Need help with one of my Masdevallia's

[Paul Mc]

Hello everyone,

I am new to Masdie's so I wanted to post and see what your thoughts were on this.

This Masdie is a hybrid with no known parentage, and I got it earlier this year. When it arrived, I repotted it in a sphag and perlite mixture in one of those Cool Pots. When I repotted, I noticed it did not have a very good root system. In fact, it was almost non-existant!

So, I haven't been surprised that I've lost a few leaves, but I'm happy to report that there are two new growths.

The issue is though that the older leaves are still turning yellow a the base and dying!

I checked the roots again and they still look pretty bad but there is a little bit of new growth going on around where the new leaves are emerging.

What should I do? Should I be concerned? Or am I doing the best that I can do given the root situation and with new growth emerging?

[Daethen]

I am fairly new to masdies as well, but I would say you are doing the best you can. You are getting new growth so there is a future for the plant.

[RosieC]

I would agree, sounds like you are doing the best you can.

Mine like moss and porous clay pots so I think that looks good. If the new roots are growing around the new growths then it sounds like it will eventually recover but you'll probably loose more leaves first

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Pot is too big. The root mass is probably much smaller in size than the size of the pot.

[ezil]

I agree, the pot seems a bit on the big side, and the medium stays too wet. It may be a good idea to repot, but this time in a smaller pot. The fact that the plant is producing new shoots is an indication that the other conditions are fine. They at least look healthy. Post a picture when it blooms, we'd like that!

[tropterrarium]

I've had some Masd that had the same problem shortly after arrival. They seem to be easily shocked by transport and new environment. Once they get over it, it's fine. Note, that most Masd. are rather low light plants (500-1500 fc), definitely no direct sun light, and most don't like temperatures over 80F. Difficult to tell more without knowing what you have.

Re too much water, I would not consider that. Neither pot size. I would not put them submerged into standing water, but short of that, I keep mine VERY moist, dripping wet all the time, in a humidity tray indoors or in the greenhouse. And yes, they flower and produce new growths. I only grow species, so no idea about hybrids. A few masd are mounted in the GH.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I have found that growing Masdevallias "dripping wet all the time" carries with it a fairly high probability of causing rapid root loss. There is definitely still a limit as to how much these plants should be watered. Particularly if you're growing a lithophytic species of Masdevallia.

There have been times when the seller has the Masdevallias that I purchased from them growing much wetter than I grow them, and sure enough, when I do the repotting upon arrival, there are sure signs of heavy root damage on some of them as a result of over watering.

Over sized pots also carries with it the increased risk of root rot as well. It's basically another variation of over watering.

Some light leaf drop can occur as a result of being moved from one environment to another, but I don't think this is the case with yours, Paul.

I honestly think that the yellowing of the leaves on your Masdevallia is a result of being kept too wet.

I also don't think it's an issue of lighting. I think your lighting is sufficient for Masdevallias, the yellowing does not appear to be a sign of sunburn to me.

If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend checking out the roots to see how they're doing.

[Paul Mc]

Before I posted, I pulled it out of the pot to examine the roots. There weren't many to begin with, and one's that were there aren't all that great looking now except for the new growths.

The Masdie has now lost all but 3 leaves (and one of those is turning yellow at the base and shriveling on the top - this has somewhat been what it's been doing except for a few that just turned yellow and dropped). There are still two new growths that look extremely alive and healthy, and they seem to be growing like weeds, lol... Their roots look excellent, but they are too small to sustain the entire plant.

I put a dash of KLN in with my water this weekend, and intende to do the same for a few weekends to see if that won't help, but I fear the rest of the plant is too far gone at this point other than the two new growths.

I have also put it in a net pot with sphag and perlite chunks, but am keeping the net pot in the cooling pot to assist with evaporative cooling around it. However, I used a very different medium around the net pot that dries out rather quickly.

[Paul Mc]

Oh, and just as a point of referrence, I bought two Masdie's from the same vendor. The other Masdie has a massive root system and also now has three new growths on it. It dropped maybe one leaf after transplanting, but it's doing fine in the exact same position and growing environment as my troubled Masdie.

So, I'm guessing that since the other Masdie appears to be doing fine in my care thus far that my watering may be about on track. Generally, I am watering about every 4 to 6 days, depending upon how dry the sphag is looking. I don't let the sphag get completely dry, but I do let it try to dry itself out a bit before adding more distilled water w/ just a pinch of fertilizer.

[ryrycochinco]

i had the same problem recently, and with help from the forum i learned temp was the problem. Madies are usually cool growing, so maybe your plant has different temp needs than the other two.