Grammatophyllum issues

[bergdj]

I got a Grammatophyllum about a month ago now. The guy i got it from said to give it lots of light and it's super easy to grow. I'm also fairly new at this.

Turns out I didn't have enough light in the house and one leaf turned brown and fell off. I also live in Colorado @ around 7000 feet so it's really dry. I decided the best solution to give it light and humidity would be to build a greenhouse, so I did. I put it out there and it's not doing much better. I went away for the weekend and just got back. The pseudobulbs are kind of shriveled looking and the leaves continue to brown. I think it may be beyond saving at this point. It's hard to find any Grammatophyllum advice out there though other than to water lots and give lots of sun. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. The only thing I can figure is that maybe its getting too cold at night. any advice would be appreciated.

[Bud]

how cold is the night?
I have my Gramm. outdoors under direct sun right now....my grow zone have humidity and heat in the air....
you have high altitude and dry humidity although you are in the warmer months so its good to bring it outdoors under the sun....but you need to water it twice a day early morning and late afternoon....it will recover for you

[bergdj]

It gets down in the 40s for about an hour in the early morning and in the high 80s during the day. I may start taking it in the house @ night. Water it twice a day? Even in the greenhouse?

---------- Post added at 03:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:09 PM ----------

also i read somewhere in the archives when i water it to leave about a half of water in the dish it sits in. what do you think about this?

[Bud]

40s is making it suffer, remember it is an equatorial plant and they do not like the cold....you must bring it indoors at night....unless your greenhouse have at least 60% humidity then water it just once a day....they are right to have water in the dish(in its natural habitat it gets morning dew that gathers in a pool on the branches of trees and if you notice the roots are tiny light colored but multiple = it absorbs the water and stores it in the large bulbs for dry spells)....do not be scared to water it in the warm growing months...it is in winter when you can water it every other day

[bergdj]

good to know. That's what I figured about the temps but I read somewhere that they can tolerate down into the low 30s which i thought was weird. Hopefully I can fix it before it's too far gone.

[Bud]

Low 30s??!! That is frost temperatures.
Grammatophyllum is native to New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines, growing in crotches of large trees on exposed areas of the lowland tropical rainforest. It is an equatorial plant and the lowest temperatures they can get in monsoon weather is in the 50s....they have only two season: the dry hot summer months and the monsoon rainy months. These can withstand long dry spells and long rainy floods. But it cannot withstand cold or frost.

[bergdj]

I know! That's why I thought it was weird. I read a website that said they could get down to 28F when dormant and 35F when in spike. I had to re-read it a few times to make sure it was F and not C.

Anyway I brought it in last night and it was up in the high 80s and mostly sunny today. It hasn't gotten any worse...which is better than it has been doing. I'll keep you updated.

---------- Post added at 07:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:15 PM ----------

It won't let me link for some reason but here's the site i read it on...just so you can see with your own eyes. beautifulorchids.com/orchids/todaysspecial/grammatphylum/gramm_care.html

[RJSquirrel]

If its dry I can see it surviving 28f. If its wet, its dead in the cold down to 28. They didnt say the plant looked good. They didnt say it bloomed. Just said it didn't die. Thats Tolerant.


They always leave out many details of ambiguous terms like 'tolerant'.

[bergdj]

Yeah they did say it wouldn't damage the plant though. Either way, i'm not sure i trust any of what they are saying anymore. They also said to water it every 7 to ten days, which clearly isn't a good idea.

[imationkarl]

you built a greenhouse for one grammatophyllum orchid?