Dendrophylax fawcettii HELLPP! Roots...

[gdupont]

Hi everyone,

No one gave me any info last time anyway...

A little over a month ago I purchased a Dendrophylax fawcettii-- SO COOL -- It was doing well: had many roots over 18" in length, and 4 new roots, all around under 6" with nice green tips around an inch long.

Recently, though, The tips have decreased in size, now only about half an inch long, and I feel the roots should not be stopping growth as they are less than half the size of the mature roots! Am I doing something wrong?

I keep it in a "green house" (shelving unit with plastic covering over it), and mist it about 3 or 4 times a week. It is in a corner with light from the west and south, not direct , though.

Should I give it some sort of fertilizer? Should I be putting it under the sink rather than just misting? Could it be that I need to water more consistently? Different lighting?

Btw, its in a 2" slated basket with a pinch of sphagnum.

THANK YOU!!
gdupont

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[Bud]

Pictures will help us help you better.
I grow my fawcettii in moderate light but with warm temperatures on a south facing windowsill. This plant is endemic to the Caribbean. Since your plant is in a greenhouse environment you can mount and stretch it in cork. The way you describe it is: you are letting it hang like a Vanda root in the air. The root of your plant needs a bark to anchor itself. A healthy fawcettii must have tiny leaves that looks like flat fish scales. Water regularly during growing season in the summer and reduce watering during the winter. Plant prefers high humidity.
Spraying is not enough. I soak my plant once a day really wet and spray it in the late afternoon. I give it weekly weakly fertilizer with seaweed mix. They need to eat.
The way you are describing it; your plant must be shrinking from dehydration.

[hcastil3]

soooo, I have this same issue. I do the same thing you are doing. However, i guess I should of mentioned..... my fawcetti has 2 roots that are really happy and the others are doing what gdupont described.... My linden however, is not doing anything at all anymore!!!!! its just sitting there, its been about 3 months, no new growth no die back, no nothing!!!!!!!! its in a terrerium 84 F during day drop to about 70 at night high 80's humidity in the 90's half the time.

still nothing!!!!

the Chiloschista lunifera however keeps putting roots left and right even leaves that are pretty decent sized..


so I feed them every watering with about 1/6 of recommended fertilizer and super thrive.


all of these are with my Angreacoids, and they love it.


The lindenii is not doing anything, not dying, not growing just there!!!!!


so yeah . sorry about the long post.


oh moving air but the air is enclosed so its really high humidity.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

No one gave you help, because very few people have ever grown leafless orchids.

Leafless orchids are tricky. They thrive in high humidity situations (>78%).

These kinds of plants receive seasonal rain water. The growing season coincides with the season they receive the most rain - spring/summer. During the fall/winter, they receive very little rain and can be watered as little as once every 2 weeks.

They should never be grown with any moss underneath the roots. I have killed many a Chiloschista that way, and Dendrophylax is no different.

Moderately bright indirect light.

Intermediate to warm temperatures (55 F - 95 F).

Moderate air circulation is good enough. It doesn't have to be superb. Remember what kinds of environments they come from. The air can sometimes stagnate.

[hcastil3]

yeah, not many of us here are growing leafless, but I'm happy i do, its rewarding to see them bloom.


LEAFLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bud]

Originally Posted by hcastil3

soooo, I have this same issue. I do the same thing you are doing. However, i guess I should of mentioned..... my fawcetti has 2 roots that are really happy and the others are doing what gdupont described.... My linden however, is not doing anything at all anymore!!!!! its just sitting there, its been about 3 months, no new growth no die back, no nothing!!!!!!!! its in a terrerium 84 F during day drop to about 70 at night high 80's humidity in the 90's half the time.

still nothing!!!!

the Chiloschista lunifera however keeps putting roots left and right even leaves that are pretty decent sized..


so I feed them every watering with about 1/6 of recommended fertilizer and super thrive.


all of these are with my Angreacoids, and they love it.


