Brassavola leaves yellow, fall off - Orchid Board

Jerry · #1 06-17-2007, 07:22 PM

I just bought a large (3 weeks ago) Brassavola Nodosa growing on a slab of tree fern.
Its in bright light in a shaded greenhouse and gets about 3500-4000 f.c. most of the day.
I mist it at least once a day and the humidity is around 60%, the temp around 80- 90 degF most of the day.
The roots are growing fast, but!

I just had 2 leaves yellow and fall off, it looks as though the other leaves are OK but I know a plant can get sick fast, so I am hoping that the falling leaves are just a normal process.
Does any one have advice about what to look for from now on??

Jerry

Lagoon · #2 06-17-2007, 08:10 PM

Hi Jerry,
Yes I do think this is a normal for a Nodosa to do this - If your getting 10 - 20 leaves at once goin' bad then I would say time to rethink.
Don't forget --The more light and heat, the more watering you need to do.

Gin · #3 06-17-2007, 08:35 PM

:iagree: They will lose a few off and on mine does

Gin

Ross · #4 06-17-2007, 09:54 PM

If they are from the back bulbs, that would be normal. If from the most recent growths, we have a problem. Which one is it?

cb977 · #5 06-17-2007, 11:58 PM

I'm confused...I thought B nodosa likes less light

Ray · #6 06-18-2007, 05:19 AM

Brassavola nodosa likes it really warm, and according to orchidspecies.com, it likes bright- to full light, maybe not direct sunlight. For me, that means up with the vandas.

Charles · #7 06-18-2007, 09:08 AM

Mine is out with the vandas and kicking butt.
It does have one yellowing, and turning brown, leaf.
There were three or four a month ago. Down to one.

blackorchid · #8 08-29-2008, 04:23 AM

I also have a B. nodosa in trouble. After the summer heat wave in Dallas, the plant has stopped producing new roots. The growth looks stunned and doesn't seem to make any progress for months. The new growth also stopped growing, kinda like being stunned. I unpot the whole thing (in LECA) and I see that the Spring root doesn't penetrate deep into the 4" pot. It's just a clump of root on the surface of the LECA. The worst part is that the leaves gradually turn yellow and slightly wrinkle, and there were 3 leaves that felt off already in a course of several months. What have I done wrong here? Lack of nitrogen in fertilizer? Too much rooting hormone in fertilizer mix? heat shock? Too dry? I really need some help here.