Oeceoclades spathulifera yellowing

[leejv90]

I got an O. spathulifera (along with some other orchids) as my first orchids in late January. The others are doing great (a juvenile phal pushing out its first flower spike, and a jewel working on its 3rd leaf), but this one has been nothing but trouble. The specimens advertised by the vendor had 4-5 leaves and plump pseudobulbs. Mine came with 1 1/2, the leaves were super dull and marred with black damage near the crown. And the pseudobulbs were wrinkly.

Repotting it the first time, I cut off a bunch of roots that I thought were dead. They were deflated (could roll the roots between my fingers and feel they were hollow), but didn't pull off easily. As I was new to orchids, I thought they must be dead and cut close to 50% of the roots away. Out of all the roots, only one felt full. Fast forward to now, and the pseudobulbs look even worse, and they've never plumped up after a watering (excuse the picture, I'm away from home at the moment and got the boyfriend to take a pic, apparently the plant popped right out when he tried to handle it, so he replanted it a little deeper than I had it). And the cut leaf is dying back.

After seeing the start of the yellowing, before I left a couple days ago, I popped it out of the pot to check for root rot, and there was literally no change. The deflated roots were all still there, all still beige-white, and all still looking limp and deflated. Which got my cogs going, oh no, maybe those roots I cut off were actually healthy. I'm worried that I set back an already rehab plant (that honestly, should not have been sold). Anyone have any tips for me to keep this plant alive and on the right track again?

Here are my culture parameters:
Environment: Small grow tent, 100CFM exhaust fan, around 5 full cycles of air per minute
Light: 110W quantum board + 34W bulb @ 3.5' above ground level -- 11000-13000 lx, 14/10h on/off, around 10 mol/d DLI
Media: 3" terracotta pot, 40% potting mix, 60% random chunky stuff (mostly perlite, some bark, lava rocks, etc), surface goes dry in 2 days
Water/Fertilizer: 2x weekly, 150ppm N at each watering, 3-1-2 fertilizer, flushed monthly
Temperature: 24C day, 20C night
Humidity: 50-70%

[estación seca]

Several problems.

The small Oeceoclades are forest floor leaf litter dwellers. This one grows under shrubs and trees on sand dunes. You're burning it with far too much light. They grow in habitat shadier than Phals. That alone could account for the yellowing.

You probably cut off roots capable of absorbing water, which is a big problem. Many orchids make new roots only for relatively short periods of time. If the grower cuts off roots the plant will struggle to take up enough water until it is time to make new roots. I never cut off roots. I can't tell which are dead. Sometimes dead roots fall off in my hands while repotting, but I don't cut roots. I realize other people think they can tell which roots are dead, so they advise cutting roots. I think those people are fooling themselves. I strongly recommend you not cut roots off orchids again.

Fortunately these are tough orchids accustomed to many warm months with no rain, so it has a good chance of surviving. In habitat they grow profusely during the warm, rainy season, and just sit there when it isn't raining.

I would move it away from the bright light into bright shade. House plant light levels are adequate. Water it every week or so. When temperatures and humidity rise it will begin making new growth. At this point let it get just moist between waterings.