Burrageara looks sick

[Anthony]

So, this is my first plant that's not a Phalaenopsis. A Burrageara Nelly Isler.

She's been acting up strange lately and doesn't look happy.

First her pseudobulbs started to wrinkle so I gave her extra water. The pot wasn't dry so I didn't expect her to wrinkle. The mixture is moist now and I give water every 3/4 days. (I let her stand for about 30 minutes in it)

Now, the flowers are coming to an end which would be very quick (if you ask me), only have it for 2 weeks now.
I've noticed the bottom leaf (or a piece of it) is rotting so I've removed it.

Should I get her out of the pot to see if there's something wrong on the inside?

If I repot, can I use my regular mix I use for Phals or should I try S/H (first time)?

[Blueszz]

Hi Anthony,
if you are in doubht about the quality of the roots I would always advise to unpot. However, plants that are in good shape I repot when roots from the new growths apear. That is something I learned here form another member on the forum.

I lost my Nelly Isler, I think it had bad roots in the first place. I planned to repot after it finished flowering and I didn't realize the flowers were 'feeding' on the pseudobulbs that lost all their roots.

I didn't buy a new Nelly Isler (not yet) but have several plants that I would give the same treatment as Nelly Isler. Hopefully someone who has Nelly Isler jumps in too.

I repotted mine in fir bark and they do very well. I used the medium grade bark. I also used a mix from Cameleon orchids, I found it at Intratuin in NL. Don't know if you have Intratuin in Belgium too? This mix hold more water but it makes repotting much harder. It sticks to the roots really bad. When I had to remove the old medium during a repot, I couldn't remove enough without damaging good roots. That is why I prefer plain bark but you must be prepaired you need to water more often (in the beginning) as it dries out pretty fast.

So for my 2$cents. Hope someone else jumps in!
Nicole

I dunk my pots and as with Phalaenopsis you can see air bubbles arise from the medium.

[Anthony]

Well, we do have Intratuin in Belgium. However, since Cameleon is a company in NL you won't find their products here (you will find the plants but not the fertilizer/mixes)

I'm quite happy with the "DCM Orchid" mix. (Dutch or translated to English, there's a video too in Dutch on how to repot Phals )
DCM has a very good and light mix. It contains bark in different sizes (most of it is small) and very small pieces of spaghnum. You can see it being used in the video.

I've had the Substral mix before that ... I don't know what's in it but believe me, it's not worth it's money. It clearly contains bark but it looks more like a mix you would use in the garden, really bad.

I will do a check up on the roots later today. Will probably make some pics too.

[Anthony]

Well, the roots look healthy.

The only thing I'm not completely sure of if it's a good thing is that it's so wet on the inside.

Also, one of the leafs is turning orange at the end, probably nothing to worry about.

[Blueszz]

Hi Anthony,
my guess is that in the center you'll find Sphagnum which keeps the center so wet. If it dries up fast enough I would wait with repotting until a new growth puts out it's roots (or just before it). You'll always damage good roots, at least I hardly can do without
That leaf tip, maybe it's sort of mechanical damage. I don't think it's something to worry about.
Nicole (currrently watching the video)

[Hera]

I would repot in fresh medium. The outside roots look good, but I'm betting that the center is rotting. Fresh medium and consistant watering will perk it up. You may loose the bloom spike, but they grow fast.

[camille1585]

Having a look at the center of the mix might be a good idea. I don't know where yours comes from, but I have successively bought 3 Nelly Islers in the Netherlands and all three had the same problem (and 2 have died). The plant looked like it was potted in bark only, but appearances are deceptive. Turns out that they all had previously grown in tightly packed sphag and then were repotted sphag and all into bigger pots with bark. I was watering assuming it was all bark, so rotted the roots at the center. Thus the importance of repotting orchids as soon as you get them!

[Anthony]

Well ... I have combined both your suggestions

I took some tweezers, held them together while "drilling" to the center between the roots. Once in the center I tried to grab some of the content and yes ... it wasn't the dark bark. The center has to be very small since I had to go in for almost 2/5 of the diameter.

Looks like I'll have to unpot, remove all the spagh and repot using my DCM mixture.

[Nic100]

Hi Anthony,
if I can just give you some encouragement - my Burr Nelly Isler had the same problem and had densely packed sphag at the centre (which struggles to dry out where I live). I repoted, and the spike of flowers that were left perked up and are still looking good now a month later. Plus I have 3 new shoots so it seems to be pretty happy!
Good luck and keep us posted!

[Anthony]

I'm currently unpotting the plant, some "semi-live" pictures ...

Maybe 1 positive thing ... the roots are so wet they are very flexible.