Cymbidium tracyanum: Light - how to know when it is just too much?

[Jak]

Hello all,

despite loving my orchids I came to the shocking realization that I have probably been baking my Cybidium tracyanum to death... upon reading an article where the author describes chlorophyll being basically burned out of the leaves, which then turn white I realized this was what I had done... in my defense it was in more shade than my other one, and that one is doing very well...

Immediately I put the plant into a more shady disposition (not too much as it is a Cymbidium).

Can you please give advice as to how to remedy this - is just more shade and time what this plant needs? Can I do more? It has a nice new growth which is green which will be its food source until it gets sorted... I do not even hope the whitish leaves can somehow restore themselves...

Jak

[Roberta]

The toasted leaves won't re-green. Those that just got "overexposed" to the point of yellowing might or might not. Never fear, the plant will produce new leaves on the new growth, and can still pull energy from the (soon to be leafless) back bulbs with the damaged leaves. Time will take care of the ugly appearance of the moment. It doesn't need deep shade - Cyms still need bright light to bloom. But dappled light (diffused through a tree or shade cloth) will help to avoid the "hot spots" where it got blasted with unfiltered sun.

[Jak]

Hello Roberta,

thank you for your reply. I have placed the plant below and behind another cymbidium (the one with the flowerspike from my other thread, which seems to soak the sun in without burning), so it now gets about 20% of the direct light it used to, while still being brightish for most of the morning.

I will report back once I see some development, so it might a while! :-(

J.

[Ray]

I could be way off base here, but are you sure it's burning? Those leaves, though white, still appear to be of decent substance, which is often not the case in sunburn.

Is it a new plant? How long has it been grown in those conditions? Was it recently moved?

I am having difficulty understanding why it would "burn" if another cymbidium doesn't.

[Roberta]

Ray raises a good point... there could be something else going on. One thing I noticed when I took another look at the pictures...there's a weed (actually a garden plant) growing out of that Cym pot. That is a good sign that the mix is badly broken down. It's not the right season to be potting a Cym, but if the bark is mud, it is better to set the plant back a bit by potting out of season than to lose the whole plant in the cold damp of winter.

[Jak]

Hi Ray, Roberta,

Thank you for your replies.

The plant has as the other cymbidium been repotted for the past 2 years into fresh medium, and the other plant is doing fine (except for the bent leaf issue of my other post :-))...

Having said that I did take out the other small plant I realized was probably not helping things after I watered the plants, it did have a kind of earty scent to it as the medium was disturbed, but this could have been the watering itself? For the life of me I cannot remember how much medium I removed and then replaced with this specimen, but I know it was know it was a lot more than the other cymbidium, which is growing well.

Another point which may point us in a direction is that the new growth on this one is very much larger comparing to the other growths for the past 2 years...

Sorry for more questions... :-)

J.

[Cym Ladye]

Have you checked for spider mite? I am looking at the back of the leaf on the left in the first photo. It looks a bit suspicious. An extreme case of spider mite can cause this sucking of chlorophyll from the leaves. I have never seen it do this to so many of the leaves but you are growing this plant in conditions spider mites love.

[Jak]

Hello Cym Ladye,

I have looked just to confirm and no infestation there - although we did have some spider mites on the same balcony infesting other plants this summer - this bleaching happened much longer ago, and most probably is due to sun - although happy to investigate anything anyone else thinks might be wrong!

One more thing that comes to mind is the 2 leaves drying up from the tip - I did not want to cut them yet for aesthetic purposes (I prefer to let my orchids live their life as they would and not interfere unless something falls off). Is this kind of drying up indicative of something?

As always thank you for any advice - there is so much to learn!

J.

[Cym Ladye]

Drying of the tips indicates that salts are accumulating in the tips and causing die back. This usually happens when the plants are allowed to dry out too much before applying fertilizer and why many hobbyists will water a plant 24 hours before fertilizing. Time your fertilizing correctly and you should not have the drying out.

Loss of the leaves from the oldest bulbs in the fall is not unusual, sometimes all, sometimes only the outer ones. Keep up fertilizing weekly/weakly until the weather dramatically cools, usually the end of October in most areas. I do not know where you are located. Some growers in the warmer regions will continue to fertilize during mild winters but less frequently and at an even more reduced rate.

[Jak]

Hello Cym Ladye,

I have been watering as recommended - making sure the substrate is at least a little moist if I would be fertilizing, or watering the day before if the substrate has gotten dry.

the mos dry leaf has fallen off, but the rest with the brown tips seem to have stopped browning (the process is so slow I am not sure if I am not just imagining this) seem to have.

I have noticed last week that I have a new growth, so the orchid is probably not doing that bad... I have a question as I have moved this orchid inside now for the winter how should I fertilize? The light level is definitely lower than during summer, but with the new growth do I need to fertilize?

Thank you again for everything,
Jak