Den. Victoria-Reginae - Help!

[Maluvsorchids]

I purchased this plan in bloom when I was in Hawaii back in May. It is a very small plant and I transplanted it into bark medium. I water weekly using a small amount of fertilizer. Suddenly my plant seems to be dying. The leaves are getting dry and falling off.

I live in NY and have it in a south east exposure on my window sill. I am new to this type of orchid.

What am I doing wrong?

[jaxorchidman]

Maluvsorchids, this dendrobium blooms of the older leafless canes so don't worry too much about leaves dropping. It's natural. I would, however, try and take a look at the roots. Are you growing inside or outside? Typically the leaves will drop, the plant will flower, and then there will be new growth. Check the roots if you can and make sure the bark is not breaking down and staying too wet. If not, then leave it alone and keep doing what you've been doing. Good luck!

[Maluvsorchids]

Hi Joshua
Thank you so much for getting back to me. My orchids are like my children - I like to keep them safe & happy! lol

They are kept indoors since I live on Long Island, NY. Too cold to keep them outside. I never let the bark stay wet - know that from my other orchids. The bark is not broken down - it is new back that I planted them in back in May.

Thanks for the help - I will keep going and hopefully you are right - I would hate to see this plant die. It had such beautiful blooms when I bought it. How about fertilizer - should I keep doing that weekly - weakly.

[silken]

I checked this in OrchidWiz and light requirements are fairly low (1500 to 2500 fc). It says excessive light may cause premature leaf drop. So if it is getting a lot of light in a SE window you might want to provide some shading of some sort.

[Maluvsorchids]

Hi Silken
Wow that is interesting information. They do get a lot of sunlight there. I am going to move them back to my partial shade window and see what happens.

Thank you so much!

[silken]

Good luck!

[Brooke]

The vic-reg also doesn't want to totally dry out. Notice how slender the canes are? She has no ability to store water for long periods of time so you could try watering more often or putting her in a more moisture retentive mix.

Brooke

[Maluvsorchids]

I am so happy to get all this advice. I am pretty new to orchid growing and appreciate all the feedback. This seems to be the only one I am having problems with. I have 21 orchids of all differing varieties many of which are now in bloom. I just love growing these beautiful plants.