Zygo issue...

[JDawggie]

Hmmm... I am stumped on this one. I bought a Zygo a few weeks back (in bud - only one partial bloom) and it seemed to be doing really well with all the buds opening within the next few weeks. The smell is great from these flowers has quickly become one of my favorites!

However, I had to go on business travel last week and left the window blinds open a bit more than normal to make sure all my plants got enough sunlight when I was gone...I also added a little water to make sure the Zygo remained damp. I returned to find the stem of the Zygo had black spots and bent completely over (almost like it snapped)...I propped the flowers up on a stake as a last ditch effort and it worked OK for another week, but I clipped the stem today. My questions are:

1. From what I read, it seems Zygo are pretty hardy , but maybe it was too much sun? Or maybe it was a large temp drop or fluctuation?

2. The plant has large psuedobulbs (I see them), Will this plant bloom again? Or is it toast?

3. I clipped the stem much like a Phal...not sure if this was proper, but the flowers were spent.

-- I am still a Newbie. I cant wait to get another Zygo because the smell is intoxicating, but I want to know/learn what happened and if I trashed the entire plant or just this bloom cycle.

Many thank for any responses
Jared

[Zoi2]

By the sounds of it, you haven't trashed the plant. I believe they bloom on pretty much each new growth. I have a few zygo hybrids that bloom from each new growth a couple of times a year.
Clipping the flower spike is fine, I also do it once the blooms are gone.
Can you post a picture of your plant?
Joann

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You might also get some ideas from Camille's post "Help, my Zygo is rotting".

[JDawggie]

Here are some pics of my Zygo.. It still seems healthy, I just don't know so much about the brown leaves nears the bulb...you can see the black spots on the stem that I since cut (has cinnamon on top)....Please let me know if these look like good health bad health or what... Thanks!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Without looking at the roots, the visible parts of the plant looks fine to me.

The black really old bracts, you can remove if you like or if it makes you uneasy about what they'll do to the plant. It's usually unnecessary to remove them though. If you do decide to remove the bracts, I recommend using a pair of scissors, they're pretty tough.

Yes, they will rebloom. And Zygos bloom from new shoots only, before the pseudobulbs appear.

The flowers only last about 1 - 2 weeks, btw.