Spots on Petals That Are Not Black or Dark Brown!

by Samantha
(Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

I have had my orchid for about 2 months now and it has been doing amazing! At one point I had 13 blooms between 2 stems :) Up until about 3 weeks ago she has been spotless and without a problem. At the start of 3 weeks ago some blooms began to naturally (and heathily) fall off. As they fell off I would remove them from the pot. As the 9th flower fell off I noticed that the petals on the last 3 flowers began showing small green spots, in the center of the spot there is a small hole... I'm not exactly sure what it is. I have looked for bugs and the leaves of the plant are perfectly healthy (other than one tooth mark from my jackass cat who, after a healthy drenching of water, no longer touches my orchid). The leaves are a healthy yellow-green (more green of course). Could you give me some insight as to what it might be? I tried to get as good of a look at the rots as I could and didnt see anything wrong with them.

Thanks

Sammi

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Jul 13, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		What Causes Spots on Orchid Flowers
by: Melissa

Thanks for your questions Sammi. Sounds like in general you are doing very well with your orchid.

While I am not entirely sure, I suspect that the small small green spots on your blossoms may be from some sort of fungus. Orchids do like humidity however sometimes misting the blossoms without enough air movement around the orchid or enough time for the moisture to dry can encourage various kinds of fungus to grow.

You are doing the right thing to remove the spent blossoms especially if it is a fungal infection. If you are misting the plant then try to make sure that the mist does not get on the flowers. It sounds like the blossoms are naturally dying now so if it is a fungus on the blossoms hopefully the innoculum will soon be gone. The fact that the leaves (except for the cat damage ;-) )and the roots look good is a sign that the orchid is probably pretty healthy. So find out the right care (I suspect it is a Phalaenopsis) for your orchid and perhaps it will bloom again for you in a year.

Good luck!

Melissa
www.orchids-plus-more.com


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