Gongora trouble

[Lars Kurth]

Hi,

I recently made some changes to my greenhouse, mainly to ensure that all is ready for winter and because some of my previous equipment (fans, etc.) was already several years old.

As a consequence the environment changed, and I had about two weeks where I was playing with various settings. For a few days the temperature dropped to 12-13C at night. A couple of days later, 3 individual new shoots on 3 different Gongora's started rotting with soft rot. I removed them since, treated the plants with a systemic fungicide and ensured that the night temperature does not drop below 18C.

I am wondering whether other people have observed similar issues: are Gongora's really that sensitive?

Regards
Lars

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Never dared to grow Gongoras in temperatures lower than 60 F. So don't know.

It could also be from the medium staying too wet when it got cooler.

They like it moist, but not wet.

[Lars Kurth]

It could also be from the medium staying too wet when it got cooler.

That is also a possibility: I grow mine in baskets with a mix of bark and a little bit of CHC in it. Normally the substrate does not stay wet for very long: in particular because I had a strong fan in the greenhouse.

The fan however died, and I was without much air movement for about a week (before the temperature drop). There may have been some condensation as well. When I installed the new fans (I went for several smaller ones instead of one strong one), the temperature was affected due to warm air being blown on the thermostat sensor, with the resulting drop in temperatures.

So it could be a combination of unusual conditions and stress weakening the plants. Maybe with more moisture than usual, just when a few new shoots formed. As an aside: I have had problems with Gongora before - usually when I go on my annual winter holiday and I have a neighbour looking after the plants. But they have always pulled through so far