Suffering Leptotes bicolor
I also have a suffering Leptodes bicolor. I got it about a year ago, and it was fantastic the first fall. I didn't get much of that sweet vanilla scent they're supposed to produce, but it looked healthy and put out 6 to 8 flowers. It's currently blooming again, but I've noticed the original spikes that were so healthy when I got it have started to shrivel, and one section is just straight up dead. When it arrived, it was potted with styro-foam packing peanuts and sphagnum. I asked the seller what they recommended for future care, but they didn't really provide much information. I did move it from the nursery center type plastic pot it came in to a more decorative ceramic pot, and I think that was my first mistake. The ceramic pot doesn't provide any drainage or airflow. I of course tipped out any standing water after watering it so there was never any standing water in the ceramic pot, but I think airflow was missing. It has only gotten worse since then though so I moved it to what I call my "orchidarium" aquarium setup. It is just a 10 gallon tank with that I've kludged together with a vented lid, some fans, and grow lights. Previously I had used this tank to revive struggling Phalenopsis orchids, and I currently have a few seedling orchids in it along with some Oncidium daughter bulbs I'm trying to start up... It sounds crowded, but somehow it isn't actually. There is also a thriving vanilla vine in there... Well I say thriving. surviving with no obvious problems is probably more accurate. As others have shared in this thread, the lack of air movement may be a key part of what's wrong. I have 2 computer fans mounted on top of the vented lid to blow air into the setup, and I can actually see movement on the leaves of a volunteer shamrock that came up in one of the corners and doesn't seem to be harming anything, so I just kind of leave it. until today, for about 2 months, maybe 3, after I moved it out of the ceramic pot, the Leptodes was sitting in a corner, upright, and I don't water this tank very often because I don't want root rot, but I did feel the moss today to test it, and it is still soaking, even though there's no water in the bottom of the tank. I moved the Leptodes onto a bark mount in the back of the tank and removed all dead pieces and as much moss as I could without harming the healthy roots. I'm hoping this will increase the airflow enough to perk it up before I add more moss for it to grow into.
I live in a fairly arid region (especially in the winter) in Washington state USA. The lack of humidity is why I set up this humidity tank, and it seems to work well for pretty much everything except my poor Leptodes so far. If anybody has any tips. Especially anybody with experience in arid locations with Leptodes, I'd love to hear it.
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