Pleurothallis? Heat damage?

[qbie]

I picked up this driveway freebie/rescue last summer and think it's some sort of Pleurothallis. Never grown anything like it before, but a Stelis restrepioides and Restrepia radulifera that I also picked up at the same time bloomed for me last winter. It was in rougher shape though. New leaves like the one shown are smooth initially but always end up "puckered" like the rest. Is this a sign of heat damage or something with my culturing?

Outdoors on my NNE-facing balcony with the Stelis and Restrepia. Media for all 3 are different. Stelis was repotted in rather large bark. Restrepia was kept in the original grower's inorganic media, and this No ID was repotted in the same large bark as the Stelis but with some sphagnum moss mixed in. Initially I don't think I watered the No ID as often as the others because it had the moss, but after new leaves ended up "puckering" I thought it might be dehydration. So since the spring, depending on how dry the moss appears, it's been on pretty much the same (most days of the week) watering schedule, though I did not start fertilizing any of them til July. The only other plant I picked up and tried growing in the similar bark/moss mix is a No ID Coelogyne and that seems to be doing OK. Wondering if I should try potting the No ID Pleuro in bark only like the Stelis.

Thanks for helping me figure out why this one doesn't seem to be faring as well!

[Roberta]

It is a Plwurothallid of some sort. Maybe Masdevallia? If you have it in large bark, it may be getting too dry.
I hope you have been watering these a LOT, given the heat that you have been experiencing.

[TaylorEhrhart]

Don't worry, it's not your fault! Orchids can be a bit moody sometimes. Just keep trying different things until you find what works best for your little Pleurothallis. It'll be worth it in the end when it blooms.

[qbie]

Originally Posted by Roberta

It is a Plwurothallid of some sort. Maybe Masdevallia? If you have it in large bark, it may be getting too dry.
I hope you have been watering these a LOT, given the heat that you have been experiencing.

Everyday this week!

[Waterdog111]

Good luck,hope it pulls through for you.

[qbie]

Question on repotting these orchid types with finer roots. I really only have experience potting Phals.

Yesterday I tried repotting the no ID Pleurothallid in small bark. Many roots were stuck really good to pieces of large bark and seemed totally entangled in sphagnum moss so rather than disturb the roots I just removed what came off with shaking the plant and put it back in the pot and filled around it with small bark.

I also wanted to move the Stelis restrepioides keikis I had put in large bark that flowered last winter into small bark since they haven't grown any new leaves since winter, but all the roots were stuck to everything in the lower parts of the pot including the pot itself. I couldn't get it or the bottom 1/3 of media in the pot out so after removing whatever bark came out of the pot by turning it upside down and shaking it, I just topped it off with small bark too.

How do you properly repot these orchid types with finer roots? There's so many it would be impossible to look through them all and clean them up like a Phal or Sarcochilus. Are you not as worried about damaging roots in these types because they have so many more they will quickly rebound? When I picked up the dendrobium kingianums at the same time last year and took divisions of most of them, I have to admit I didn't know what I was doing (and still don't) and pretty much ripped out a clump of canes from the parent that I wanted to try to keep. After all that "man-handling" two flowered last spring and the rest have pretty much all grown new canes which I think some look like they may flower next spring. But I think I heard kingianums are very hardy and grow like weeds.

Thx for continuing to educate me how to properly care for my orchids.

[Roberta]

When I repot, I never try to clean off stuff sticking to the roots, no matter what type of orchid. Just leave it. Maybe a rinse if the old mix was broken down, to wash off rotted stuff, But what stays behind stays behind. After all, these are epiphytes - they have evolved to grab onto substrate - in nature they are "mounted" on trees. So when they hit chunks of bark in a pot, they do the same thing. One can do a lot of damage trying to be tidy!

[qbie]

Originally Posted by Roberta

When I repot, I never try to clean off stuff sticking to the roots, no matter what type of orchid. Just leave it. Maybe a rinse if the old mix was broken down, to wash off rotted stuff, But what stays behind stays behind. After all, these are epiphytes - they have evolved to grab onto substrate - in nature they are "mounted" on trees. So when they hit chunks of bark in a pot, they do the same thing. One can do a lot of damage trying to be tidy!

If the roots are actually stuck to the pot itself, do you just shake it upside down and replace whatever falls out with fresh medium? And if the plant needs a bigger pot, do you just put the whole thing, pot included, into a larger pot? Do you ever soak the plant for a while then gently try to tease the roots away from the sides of the pot to get it out, to be able to inspect the plant more closely and remove any papery or rotten velamen from the roots? I thought it wasn't good to repot an orchid without first removing any rotting/dead velamen on roots, or is this not so much a concern but the most critical thing is to replace decayed or decaying medium?

[Roberta]

Often, when I have roots stuck on the pot (those are usually the new ones with fragile tips, if you try to get them loose you'll probably break those tips and thus stop the growth of the root) for a plastic pot, I dump out the old medium, rinse well, cut the pot in places where I'm not hitting roots, drop into a bigger ones, and fill in with fresh medium, Future roots can grow through the cut areas into bigger space. If it's a clay pot, I just break it, shake out what is loose, rinse, and put in new pot of suitable size. The rinse step (maybe with a bit of persuasion with fingers) will loosen really bad stuff that is best removed. But you often can't tell a good root from a bad root - but "no root" is worse than a "bad root" pretty much all the time. So my priority is always root preservation.

[qbie]

Thx. I may need to invest in some heavy duty scissors later to cut thru thicker plastic like those of take-out soup containers.