Am I overwatering my auriculatum?

[harpspiel]

I have been growing this Den. auriculatum very wet in my paludarium for a month now - it's in the "terrestrial" area, with orchid bark that stays constantly somewhere between "moist" and "wet". Masdevallia territory. During that time it has lost about 2 leaves a week from the bottom of the canes, they yellow and then fall off. I recently read that it likes to dry out between watering so I pulled it out worried that I was rotting its roots - but as you can see, the roots are fine. Green on the surface, white underneath, still firm. Its newest growth, which you can see in front, has also doubled in size in that time.

So, am I killing it, or is it normal for Dendrobiums to lose the lower leaves on mature canes? Should I give it some more time to acclimate and re-check in a month? I'm not really great at Dendrobiums, pleurothallids are more my thing.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i am not able to see much in that pic as i cant enlarge it but if the roots are healthy and there is new growth then it sounds healthy...

dens can lose leaves for a number of reasons and overwatering is certainly one...can you adjust the medium in this plant's spot to make it a bit airier? maybe add in some lava rock or chunky perlite? i don't know the setup or how much flexibility you have in it.

please note i do have this exact den growing in VERY different conditions from yours and it has lost some leaves here and there as well. mine is outside and in a pot with extremely open mix and gets watered almost daily

[harpspiel]

Fixed the image

I could do lava rock/perlite but I’d have to order it. I could also potentially have it sitting on the terrestrial area in a pot, just don’t want to mess with something that’s working.

And here’s my setup, you can see the auriculatum behind the cedar branches. And the land area drains separately from the water area, so it isn’t sitting in water, just very moist:

[Roberta]

I have one Den. auriculatum that is mounted and doing so-so (not many leaves) and another in a basket in bark that is doing very well (hanging). So from that I think I can conclude that they do like to grow on the damp side - but still are epiphytes and need a bit of drying out. (Mine are in a greenhouse... humid but dries out toward the end of the day) Maybe grow it a little drier??

[DirtyCoconuts]

that tank is very cool!!!

i think the plant looks pretty healthy and i would either get yourself some bonsai (small) lava rock or do the pot idea if you don't want to change much..make sure the pot has a lot of holes and quick drying mix if you go that route.


as an aside, i love the way the leaves of this plant wrap around the cane...so cool

[OrchidBro]

That looks perfectly fine to me and nothing to worry about. I keep mine constantly moist for the most part during the active growing season. Maybe if life gets in the way and I miss a day or two it will dry out but as long as the roots have airflow they shouldn't mind staying moist. Also, leaf loss is typical for these as they bloom from mostly leafless canes. Attached is mine (older picture) but you can see the flowers are all coming from canes with no leaves.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by OrchidBro

That looks perfectly fine to me and nothing to worry about. I keep mine constantly moist for the most part during the active growing season. Maybe if life gets in the way and I miss a day or two it will dry out but as long as the roots have airflow they shouldn't mind staying moist. Also, leaf loss is typical for these as they bloom from mostly leafless canes. Attached is mine (older picture) but you can see the flowers are all coming from canes with no leaves.

i really like this display you have here...very nice