Wrinkled Laelia leaves

[Plantsniffer]

Hello! So I got a laelia cinnabarina online. It arrived in good shape however was smaller than expected. Repotted the baby in 100% charcoal because my other cattleyas have grown nicely in 100% charcoal. I think I let the dry period last too long and found it to be wrinkled when I looked over my plants closely.

I'm not sure how to remedy this problem. I grow the lights under LED for 8 hours. The humidity all the orchids grow is hovers around 50%. They are watered once or twice a week.

Through the couple of weeks it has been with me it has showed no growth. The roots were somewhat mushy and I removed them after I saw them. There is about 4 strands of green root left

Would I put it on a humidity tray? Would I switch it back to sphagnum moss media? Please advise.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Plantsniffer

There is about 4 strands of green root left.

I wouldn't switch back to spaghnum moss. I would choose something like a 5 mm average diameter scoria pieces media. And then would spray the roots with some systematic fungicide safe for orchids. And then pop the plant into it --- with the pot having very good drainage holes (but having drainage holes not of a size that allows media to fall out through the holes).

Then put the plant a place with temperatures that are comfortable for this plant, medium lighting level, and gentle air-movement around the whole plant and the pot. With this particular set-up, watering every day would be ok.

With the 100% charcoal ------ probably no issue with it. Just ensure that the pot is very good drainage, and there's some gentle air-movement all around the plant (every once in a while ----- avoiding still-air for long periods of time). And - maybe very importantly - the watering frequency might need to be increased - watering more.

You mentioned mushy roots. Was the plant growing in some other media (eg. wet media) prior to being in 100% charcoal?

Do your pots have very good sized and number of drainage holes at the bottom of it?

Also - when the roots were found to be mushy, what was the state/condition of the charcoal? Was the charcoal and middle and bottom of the pot super wet/saturated due to poor drainage? I'm thinking that charcoal and a very good drainage pot will not create conditions that will lead to mushy roots.

But have heard of cases where plants got slightly frozen while in transit.

Also - if your juvenile orchid currently has very thin little roots, then it will be beneficial to give the roots enough chance to get enough moisture. So upping the watering schedule might be all that's required. But - as for the rotting/mushy roots - ensure good drainage pot and good drainage media. The charcoal is good drainage. So maybe the pot has issues with drainage.

[Plantsniffer]

Hello SouthPark! Thank you for answering.

The mushy roots were when I inspected the roots closer. I found that there would be some pool of water at the bottom of the pot. The pot it came in was 2.5" pot that all the orchids I bought came in. The skin of the roots were soft and came off. The string part of the roots were white and looked fine.

The juvenile plant was transferred from sphagnum moss to 100% charcoal. I think water was sitting at the bottom and not draining because there is no drainage hole at the center of the pot however there are 4 drainage slits at the bottom edge of the pot.


Do your pots have very good sized and number of drainage holes at the bottom of it?

The number of drainage holes were four. They are slits at the bottom of the pot but water seems to pool at the bottom if the pot is not drained at an angle.

When the roots were found to be mushy, what was the state/condition of the charcoal?

The state of the charcoal is in good quality. I got it from my local plant nursery which sells a number of orchids in their greenhouse. I'm thinking that the roots may have been compromised before the transfer to charcoal. When I first saw the roots they had a couple of breaks in them.

For now I will water every day and look for improvements. I got one more question. Would I be able to also let the baby plant soak in water for about 20 minutes - 30 minutes?

[SouthPark]

Hi PS! You're welcome. Thanks for describing the water pooling of water in a particular region. One way to sort that out is to get a cheap soldering iron for the purpose of poking or making extra holes in the plastic pot for drainage -- or even using the soldering iron to make some existing smaller holes become larger.

I'm thinking that the roots may have been compromised before the transfer to charcoal.

I think you might be right. If the spaghnum had been too wet, and air-flow through some regions of the pot was low or zero - especially in regions where some roots are, then that could impact the roots negatively.

Would I be able to also let the baby plant soak in water for about 20 minutes - 30 minutes?

I haven't ever tried the water-soaking method before with any orchids - although I have seen reports with growers that successfully get their juvenile orchids (phals and cattleya) to grow with water soaking. I recall times of around 20 minutes for the soak. And then they might use the soaking water for watering general plants around the place - like in the garden etc.

If you still have a few good lengthy roots, and the orchid's leaves aren't significantly shriveled up, then it won't be necessary to go for soaking. The focus would then just be maintaining adequate moisture to the roots while avoiding water stagnation around the roots and media.

Using charcoal and a modified pot (that doesn't pool water) will be fine - coupled with good growing temperature, gentle air-movement, and medium level lighting, plus a suitable watering schedule.