The lindenii is not doing anything, not dying, not growing just there!!!!!


so yeah . sorry about the long post.


oh moving air but the air is enclosed so its really high humidity.

you are lucky to have your lindenii alive even if it is not doing anything....some growers here have their lindenii long gone and died on them....I think we are one of the few who manage to keep this plant alive even if it is not blooming....but someday I still believe I can bloom my plant, because there is one member who was successful in blooming one in captivity and posted the pictures.

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

No one gave you help, because very few people have ever grown leafless orchids.

Leafless orchids are tricky. They thrive in high humidity situations (>78%).

These kinds of plants receive seasonal rain water. The growing season coincides with the season they receive the most rain - spring/summer. During the fall/winter, they receive very little rain and can be watered as little as once every 2 weeks.

They should never be grown with any moss underneath the roots. I have killed many a Chiloschista that way, and Dendrophylax is no different.

Moderately bright indirect light.

Intermediate to warm temperatures (55 F - 95 F).

Moderate air circulation is good enough. It doesn't have to be superb. Remember what kinds of environments they come from. The air can sometimes stagnate.

Interesting thread, question king, does this watering apply also to my FUNALIS? I grow it outside in Florida, humidity is very good, and I mist it on the top couple times a day. But I did not know that I should do only this low watering in winter, so happy I saw this thread otherwise I would probably kill another one:-)))

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by TOMMYMIAMI

Interesting thread, question king, does this watering apply also to my FUNALIS? I grow it outside in Florida, humidity is very good, and I mist it on the top couple times a day. But I did not know that I should do only this low watering in winter, so happy I saw this thread otherwise I would probably kill another one:-)))

Let me explain something in a bit more detail...

Yes, even the Dendrophylax funalis will receive most of its rain in the summer, and the winter will have a reduced watering.

When I say that most of the rain the plant receives will be in the summer, I do not necessarily mean water everyday. For your case, I would probably only advise you to water about 3 times a week, four times at the very most during the warmer months. If it is a very warm week, maybe water everyday. They don't need much because they don't really have leaves at all times. It's only the roots and the tiny bit of meristematic tissue in the center of where the roots radiate out from.

High humidity is far more important.

I'd rank what is important to the plant as so:

1st priority is providing the proper temperature range.

2nd priority is high humidity (>78%).

3rd priority is proper lighting.

4th priority is providing enough water for the respective season.

5th priority is air circulation. Remember, moderate air circulation is plenty enough. It doesn't have to be spectacular. If the air occasionally just sits still, it's ok.

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Let me explain something in a bit more detail...

Yes, even the Dendrophylax funalis will receive most of its rain in the summer, and the winter will have a reduced watering.

When I say that most of the rain the plant receives will be in the summer, I do not necessarily mean water everyday. For your case, I would probably only advise you to water about 3 times a week, four times at the very most during the warmer months. If it is a very warm week, maybe water everyday. They don't need much because they don't really have leaves at all times. It's only the roots and the tiny bit of meristematic tissue in the center of where the roots radiate out from.

High humidity is far more important.

I'd rank what is important to the plant as so:

1st priority is providing the proper temperature range.

2nd priority is high humidity (>78%).

3rd priority is proper lighting.

4th priority is providing enough water for the respective season.

5th priority is air circulation. Remember, moderate air circulation is plenty enough. It doesn't have to be spectacular. If the air occasionally just sits still, it's ok.

Ok King
thank you so very much. So pretty much I am again killing my plant with way too much misting, good, and I did google and google and nowhere it says what you did. Appreciated.
Ok, I am living in Florida. Our humidity during summer is around 66-80 percent, sometimes even more. I can't get it better, but I think it should be fine. Regarding temperatures, well they are Miami ones, the plant is outside at the balcony 5th floor, it is not in the garden so the temperatures at the balcony are little bit cooler than outside around, but it still gets hot during summer, between 80-90 degrees is what I see nowadays on the thermometer. Light - it gets moderate light, close to phalaenopsis, probably little above. I do not know if it needs some filtered sun during the day? There is pretty good air circulation at the balcony. And one more question, after reading your post I did google also Chiloschista, totally new to me, and after reading requirements I would love one as well, I assume it should be exactly the same like Funalis care?

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yes, Chiloschista is the same.