Monnierara Millenium Magic drying out

[CROrchid]

Hello everyone,

I've been enjoying my success with Phals for three years now, never had any issues and they're growing and flowering beautifully.

Anyway, I decided to order the Monnierara Millenium Magic "Withcraft" two weeks ago.

The plant arrived a week ago, after spending a week in transport (in a postal box).

When I unpacked the plant, I noticed the following:
- Plant is a small seedling in a 5cm non-transparent pot, tightly packed in spaghnum moss
- Has two bulbs, one smaller than the other (1.5cm and 2cm).
- The smaller bulb had one leaf yellow and the other one seemed in a bad condition as well

During the following week this happened in chronological order:
- Both leaves fell off the small bulb - The leaves from the larger plant began to yellow at the tips - I watered the plant every three days (twice in a week)
- I noticed the lowest leaf of the larger bulb is sort off "cutting off" (the black drying thing on the picture) and might fall off soon
- I noticed the newest leaf in the middle (which is stagnant and not doing anything during the week) is slightly yellowish (drying?) at the point where it comes from the crown of the plant, not sure if this is normal?

- The plant was on the northern window where there's no direct sun ever, I grow my Phals there.

Squeezing the bulbs indicates they're not soft/mushy, they feel sturdy.


So today, I've decided to repot the plant into a diy transparent pot (small yogurt container, drilled holes on the sides and on the bottom). I've removed all the spaghnum moss from the roots (there was quite a lot of it packed in such a small pot). I've put it into a fine bark medium with a bit spaghnum moss on top and put it near the southern window where there are a few hours of direct sunlight each day. During the repotting, I've observed there are no rotten roots (but also not that many of them) and one seemed greenish and looked like it was in active growth. I now plan to water it every day since the direct sunlight should help dry the bark medium during the day.

What are your thoughts, is there hope for this plant?

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Your plant is behaving normally.

This group of orchids - Catasetinae - has a completely different growth pattern from Phalaenopsis. And realize you have a seedling, but it can grow very much larger in this very growing season. Different Catasetinae flower at different times of the year, but their growth pattern is pretty much the same:

In habitat, they are leafless and dormant in the long, warm, dry winter. A few weeks before summer rains arrive, they begin to make roots. Then they begin to make shoots. It is still completely dry and rainless at this time.

When the summer rains arrive, the roots system is very extensive, the shoot is at least 10cm long and sometimes longer, and the plant is ready for the drenching rains. They remain wet from rain all summer, and the new shoot grows into a large pseudobulb with very large leaves. The plant usually makes multiple shoots during the summer growing season.

At the end of summer, rains stop. As fall progresses into winter, the leaves dry and fall off. The plant goes completely dormant for the winter. The old roots mostly die.

Then the cycle repeats again.

Your plant is dropping the leaves it made last year. This is normal, but it usually would have happened long before now. No problem. The plant is about to begin this year's growth.

Dormancy, just as new roots are forming, is the correct time to repot these. You guessed correctly. You could also have left this plant in the sphagnum pot; it would have been fine for another year.

Don't water the plant yet. Put it someplace warm, bright and humid. Small plants without shoots can't take much direct sun, so it's not ready for that yet. It will soon begin forming more roots, and a shoot. But it won't be time to water yet.

When the new shoot is at least 10 cm long, and there are plenty of new roots about 6-8cm long, begin watering and fertilizing the plant heavily. Many people stand the pot in a saucer of water. This is not recommended for many orchids, but Catasetinae use huge amounts of water every day.

As the shoot expands and leaves enlarge, move it into more and more sun. This plant is able to tolerate full European summer sun. Also, it grows much better with warm summer nights. Some people in northern Europe find it does better in a greenhouse, so nights can be warmer. I think your nights might be warm enough for it to be outside. Watch for squirrels and rats!

As it grows, begin fertilizing heavily, at every watering. Some people recommend using 0.7-1.5ml of powdered 20-20-20 fertilizer per liter of water at every watering, with a flush of pure water once a week or so.

As it is growing, pay close attention and watch for spider mites. These are tiny 8-legged creatures that can kill Catasetinae in just a few days. They are more a problem during warm, dry weather. You can read about spider mites here on Orchid Board. From the top maroon menu choose the Search feature. I strongly recommend you read about them in advance so you know what to watch for, and are prepared.

With proper care, the new shoot or shoots that grow on your plant this summer will be several times the size of the existing shoots. You will be surprised at how large the plant will become. There is a good chance it will be large enough to flower in the upcoming late winter or early spring.

You can read about growing them on the Sunset Valley Orchids Web site. Fred Clarke, who runs SVO, hybridizes a lot of these.

[CROrchid]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Your plant is behaving normally.

This group of orchids - Catasetinae - has a completely different growth pattern from Phalaenopsis. And realize you have a seedling, but it can grow very much larger in this very growing season. Different Catasetinae flower at different times of the year, but their growth pattern is pretty much the same:

In habitat, they are leafless and dormant in the long, warm, dry winter. A few weeks before summer rains arrive, they begin to make roots. Then they begin to make shoots. It is still completely dry and rainless at this time.

When the summer rains arrive, the roots system is very extensive, the shoot is at least 10cm long and sometimes longer, and the plant is ready for the drenching rains. They remain wet from rain all summer, and the new shoot grows into a large pseudobulb with very large leaves. The plant usually makes multiple shoots during the summer growing season.

