Renanthera Monachica - Yellowing Leaves

[AlaHar]

Hi! I am fairly new to orchids (maybe 3 years?) I’ve had great success with phalanopsis orchids in that time, but picked up a few other types at an orchid show this year just for something different! One is a Renanthera Monachia and it is dropping leaves like crazy. I replanted after blooming, which was a spike when I purchased her, into a coconut husk mix. I’ve never had this type of orchid, so I’m not sure why this is happening. Just wondering if anyone has info on these type of orchids specifically? Is it the wrong media? Temperature? Watering? Any info is helpful! Thx!

A

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Renanthera monachica is kind of a touchy species. There is a reason why not a lot of people have this orchid. It does not like to be fiddled around with much.

This is an intermediate to warm growing orchid, 18.3 C - 35 C (65 F - 95 F).

Lighting should be moderately bright indirect light to bright indirect light.

It does not do well potted with a water retaining potting media. It is probably better to grow it inside a clear plastic pot without any potting media or with a little bit of the largest pieces of bark chips you can pick out of a bag. The roots like quite a bit of air.

If you like Renanthera, the easier species to grow would be Renanthera citrina or Renanthera imschootiana. I'm not sure about how the other, rarer Renanthera are because I've never grown them before.

[AlaHar]

Thx for the info! I’m worried this guy might not make it. When I purchased it it was packed in spagnam, which is why I repotted after blooming. The majority of the roots were already dead, so I left what I could and put it in the coconut bark (it’s fairly course) in one of those clear plastic pots with the slits all over. But maybe I should follow your suggestion and take some of the bark out? Or maybe it’s just too late

I just wasn’t sure if the yellowing was a symptom of something specific, or just that it’s not happy.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

How many leaves does it have left?

How many roots are still alive?

Can you post pics?

May I see the entire plant, roots, leaves, and all.

It might be salvageable.

For the future, there shouldn't be any species of Renanthera that should be grown potted in moss. This is pretty much a death sentence for them. They all like lots of air to the roots. They grow very much like Vandas do. Should you purchase a Renanthera and find that it was potted in moss, immediately unpot it. Do not wait for after the blooms are done.

[AlaHar]

Yes! Thanks for the tip. I will try to post some pics now.

It had 6 leaves to begin with I think, currently has 4, but 2 are VERY yellow like the first ones that fell off. It also has one tiny tiny new leaf but it isn’t growing very fast...or maybe not at all.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

This species is a slow grower. Renanthera do not grow fast. Some species grow a little faster than others, but generally speaking they are not a fast growing type of orchid.

Unpot the orchid. There is no point in using any kind of potting media. The only roots that were viable were tiny.

I do not know if it will make it, but try it anyways.

Just unpot the plant and stick it back in the pot without any potting media.

Do not water at all for a week.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You've already repotted, but I'll explain what happened to your orchid. Watering in sphagnum moss is very different from watering in bark, or other media.

The aim of watering, when growing in sphagnum, is to get the moss evenly just barely damp, and not soak it; and then, to allow the moss to become nearly crisp dry before watering again. In order to not saturate the moss, you need to just run water over the top of the pot briefly, so the water doesn't soak all the moss in the pot. It might take just a second of running water on the top of the moss.

The water diffuses from the wetter moss at the top through the pot, and the moss becomes evenly just moist through the pot. The roots are evenly moist, but there is still a lot of air at the roots.

When people soak the moss, all the air spaces are filled with water. It takes a very long time for wet sphagnum to dry out, and in that time many orchid roots suffocate and rot. This is what happened to your orchid.

Growers recommend keeping orchids in sphagnum moss in a different location from orchids in other media, so you don't accidentally overwater the ones in sphagnum.

[AlaHar]

Ok thanks you guys! And thx Philip, I will try that!