Sickly Zygopetalum with significant problems.

[BrassavolaStars]

Hello All,

I am concerned about a particular Zygopetalum in my collection that is not thriving. I have never killed a Zygo and out of my 10 Zygos, some of which I have had for three years, this one is not doing so well. It is an advance Australia “HOF”.

When I bought it in July, it was already sort of a weak plant with most of the roots desiccated (although all the roots look dead in the photo, there are some good, healthy ones not pictured). Now, I am seeing that some of the leaves are yellowing. This does not seem to be uncommon with zygos as in my experience (though this may wrong), they are semi-deciduous and the leaves on the old bulbs fall off eventually.

What concerns me is that I see no evidence of a new growth starting anytime soon. I am worried I will be left with three leafless bulbs and no new growth with leaves and that the plant will eventually die.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I was wondering if it would be a good idea to trim away the aforementioned dead roots and repot it in fresh moss.

It also has some spots under the leaves. I think they may have been there when I bought it. I also have those same spots under the leaves on my Coelogynes. I think it may be Cercospora (or something similar), but I spray my plants often with cleary’s (which allegedly is a systemic that kills fungal leaf spot) so it doesn’t spread.

[Roberta]

Time to repot is when you see new growth staring, which also comes with new roots. Probably spring. Let it do what it's going to do, cut back on water so that it is damp but not wet (which will help squeeze a few more months out of that moss), which looks pretty soggy.

[BrassavolaStars]

Thank you for your reply.

That sounds like the best course of action. The moss is a bit soggy because I just drenched it in fungicide. I can put it in front of the fan to dry it out some though.

[aliceinwl]

I’ve just put Zygopetalums like this in a clay pot with some room on the sides so there’s lots of air around the root mass and try to keep them damp but not wet. Then I add media around the edges once the roots start growing. I grow mine outside and they all have spotting on the leaves to some degree.

I do have a NOID Zygopetalum (my second one). I was very aggressive about removing all the media around the roots when I repotted and ended up killing the whole root mass. It lost all its leaves and a pseudobulb. It sat with nothing but its two surviving pseudobulbs for months, but then sent up one small new growth and then another. Even if you loose everything but the pseudobulbs, it can bounce back.

Now I don’t do any old media removal beyond what shakes off or comes out on its own when I run them under a hose and just plop them in a larger pot with some media on the bottom and sides. Once root growth takes off it seems to be so rapid and vigorous that old media just isn’t an issue. With plants I’ve had for a year or two, I usually can’t even find much media in the pot because of all the roots.

[Shadowmagic]

Brassa, you've left that one a bit late. You really need to rip apart that root ball. There are too many rotting roots and the damage has started to spread all up your leaves. I honestly cannot see it recovering from this. I would remove all moss - place it on some bark + perlite & spray lightly every day.

If you place it on some moss to avoid the daily misting I am afraid the rot will just spread although like said I see little hope for this one anyway.

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[rbarata]

While there's green, there's hope.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Shadowmagic

Brassa, you've left that one a bit late. You really need to rip apart that root ball.

No!!!!! just back off on the water. Don't RIP anything. When you DO repot, be gentle... pull sphag from the center, to clear the impacted areas. Don't worry about getting all the old sphag off. Bad roots will come off with the old sphag but preserving the good roots is far more important than getting rid of all the bad ones. Also remember, a root with soggy velamin (the coating of the root) may still be able to help the plant since the active part is the stringy piece in the middle.

Aliceinwl is spot on with a good approach. Based on experience...

[Cym Ladye]

Your roots are mostly dead. Trim off soft and rotten roots and repot in a fresh, well draining mix ASAP! I would use a small bark/perlite mix. Stay away from spagnum moss. It should survive if you can get a new growth from one of the green bulbs.

To anchor the plant if you find all the roots soft, strip some of them instead of cutting them off, leaving the root thread but not the soft covering.

[BrassavolaStars]

Hello all,

There are still some live roots.

Here is an example photo taken a few days ago below from a different side.

Those aren’t the only live roots also.

I am deciding between two courses of action: keeping it as is but putting it in a large clay pot with it’s current moss and roots with a fan nearby and waiting for a new growth, or taking out all the old media, getting rid of the mushy roots, and putting the living roots into higher quality Moss with styrofoam and kelp (in essence an immediate, full repot).

In the past, I have found that zygos do pretty well in moss if it is good moss. I could try fine bark when it’s “back on it’s feet” again though I probably wouldn’t do that now. Then again, I am open to anything because I really want this one to pull through.

[Roberta]

I think either approach will work. You are closer to the plant than we are to evaluate what is going on. If you decide to remove old moss, temper that "all old media", too brutal. Take what comes off easily or is entwined with really bad roots, but leave what is stuck to the good ones and even the "sort of good ones"... root preservation is the goal, you need to be gentle especially on the good ones. If moss works well for you, and fits your watering practices, go for it. If it tends to stay too soggy, small bark will also hold moisture, and may provide more air in the plastic pot. Again, nothing inherently good or bad about either, whatever works for you and your cultural environment.