Why are alcra's leaves discoloring?

10 years ago

I bought this plant in mid-January, labeled "alcra. dragon wings 'puff'" - it was in full bloom. At the end of January, a pretty small discolored spot I'd ignored when I bought the plant had spread enough that I cut the end of the leaf off (a couple inches), but I thought that was that.

Suddenly, the same leaf has a large, pale blotchy area across it that I expect to turn into a dead region any time now; I swear yesterday it looked just fine! I've also noticed several of the leaves have tiny black spots on them, fairly evenly distributed. The other worst-looking leaf is also the leaf coming out of a pseudobulb.

I've been keeping it next to a south-facing window, watering about once a week by soaking for about 10 minutes (the bark it's in still feels very faintly damp after about a week, but I think it might be able to be watered more frequently w/o rotting the roots - the bark it's in drains really fast). It's been really overcast this winter, so there haven't been many days when full sunlight is coming through the window.

The flowers were all done about a week ago, though they haven't quite finished falling off the stalk.

Picture from end of Jan; I cut the leaf end off with a few days of taking the photo, because the damage was spreading. This leaf is growing directly from the smaller pseudobulb; flowers came from the other bulb):

New pale area on same leaf:

Spots on another leaf:

Pseudobulbs; they've been shriveled since I bought it:

It's got a bunch of roots growing out the bottom of the pot, so repotting has been on my to-do list for a while.

I have an oncidium with some black speckles on its leaves, but it hasn't developed any blotchy and then dying areas, and the speckled area has stayed pretty constant (have had that one for about a year). I don't have enough experience with orchids to understand what the discoloration indicates, or what to do to stop it, especially the areas that are dying off. I've been thinking maybe it's getting too much sunlight, but is there something else going on? Thanks!

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Comments (4)

arthurm2015
10 years ago
Many "oncidiums" have black speckles on their leaves and they grow and bloom as per normal. I cannot find any registered hybrid called Aliceara Dragon Wings which is very annoying because then you cannot get an idea of ancestry.

Perhaps lack of light, maybe too gloomy even in a south window in Portland during winter?

Hopefully, some of the indoor all year growers will add to this.
suzabanana (6b Boston/N. Shore)
10 years ago
This seems to happen to my Oncs too and doesn't pose an issue. I don't recommend cutting leaves off, though. As long as they are green and not diseased they are producing energy for the plant. I would say that your plant looks a bit dehydrated. I would plan to repot next month when spring is in full swing and take a look at the roots to see how they look. Even my shriveled bulbs plump up when I water unless their roots are toast.
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J Feathersmith
Original Author
10 years ago
Yeah, arthurm, I had a hard time finding anything online about this variety, there were only one or two mentions; it also took a long time to figure out what "alcra." even meant, and then what best care for an Aliceara is! "Treat it like an oncidium" seemed to be relatively common, though, so that's what I've been aiming for.

Suzabanana, what worries me is that the damage spreads: I cut the leaf end off because that dead area had spread out across the full width of the leaf, and I didn't want it continuing to spread down its length, either. I cut only a small bit of green off, to make sure I didn't leave any unhealthy area to keep spreading. But this new pale area is in the middle of the leaf, so if the patch completely dies, and it keeps spreading, the whole leaf is doomed :<

Some of the roots growing out of the top of the pot have turned dark and crispy at their ends - my apartment is less humid than the nursery was - but this has also had me thinking I should be watering the plant more often (or maybe just misting those roots - or both). Since I water by soaking the pots for a bit, would increasing the length of the soak be better, or would watering more often be the right thing to do?
arthurm2015
10 years ago
A little bit of Trivia! There is only one register of orchid hybrids and it is kept in England. Aliceara Dragon Wings is not registered. The handy thing about the register is that the Pollen and Pod parent names are recorded and sometimes that gives a clue to cultivation.

For some reason the orchid hybrid register seems to have more rules and regulations than some of the other plant registers.

It costs you ten english pounds to register an orchid hybrid and I have shelled out that amount 5 times. I didn't do the hybridising, just paid to help the plant breeder.

https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/170164 has a pic of your orchid bloom and cultivation would be similar to a widely grown orchid called Oncidium Sharry Baby. You might be able to find some cultivation notes specific to that orchid. There are also some good Genera specific notes prepared by the American Orchid Society.