Aerangis punctata leaf loss

[Purpoh]

Hello! I've been growing Aerangis punctata for around 9 months now. It bloomed earlier this year and afterwards put out two big fat roots. The problem is that it has very (emphasis on VERY) slowly been losing its leaves. It started out with 5 and they have turned yellow and withered off throughout the year, with 3 remaining now. The bottom leaf is now beginning to yellow and I can guess it will fall in ~2 or 3 months. The whole time i have had it, it has not shown any signs of producing any new leaves at all. I am sure the dead leaves are not from a fungal infection, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Is this normal for this species? Will it lose some leaves and start growing a bunch in the spring? Help!

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by Purpoh

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

What are you doing?

Min/max and average temps?
Feedings/waterings?
Media?
Light?

I grow a citrata and a luteo-alba but not this. Others certainly do and will need that info to start.

[Purpoh]

It should be receiving around 1,500 fc, 60-75 for temps, no fertilizer in the winter, watered until it has completely dried out (about every day), And it is grown on a cork bark mount with a small amount of sphagnum underneath.

[u bada]

Knowing what you're doing is certainly helpful...

with my experience, leaf loss in aerangis means not enough water or root damage, ie rot or dessication (which amounts to root damage)...

i grow this one, actually three, that i acquired as near blooming size, so yet to bloom, however, over the last couple years they seem to never have more than 3 or 4 leaves per growth anyway, so it may be naturally letting go of leaves, that said, like other aerangis and angraecoids, can keep more leaves if they are watered more often (and let dried out well between waterings)

[estación seca]

Relative humidity probably has a lot to do with it as well. Number of leaves carried for any plant is a balance between water uptake via roots and water loss via leaves.

In a very humid greenhouse, like where most vendors grow their plants, there is a lot less water transpiration, and plants can support more leaves with a given root system. In a hobbyist's home, probably less humid than the grower's greenhouse, the root system can't supply enough water for that set of leaves, so the plant drops a few to remain in balance. This is very obvious with Phalaenopsis, for example.