Mis-shapen leaves on Dend.s Help.

[ian.m]

Hey guys, I need some input.

I've got a couple orchids here that are showing some unusual symptoms.

The first one here is a Dendrobium Waianae Valley Ruffles which was rescued from Home Depot. It was very dehydrated and I had to chop nearly all the roots when I got it home. Now, somewhat surprisingly, it is coming back with a vengance. 4-5 new shoots, and lots of new root growth. As you can see from this picture, there is some red tinge to the leaf edges (high end of light requirments?) but what I am more worried about is the bent leaf at the growth point. You can see a couple of the new shoots have bent leaves. Any idea what causes this?

On a similar note, the second picture is of an unknown specimen. It could be an Odontocidium Wildcat, or it could be an unknown phal-Dend. This plant is showing much of the same symptoms as the previous one, but it also shows some more pleated leaves, almost like egg-noodles. It is apparent by the picture that this pleating is not from underwatering (the underwatered psuedobulb on the left is old growth, the issue is on new growth), the plant looks to be in great health other than the mis-shapen leaves.

Help me.

Thanks.

Ian.m

ps: the upload limitations for jpeg files are ridiculous. It allows you 1024x768, but only 97K or less in file size? That's like the lowest compression setting! The images look like garbage!

[Phantasm]

The accordian leaf problem is due to insufficient water when the growth is beginning and/or lack of sufficient humidity.
Many of the Home Depot type of plants get quite dessicated while waiting to get purchased. These stores
have no clue how to grow orchids!
I believe that both of your plants are dendrobiums

[Sandra Billeter]

Both look like Dens to me too. We've occasionally seen a mis-shapen leaf at the growth tip of some Dens but the plants do fine. I would think this is probably a hold over effect from their previous stress. Next spring should tell the tale because they sure look like they are responding well. As to the red leaf edges, it might be that the flower color is red or violet and the high light is simply bringing some of that out in the leaves. I know this happens in the Catts.

Sandra in South Carolina

[ian.m]

Thanks for the input, guys. I appreciate it.

I hope that these leaf issues are hold-overs from previous stresses. Like you said Sandra, they seem to be bouncing back quite well.

Regarding the red-tinged leaves, it is happening on a Dend. that supposedly has all yellow/green flowers (no pattern) although I have yet to see this particular plant's flowers. It is also happening on a few other plants with a variety of flower colors.

Thanks again.

[Phantasm]

Red in the leaves can be a result of genetics or environment, or both. Generally plants that show a good amount of red in the leaves (especially at the base) will be rich red, magenta, purple or other dark colors.
If the light is increased, many plants will show more red in the leaves, and this is an indicator that the plant is getting a lot of light. If you can give the plant as much light as it can take without burning it, you should have more flowers and sometimes richer colors.
I grew a seedling of Onc.Cloud Ears which has rich brown flowers outside one summer where it would get early morning bright light and shade during the day but some reflected light. The leaves turned from deep green to dark green with a red tinge through the leaf. The plant bloomed the best it ever had with 33 flowers on one spike and it received an AM. Unfortunately it met it's demise 4 years later.....

[caroline]

Hi, I am having same problem with my orchids and I don't know why. I am sorry I am not that much of help to you since I am new in this but how do you keep your orchids so healthy? I don't have very healthy plants like yours. My orchid plants don't use to have many new growth: not more than one.

Originally Posted by ian.m

Hey guys, I need some input.

I've got a couple orchids here that are showing some unusual symptoms.

The first one here is a Dendrobium Waianae Valley Ruffles which was rescued from Home Depot. It was very dehydrated and I had to chop nearly all the roots when I got it home. Now, somewhat surprisingly, it is coming back with a vengance. 4-5 new shoots, and lots of new root growth. As you can see from this picture, there is some red tinge to the leaf edges (high end of light requirments?) but what I am more worried about is the bent leaf at the growth point. You can see a couple of the new shoots have bent leaves. Any idea what causes this?

On a similar note, the second picture is of an unknown specimen. It could be an Odontocidium Wildcat, or it could be an unknown phal-Dend. This plant is showing much of the same symptoms as the previous one, but it also shows some more pleated leaves, almost like egg-noodles. It is apparent by the picture that this pleating is not from underwatering (the underwatered psuedobulb on the left is old growth, the issue is on new growth), the plant looks to be in great health other than the mis-shapen leaves.

Help me.

Thanks.

Ian.m

ps: the upload limitations for jpeg files are ridiculous. It allows you 1024x768, but only 97K or less in file size? That's like the lowest compression setting! The images look like garbage!

[ian.m]

Well Caroline, I don't know quite what to tell you about my 'healthy' orchids. I'm quite new to this as well.

Most of our orchids used to be rather abused (before we knew what we were doing) and were potted in potting soil, with irregular watering schedules. Then we repotted them in appropriate sized fir bark/perlite and in the right kind of pots, and now they get plenty natural light (almost too much, but not burning yet) supplemented with fluorecents when the natural light is low (winter coming). I water when it looks like they need it, keep them humid and fed regularly (lightly).

I am happy to say that many of them are coming along nicely from their previous trauma, and the newer additions are still looking good.

Good luck, and thanks again.

[Sandra Billeter]

Ian, you just posted that you give your plants supplemental light as well as regular daylight. Early on, when we grew indoors, we used grow lights on a timer. We set them to go off at 10 PM so we could check that they had gone off as we got ready for bed. The mistake was in keeping the lights on after normal sunset. We didn't realize then that many orchids have a photoperiod (daylength) bloom setting trigger. Changes in the daylength is a major trigger to set blooms in many species. By keeping those lights on after normal sunset, we wiped out the bloom setting triggers on a lot of plants. If you are using lights, I suggest that you get them turned off by the normal sunset hours. When we moved into our GH 3 years ago, we noted significant changes in the blooming of our Catts & their hybrids. This may be a partial explanation of your problem. However, the other postings contain a lot of good additional info too. Don't forget patience. We've had some orchids for 4 years before they bloomed but we bought them as seedlings. Good luck!

Sandra in South Carolina

[ian.m]

I'm not sure where flowering entered the conversation, but I am rather aware of the concept of altered photoperiod as a trigger for the flowering process.

The lights I am using are not very bright and only used on very overcast days when the overall light level is very diminished.

I have not had any problems with the plants flowering (yet). We have one Dend. (Paskal Kunning, I think), who, despite being planted in potting soil and having its roots rot away, proceeded to flower for us more than once a year (while on a constant photoperiod under compact fluoros). Our others are either too new (having just finished their "purchase" flowering) or recovering from root rot with lots of brand new shoots.

Thanks for the info.