At the end of summer, rains stop. As fall progresses into winter, the leaves dry and fall off. The plant goes completely dormant for the winter. The old roots mostly die.

Then the cycle repeats again.

Your plant is dropping the leaves it made last year. This is normal, but it usually would have happened long before now. No problem. The plant is about to begin this year's growth.

Dormancy, just as new roots are forming, is the correct time to repot these. You guessed correctly. You could also have left this plant in the sphagnum pot; it would have been fine for another year.

Don't water the plant yet. Put it someplace warm, bright and humid. Small plants without shoots can't take much direct sun, so it's not ready for that yet. It will soon begin forming more roots, and a shoot. But it won't be time to water yet.

When the new shoot is at least 10 cm long, and there are plenty of new roots about 6-8cm long, begin watering and fertilizing the plant heavily. Many people stand the pot in a saucer of water. This is not recommended for many orchids, but Catasetinae use huge amounts of water every day.

As the shoot expands and leaves enlarge, move it into more and more sun. This plant is able to tolerate full European summer sun. Also, it grows much better with warm summer nights. Some people in northern Europe find it does better in a greenhouse, so nights can be warmer. I think your nights might be warm enough for it to be outside. Watch for squirrels and rats!

As it grows, begin fertilizing heavily, at every watering. Some people recommend using 0.7-1.5ml of powdered 20-20-20 fertilizer per liter of water at every watering, with a flush of pure water once a week or so.

As it is growing, pay close attention and watch for spider mites. These are tiny 8-legged creatures that can kill Catasetinae in just a few days. They are more a problem during warm, dry weather. You can read about spider mites here on Orchid Board. From the top maroon menu choose the Search feature. I strongly recommend you read about them in advance so you know what to watch for, and are prepared.

With proper care, the new shoot or shoots that grow on your plant this summer will be several times the size of the existing shoots. You will be surprised at how large the plant will become. There is a good chance it will be large enough to flower in the upcoming late winter or early spring.

You can read about growing them on the Sunset Valley Orchids Web site. Fred Clarke, who runs SVO, hybridizes a lot of these.

First of all, thank you for the lengthy reply.

I forgot to mention, the plant is like 21cm tall from the base of the bulb to the top of the largest leaf.

So, just to make sure I understand what you're saying exactly:
The plant is supposed to shed all of the leaves that it has on both the current bulb (the smaller bulb's leaves already gone), then it will produce a new shoot that will turn into a new bulb with leaves. In the meantime, I should not water it (which I unfortunately did twice this week after receiving it)?

I took a look at Catasetum growing tips and read about the growth cycles and dormancy period, but was not sure (or able to find) if it only applied to adult plants or to seedlings as well. What I'm not sure is at which point in time in the nursery did the second larger bulb grow and produce leaves, as the youngest leaf in the middle seems like it was stuck before fully growing to the size of the others. I'm not sure if the nursery had a way of keeping the seedling in constant active growth period since it was germinated and that perhaps the conditions during the shipping of the plant (it being in a dark in the shipping box for a week, with no water and colder temperatures) triggered it into "dormancy" as it arrived to me?

[estación seca]

The smaller pseudobulb is last year's growth.

This photo may change things. Try to contact the seller. Did this tallest growth, with leaves, develop since last winter? Or did it develop last growing season, and hold the leaves over the winter? Do you know whether the seller actually grows these orchids, or merely buys them for resale?

How many roots does it have?

If the growth is new this growing season, you should be watering profusely, and this unfortunately was not the best time to repot. If this is last year's growth, you should stop watering until it makes new roots and a new shoot, as I described before.

Some vendors don't let them go dormant when they should, in order to ship plants with leaves. But this unfortunately makes things more difficult for the recipient to figure out.

[CROrchid]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The smaller pseudobulb is last year's growth.

This photo may change things. Try to contact the seller. Did this tallest growth, with leaves, develop since last winter? Or did it develop last growing season, and hold the leaves over the winter? Do you know whether the seller actually grows these orchids, or merely buys them for resale?

How many roots does it have?

If the growth is new this growing season, you should be watering profusely, and this unfortunately was not the best time to repot. If this is last year's growth, you should stop watering until it makes new roots and a new shoot, as I described before.

Some vendors don't let them go dormant when they should, in order to ship plants with leaves. But this unfortunately makes things more difficult for the recipient to figure out.

There are healthy roots, not that many of them (should have taken a photo of it), but they do not seem old, there is also one root which seems to be in active growth (it's green). None are rotten or shriveled.

I'll send them an email, but the home page says they're on a holiday brain until the end of the month, by which time this plant might not be around any more.

So it might be that the orchid was forced into active growth and simply "skipped" the dormancy, which might implicate that I need to water it more frequently.

[CROrchid]

a small update on this plant. I decided to water it every other day. A few days after my last post, the drying tips of the leafs stopped progressing and leafs remain green as of today. There is a new root coming out of the bulb.

Not sure I can explain it really, but I believe it might be that a week in a dark, cold box with no water seemed to have triggered the plant into starting to shed its leaves. Now that it's watered frequently and exposed to bright sunlight, I hope it resumes growth over the summer.