Orchid losing leaves

[PurplePali]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Ray is, as usual, correct. However, don't beat yourself up. Detach the keikis, they should pop off, and pot them up. The mother may yet come back. I have several of these, some look horribly naked but, flower every year. In my opinion, these don't age gracefully

So just plant the new roots into an orchid pot with orchid potting mix, or do they need a different kind of soil/pot? Do I still water and add fertilizer the same way as for a big plant?

[Ray]

Regular pot, mix, and treatment.

[PurplePali]

Originally Posted by Ray

Regular pot, mix, and treatment.

Regular pot, as in a generic one with no holes?

---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:33 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

Your plant is a dendrobium hybrid, likely with D. bigibbum in its background.

The plants growing on the old stalk are "keikies" (Hawaiian for "babies), likely growing because the old plant was poorly cared for and in bad shape. They look big enough to snap off and pot up individually.

Awesome, thank you for identifying it for me!

How do you properly take care of an orchid to ensure it stays healthy?

My main stalk seemed continued to thrive - all the buds bloomed and the flowers lasted for a couple months before slowly drying up and dropping off. I was told this was the normal orchid cycle. Did this not go dormant then?

I live in a humid tropical climate. The orchid is potted in a specific ventilated orchid pot, with orchid potting mix, and receives orchid fertilizer every so often as instructed.. It gets watered about once a week. I let the soil dry out before it gets watered again. I water it thoroughly until I see the water rolling out of the holes, and then I slightly tip the pot to make sure excess water is drained out... It’s next to a window, so it gets natural sunlight and fresh air, but isn’t in direct sunlight....

What did I do wrong, and/or what else should I have done for it?

[Dollythehun]

Never use a pot without holes. You may not have done anything wrong.

[PurplePali]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Never use a pot without holes. You may not have done anything wrong.

Ok. So just to gain clarification, in regards to my new root clusters/orchid keiki, they are to be cut off the main stalk and replanted into orchid pots, with regular orchid potting mix, and use orchid fertilizer as directed? So, in other words you tend to these keiki the same way you would with a mature orchid plant? Do they get watered the same amount/as often too?

Sorry, as I said I’m a complete noobs with orchid and not much of a plant person to begin with, but I really want to give these ‘babies’ the best shot at growing and staying healthy.



Thank you, everyone, for the help so far!

[Dollythehun]

That's how I would do it. Except, I would gently try to wiggle them free and only cut if necessary. You may yet have a productive mother plant and babies.

[PurplePali]

After watching a few videos on how to separate dendrobium orchid keiki and how to properly replant them, I decided to give it a try.

As DollyTheHun called, I had a very protective mother-plant, and the ‘twins’ were deeply embedded into her as well as their roots intertwined with each other’s... I tried to wiggle and popped them off as best as I could, but I did have to cut each one off in the end because they didn’t want to let go of that “tether” to their mom.

In the process, I may have damaged a root on each, but as far as it appeared, the other roots looked great. I soaked each keiki’s root clusters in water for 15 mins, as instructed in one of the videos, before potting them. Right now, they are both loosely potted in 4” pots, as directed in the video. I bought some more fibrous orchid potting mix to mix in the orchid potting mix I have been using. Hopefully it helps keep things more breathable for them as their roots develop more.

My main mother-plant is in really bad shape, as expected. After separating the keiki, I decided to dig her up to see what was going on, only to find that she only had 1 root left, which is in ok, but not great condition. I was also surprised to see that she had mushrooms growing under where her roots should be. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was so grossed out that I just plucked them off and tried to clean up up as best as I could. I scrub out and disinfected the pot, before replanting her in fresh clean mix. I believe the fungus/mushrooms have been eating away at her, which I’m really sad about.

Has anyone experienced this before?

As mentioned, I live in a humid tropical jungley climate and to be honest, we do have to fight a lot of mold/fungal/mildew problems. I’m not sure if some spores flew in or if my potting mix in contaminated... I’m hoping the keiki don’t experience similar issues.

(Side note, my SO has a bamboo palm plant that started growing mushrooms on it’s soil too. Granted my orchid’s grew underground, upside down, inside the soil, and obviously that palm has different potting mix, I just find it to be very odd).

Anyways, I really doubt she’ll pull through, and due to my orchid inexperience, I’m worried about how the ‘twins’ will fare, but all in all this was a very interesting experience and I’m very thankful to have learned a bit more through all this.

[Dollythehun]

Your medium was broken down and probably your plant should have been repotted some time ago. Also, the hot humid climate contributes to mushrooms and fungus. An open, airy, medium may be best for your orchids. I found the same situation with a cymbidium yesterday. Be sure your babies don't wiggle around in their pots, it damages the roots. And relax.

[PurplePali]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Your medium was broken down and probably your plant should have been repotted some time ago. Also, the hot humid climate contributes to mushrooms and fungus. An open, airy, medium may be best for your orchids. I found the same situation with a cymbidium yesterday. Be sure your babies don't wiggle around in their pots, it damages the roots. And relax.

How often do you need to repot orchids?

The potting mix was a new bag, and mother-plant was repotted just before the keiki started growing... Of course, I’m sure the potting mix was sitting out back for months-years (as with everything else out here, lol), so it probably wasn’t the most fresh to begin with. I did get a more fibrous material to add to my mix, so I’m hoping that helps in the future.

The keiki are secure in their little pots, but I didn’t pack the potting mix tightly - just enough to make sure roots were covered and to keep them stabilized.

How often should I repot the keiki to prevent the same mushroom issue? So they have to be repotted more frequently or is it best to leave them as is and allow them to grow more?

[Dollythehun]

It depends on the medium, watering etc. As a rule of thumb you allow for 1 to 2 years growth in the pot. You would not be out of line to repot every year or year-and-a-half but there's no hard fast rule. Also if your bagged potting medium seems dirty, versus chunky, you can sift out some of the fines and use the larger pieces. This is where you start learning by personal experience. We can advise you but, we're not actually there with you to see your habits and climate.