Yup, I bought a couple of orchids from Lindsay at that same time, and one died almost immediately of black rot (could have been caught here, of course, not Lindsay's fault) but the other sat and pouted, put up one bloom stalk last summer with 2 flowers, and is now slowly dying of something involving yellow leaves. Nothing I've done has helped it at all, and believe me, I'm with Kate on the 'experimentation' mind set. I love to try remedies. I'm also very patient most of the time, but . . .. geez, orchids really can try the patience of a saint.

Come to think of it, I have not tried the diluted Hydrogen Peroxide douse on that orchid . . . maybe as a last resort, I should! It worked on the fusarium infection on a couple of my brugs.

Just a couple of words to wrap up the manganese discussion. It is what is called an immobile nutrient. That means that the plant cannot move it from the old leaves to the new ones so it is the new leaves which suffer. It usually occurs in alkaline or highly leached soils so sandy Florida is a prime candidate. The symptoms start as interveinal chlorosis and stunting of growth of the new leaves. That can turn into a strange looking twisting at the top of the plant called frazzle top. Palms and cycads are prime candidates for this but I have also seen it on Indian laurel, schefflera, jasmine and other woody plants. Orchids rarely have nutrient problems because they are not dependent on soil. If you are wondering about a particular plant in your landscape, just search on "nutrient deficiencies of plant X" and you will probably find the answer.

Jim

If you've fertilized those plants with any sort of commercially formulated fertilizer, whether organic or straight chemical, it will almost surely have the manganese component - listed under trace elements, or way down on the list of nutrients. My orchid fert bag lists manganese at .05%, same on the bags of fruit tree fert and acid-lover's stuff I bought for my (nearly defunct) blueberries and my azaleas.

Stands to reason that the manganese would also be present in compost made from your plants that had been fertilized, since it is an immobile nutrient. Or in any compost made from grass and weeds in a fertilized garden.

Surprisingly, although there is manganese in the MSU fert we discussed elsewhere, I notice it seems to be lacking magnesium, which is a pretty important component for orchids. My orchid fert bag lists magnesium at 1% and I augment that with some extra in the sprayer during the cold months - about a tablespoon per 2gal.

Well, I have only fertilized with the MSU stuff once since I just got it in the mail...the rest of the time has been with Ferti-lome and occasional kelp emulsion. No other orchid seems to be suffering this deformity so I blame the bacterial infection, I guess.

I'm going to do as you suggest Jim and look up nutrient deficiency that way.

I add mg. to my fertilizer solutions quite frequently. I don't bother to see if there is any of this micro-nutrient in the fertilizer, I just add a tsp. per gallon.

Ken, what brand do you use?

Kate, what are you referring to?

Kate, magnesium is readily available at the drug store and grocery store. Plain old Epsom Salts. Publix sells it in a package like a 1/2 gal. milk carton for like $3. I have Dr. Teal's lavender scented bath salts . . . I soak myself in that as well as the orchids.

Since it's so soluble, it gets leached away very quickly in the heavy summer rains, so it's one thing you can hardly over-use.

Ohh...I thought Epsom Salt was Magnesium Sulphate..not Manganese Sulphate....?

Epsom Salt is magnesium sulfate, Kate.

Right, but weren't we talking about manganese deficiency?

Yeah, sorry I shifted gears to magnesium when I noticed it was lacking in the formulation of the MSU fert.

Manganese is in every fertilizer (as a trace) that I've looked at in the last few days, so as long as you're giving your plants something, they're probably getting it.

You can really tell if your orchids need a shot of magnesium, the leaves start turning quite reddish.

Oh my !!! I have several plants doing the reddish leaf thing!!!! I'm en route to my Epsom Salt stash now!