Zoo. serpentinum yellow leaves

[Leo]

Hi there,

i got myself some new orchids for my terrarium. The Zootrophion serpentinum that i bought was a bit too bright collored allready when i got it but now some leafes get yellow 1 or 2 allready brown.

Is it too wet? Too dry? Not enough food? Too warm (23 degrees celcius)? I am worried abou Pl. minutalis and about Epidendrum schlechterianum a bit as well. I think about mounting them on the fernroot without moss so that i can controll humidity a bit better.



I hope you can help me getting this plant getting healthy green again!

Thanks,
Leo

[Zoi2]

Do you have good air movement?
Joann

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

23 C should be within the plant's tolerance range.

How humid is it in your terrarium?

As was asked before, what is the air circulation like in the terrarium?

How often do you water the plant?

How much light is this plant and the Plths minutalis receiving?

Perhaps instead of using tree fern mounts, you should be using a wood mount with the live moss you have growing on the mount the Zootrophion is currently growing in.

Sometimes older leaves will drop.

[greenbean]

Same questions as the others have asked, plus: how long have you had it? Sometimes more sensitive orchids like these drop leaves before they can adjust to the new environment.

[Leo]

Hi and thank you!

Airmovement by a small van. The van is connected to a thermostate and blows in warm air from the lights. It switches on at 23 degrees celcius and out at 24 degrees celcius. I think it runs every 30 minutes for about 2 minutes. At night the van runs constantly for about 1 hour after the lights switched off after that it doesnt run until the lights switch on again in the morning!

Humidity is 60-85% daytime 85-99% at night. The Zoo. serpentinum gets misted every morning and doesnt realy dry out but also never gets realy soaked. Once or twice a week it doesnt get misted at all.

I only have this plant for about 14 days, it is in the terrarium for about one week now. It allready had one flower and a second bud is now develloping.

The upper part of the plant is about 15 cm below the two T5 24 watt, the lower part of the plant is about 45 cm below this lights.

I shaded it a little now, maybey it gets used to the light this way. There are new leaves and a flower bud thriving.

Greetings Leo

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Temperature and humidity are obviously not an issue.

I don't think air movement is the problem either.

Maybe one of the problems was that it was just grown too bright when it was grown so close up against the 24W T5's.

I also believe they can afford to dry out a little with that high of a humidity. Don't allow them to dry out completely, but they can dry out to the point when they're damp to the touch before watering again.

Again, I also believe that it might be to your advantage to change out the mount from tree fern to wood.

[Gin]

I have 2 of them one mounted one in a pot both lose a leaf or 2 but grow more and bloom, how much Fert. are you giving ? Maybe to strong ? Gin

[Leo]

What kind of wood do you use to mount the plants on? I always am a bit afraid of wood becouse of fungus. You think cork bark would be a possible improvement?

I have a rainmachine installed. The water i use is reverse osmosis mixed with tapwater. It has a bit over 100 µS. When there is fertilizer mixed up it is about 250 µS. Every now and then (once a month or so) i spray with a normal spraybottle to soak the tree fern walls. 1 or 2 days a week there is no misting/watering at all so everything can dry up a bit.

Thanx,

Leo

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[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Ghost wood seems to be a good choice.

I understand that Mopani can be another one.

Cork holds up well under wet conditions too.

As Gin said, fertilizer concentration should be 1/4 the recommended strength on the label of the bottle.