Tuberolabium not progressing, what to do?

[MakiWaki]

Hello orchid friends: there is so little information on Tuberolabiums out there that I would really appreciate your input and advice. I purchased this one a year ago at the local orchid fair in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic where I live. It had the 2 longer flower spikes and 5 full leaves in excellent condition. Due to my inexperience I admit it was neglected a bit but from the past 6 months I’ve dedicated myself to its care. I repotted it in fine and medium pine bark and a little of sphagnum at the bottom. It now sits on a pebble tray and I water it twice a week and mist every other day. I notice it has a new developing flower spike. Should I cut the 2 older flower spikes that never bloomed? What’s going on with the leaves? Am I overwatering it? Should I mount it? If I mount it and give its roots more air, will it set it back terribly? Thanks in advance. J

[Ray]

Your plant is showing symptoms of severe desiccation. Either you’ve been under watering it, or the root system is bad and it is unable to take up sufficient water.

[Keysguy]

Totally agree with what Ray diagnosed.
I can't really make out the tag but is that kotoense?
Are you trying to grow that in the house or outside? Can you tell us more about the growing conditions and cultural regimen you have been following? Maybe we can offer some specific tips.
If that is kotoense I would think it should do well on the south coast of the DR.
Good news is I think I see a new root trying to start in the third picture.

[MakiWaki]

Originally Posted by Ray

Your plant is showing symptoms of severe desiccation. Either you’ve been under watering it, or the root system is bad and it is unable to take up sufficient water.

Thanks. I’m going to inspect the root system. Will show you pictures later. J

---------- Post added at 12:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Keysguy

Totally agree with what Ray diagnosed.
I can't really make out the tag but is that kotoense?
Are you trying to grow that in the house or outside? Can you tell us more about the growing conditions and cultural regimen you have been following? Maybe we can offer some specific tips.
If that is kotoense I would think it should do well on the south coast of the DR.
Good news is I think I see a new root trying to start in the third picture.

Thanks. I’m gonna check out the root system. It was sold to me as a kotoense but without Id. The owner of the nursery had to look it up in his catalogue. Temperatures here range between 70 and 95 F year round and being a Caribbean island humidity is often higher than 70%. Air circulation in my balcony is very good and it is facing north-west.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by MakiWaki

What’s going on with the leaves? Am I overwatering it? Should I mount it? If I mount it and give its roots more air, will it set it back terribly? Thanks in advance. J

Ray's comment is critically important I reckon. Definitely check the roots right away to see if you were either under-watering or over-watering.

If over-watering, then some details in these following links can be helpful. Click Here and Click Here

Also - if under-watering, see if the bark stays wet enough. Very dry bark doesn't allow water to get into the bark pieces unless the bark has been exposed to water for long enough periods of time. If the bark is too dry, and water is poured onto the bark, then the water just runs straight off the bark surface - and pretty much doesn't absorb any water.

You also mentioned spaghnum moss. Beware where you put the spaghnum moss, and look out for the condition where the spaghnum moss gets soggy and too wet - which has chances of drowning roots.

[MakiWaki]

Thanks a lot. Based on the advice above, here’s what I found: 2 roots. One very long and one short in good condition. 2 emerging roots. So I decided mount it

[neophyte]

Hello MakiWaki, the issue is that you are underwatering. Underwatering is always a relative term, since it is closely tied to the type of medium. That is to say, if you watered twice a week with sphagnum, you most likely wouldn't be underwatering. But since you're watering twice a week with extremely large grade bark (ie., the chunks are extremely large and don't retain much water), twice a week is not enough. Large grade bark has lots of air space, which leads to its rapid rate drying out. You should switch to small/medium-grade bark medium if you prefer bark (I think this is a good choice) and water maybe once every two days or so. Check out SouthPark's links, too, to make sure that watering every 2 days in small/medium-grade bark is too much. You should always try to adjust the watering based on the medium. The reason I would recommend switching to small/medium-grade bark and adjusting watering instead of adjusting your watering regime to this large-grade bark is because you'd probably be watering this little guy several times per day, which may not suite your schedule. I hope this helps.

Edit (didn't see the above response): MakiWaki, if you decide to mount it, you'll need to water it even more because the roots will dry out extremely quickly. Furthermore, to decrease evaporation rates, it is highly, highly recommended to wrap sphagnum onto the mount in the root region as well.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by MakiWaki

Thanks a lot. Based on the advice above, here’s what I found: 2 roots. One very long and one short in good condition. 2 emerging roots. So I decided mount it

It appears to be a case of roots had become oxygen starved, which died and rotted.

The good news is that it has two good big roots. I would repot it ..... but skip the spaghnum, and take a look at those links provided (added here again Click Here and Click Here) to cut down on chances of oxygen starvation in the roots.

[neophyte]

I think those brown roots were previously dead for other reasons because if you look at the pictures from the first post, the bark is extremely dry. Also notice that these healthy two roots are pale white (indicating low moisture). It may have been that this Tuberolabium had previously dropped leaves and the brown portion is the previously green part of the stem. If I unpotted a 5-year-old healthy phal I would see the same thing. MakiWaki, if your schedule doesn't suite constant, constant watering, please consider small/medium-grade bark and watering just a bit more, or even a sphagnum-bark mix.

[SouthPark]

True neo! Although, the roots below had to have gotten like that in the first place ----- in the past. Something happened to those roots. They rotted at some stage. Also looks like maki clipped off those rotted roots in the other photo(s).