Aerides HELP!!!!!! dying or not?

[frostedeyes]

ok i bought this aerides which again the roots were all black no fresh ones, but ive seen the flowers and leaves were pretty healthy. An orchid expert of mine told me to buy coz its in good shape. so here... after a month all the flowers were gone, well leaves are starting to turn yellow and some young plantlets are starting to grow. on my observation i dont think this plant is not doing well... i find it deteriorating. well i saw new root appear from the old black roots around one inch. I think my biggest mistake was placing it in my patio which gets full morning sun. I already place it somewhere far from getting morning sun. Please help me on what to do with this plant! i dont want my aerides ended lying in the coffin!. Thanks for the advice!

[smweaver]

If it were my plant I would cut off the end of the leaf that is turning black, cut off any of the old black roots (unless there are healthy root tips branching out from them) and put the plant in a semi-shaded location until it starts to recover. How often were you watering the plant? Since it looks like it's growing on a treefern (or wood) mount, you would need to water it a lot. I have aerides species and they all appreciate being heavily watered, especially when it's warm (which I assume it probably is in the Philippines) and the plants are getting good light. I doubt that the morning sun was what caused your problem--unless it had not previously been grown in direct sunlight and you suddenly exposed it to a few hours or more. Aerides can take a lot of morning sunlight, but the key is to introduce them to higher light levels very gradually (first week, half an hour; second week, one hour; third week, two hours; after a month to six weeks the plant should be able to handle direct morning light for at least five to six hours). But if you introduce them to higher light levels than they are accustomed to, you also need to water them more often and provide a little fertilizer periodically. Don't get discouraged. Aerides in general are fairly tough plants. Just clean yours up, make sure the healthy roots are getting a lot of water if you're going to keep it growing on its mount, and provide it with a relatively shady location until it starts to show signs of new root and leaf growth. Luckily you're in a country that is "Aerides friendly" as far as your natural growing conditions go. Best of luck!

Steve

[frostedeyes]

every morning i water the plants combined with a very weak root hormone. yeah i guess ill just have to think positive i just cut the black leaves! gees! thanks smweaver! ill give yah updates when theres new shoots comming! hehe thanks! happy blooming!

[smweaver]

If your plant has new root tips growing (I think a couple of your pictures showed healthy roots), then I would also make a friendly suggestion that you not use any rooting hormone (or even much in the way of fertilizer until you see new growth). In my experience aerides don't really need to have a lot of inducement to produce roots. Just as long as it's hung in a fairly shady location, given regular waterings to the healthy roots and provided with warmth and humidity, your plant should have a good chance of recovering.