dendrobium farmerei leaf curl

[darkneon]

Hi everyone, first post so hope this is alright

couple of weeks ago i bought a standard den farmerei from a show and feeling adventurous, i decided to mount it on a piece of bark with a moss pad. It seemed to do alright and has had new growth, but now some of the leaves are curling along the length of the leaf.

Anyone have any ideas on this one?

[piaffe97]

Sorry, I can't help with this one, but I'm curious to see what others say. Good luck and welcome, I've found this board to be very helpful and members so informative!

[nenella]

Usually when leaves curl it's because there is a lack of water. How are the roots?

[darkneon]

Thanks for the welcome

nenella, the roots were earlier this week looking a bit shrivelled, but a good watering has fixed that and they have pumped back up now. What kind of watering regime do dends need? Ill get a photo on shortly once i find my camera.

[wevans]

Hey Darkneon,
Since you heve this den mounted on bark you have to water frequently almost everyday depending on your location growing conditions. Dens that are potted should be watered once a week, but since you have yours on a mount you need to do it more frequently.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

FYI, Den. farmeri goes dormant in the winter.

[orchidsamore]

I mount thousands of orchids each year and this type of leaf curl is common on many different families not just Dens. I get these results often with Cattleya even though I encase the roots in sphag to keep larger amounts of water on the roots.

As mentioned earlier it is from lack of water to that leaf. Watering should be almost daily until the plant establishes and then depending on you location from 3 times to daily.

Mounting can often damage some roots. It is not serious but will often encourage the plant to discard the leaves that were supported by those roots.

It is common to lost all original leaves on a mounted plant over time as new leaves grow. It is the natural course of growth and results in a much better plant in the long run.

While farmeri does like a winter 'rest' depending on your location this varies a lot. In Florida a winter 'rest' is watering heavily only once a week. I never recommend stopping watering.

All this advice applies also to orchids in wood baskets as well as mounts.

[darkneon]

Thanks for all the advice It gets misted 2ce a day at the mo, and the sphag is kept moist, ill up it to 3x a day and keep an eye on it and see what happens.