every month, or two. Also the reason why they say to add dish soap is because the soap acts as an emulsifier. The soap actual helps the oil stick to, and be absorbed by the plant. Aaron

[love2cee]

Well thank you both so much, time to treat again.

[rlorek]

I've tried cutting out bad parts but more appeared..tried finding Physan 20 locally but not available. Is there a home remedy for fungus on leaves?