What's going on with my Encyclia Cordigera

[CJ Green]

Hi Orchid Boarders,

I bought an Encyclia Cordigera in May, and it has been going downhill ever since. The leaves had a few dark/yellow spots when I got them--I sent photos to the seller (Marlow) and he said "concentrate on the new growth." I trimmed the leaves to prevent the problem from spreading. I've repotted this twice; the first time into a medium-fine mix that was supposed to be good for encyclias. But then I thought it was retaining too much water so I repotted into a chunkier mix and tried to make sure there was plenty of air circulation, a lot of light, and let it dry out between watering. But things are looking a bit grim. Anybody out there an encyclia enthusiast who would like to offer an armchair diagnosis and/or share tips for success with this type? I thought they were supposed to be fairly straightforward as far as care goes. (First picture is from June, and the other two are from today.)

[Ray]

It looks to me like the plant is unable to take up sufficient water - either because you are underwatering it, or the roots have been damaged by the repeated changing of medium and root zone conditions.

[estación seca]

I agree with what Ray wrote above.

Most Encyclias with healthy roots need a lot more water than most hybrid Cattleyas. Even during their winter resting season they should not stay dry for long. This one tolerates drying out better than most, but it still need more frequent watering than a Cattleya.

I have an E. cordigera I got from Ray over 2 years ago as a seedling. I kept it in bark the first year. I treated it as a member of the Cattleya alliance and let it get dry between waterings. It hardly grew at all. The new growth was much smaller than the previous growths.

I unpotted it to move it to semi-hydroponic growing. I found there were two seedlings in the pot, one quite small. I moved the bigger one to S/H and put the smaller one in a pot with sphagnum moss over large particle perlite.

The plant in S/H finally began growing, probably because now it had more water available. Finally it made a new growth much larger than the previous ones. It is distinctly unhappy if I forget to water and the reservoir runs dry. I think there is a chance it will flower next season.

My aim with the smaller one was to keep the sphagnum moist, with the perlite providing plenty of air below. During the winter I let it dry out between waterings, but not for long. That plant died last winter. I didn't water it enough. I learned my lesson.

The roots I can see on your plant look healthy. It takes this plant much longer to mature a new growth than Cattleya hybrids. It seems on schedule. I would try not to let it go dry at this point. I also think you could move it gradually to your highest-light situation. Mine takes full Arizona sun through a window with good air circulation.

[CJ Green]

Thanks to both of you for the information. I'll watch the moisture levels and increase watering. I've got it in a south-facing window now with very little shade, so I think the light situation is pretty good. I'm glad to hear that it's a slow-growing plant--I'll just try to be patient!

[estación seca]

Well... I don't know what your definition of a slow-growing plant is.

Many species orchids only make new growth once per year, only in the appropriate season, and only rarely make more than one new growth per previous pseudobulb. Such plants fill their pots slowly, and don't produce as big a flower display as plants making more growths.

Other plants can initiate new growth more than once per year, if conditions are appropriate.

Some plants routinely make more than one new growth per pseudobulb. They are more likely to do this if conditions are good. They may do this once per year or multiple times per year.

Gardeners have, over the decades, deliberately or not, selected clones to propagate that produce more new growth than wild plants, in order to get better flower displays.

Some seedlings of plants that can make multiple new growths don't do so until they're larger and can handle the increased metabolism necessary to do so.

Some species mature new growths rapidly, and others quite slowly.

Most Encyclia species and hybrids I grow take quite a while to mature new growths, much longer than most Cattleya hybrids and species I grow. Some of my Encyclias only make new growth once per year, and the growth doesn't mature until it's ready to bloom, the next spring or summer. This can be almost a year after growth initiation. Others of my Encyclias will make a second set of new growths sometime during warm weather.

My E. cordigera seedling made one new growth early this spring, and began a second some months later. Neither is close to mature.

Also realize Encyclias tend to initiate new root growth only once per year, so you should wait to repot until you see new roots forming. Some of them make new roots concurrently with new shoots, and others wait until growths are completely mature before making roots.

[CJ Green]

I'm used to plants taking awhile to grow, but honestly if I look closely, I can see new developments almost daily with all my other orchids. I have plants that have sent up several new leaves or pseudobulbs, and put out new roots, and/or have grown by several inches over the summer--and I have mostly small and/or young orchids. Most of them are pretty happy. But the only growth on this Encyclia is that its new shoot is about 3 inches longer than it was in May, with just the barest hint of thickening in the base that might turn into a bulb. This is my only Encyclia so I don't have any basis for comparison for that species. I've also had to cut some of its leaves completely off and others partially off because of the yellow/black spots, and I'm sure that has set the plant back overall. I'm just hoping I can turn things around and get it going again--but I won't expect fast growth.

ETA: Now that I think about it, this may be my only species orchid. Thanks for your description of the growth pattern. Since this plant is just two small bulbs, it sounds like it may be progressing OK, especially given the setbacks of repotting, trimming, underwatering, etc.!