Brassavola Dropping Leaves and Roots Turning Dark

[LoriM]

My Brassavola (I think it’s a Brassavola) has been declining in the past few years. I’ve had it for about 15 years. When I first got it, it was newly mounted to the piece of driftwood. Eventually it grew to cover most of the driftwood and bloomed for the first time about 7 years ago. I have attached photos of the young plant and one from the year it had the fullest bloom, which was three or four years ago. For the past two years, it has only had a few blooms. It usually blooms in late November.

Last fall and winter, its leaves started to turn yellow and drop off. It lost a lot of leaves, including younger leaves that had never bloomed. This summer the leaves stopped turning yellow dropping off, and it grew several new leaves, but now that I have brought it inside, the leaves have started dropping again.

It may be helpful for you to know that I hang the plant outside during the warm months in a place where it gets filtered morning sun. When the temperatures drop to low 60’s in the fall, I bring it in the house. In the past few years, I put it in a north-facing window for the winter, but I just moved it to a south-facing window after reading in another post that the Brassavola likes the sun. Over the winter I water the orchid once a week by hanging it in the shower and pouring water over it, plus I give it a light mist just about every day.

I’m also concerned about the roots. Most of them have turned dark.

This orchid was given to me as a gift, it has sentimental value, and we enjoy the sweet fragrance its blooms put out in the evenings. I don’t want to lose it! I appreciate any suggestions!