Mounted encyclia bractescens dying?

[RHF]

When I'm working with a species orchid the first thing I do is go to Charles and Margaret Baker culture page - I might get lucky and they will have a free sheet (they don't)
I then search for distribution information. Then I go to Average Weather and Climate guide with graphs and analysis of average temperatures, rainfall, sunlight hours, relative humidity, windspeeds etc. and Weather and Climate: Average monthly Rainfall, Sunshine, Temperatures, Humidity, Wind Speed to check out temperature and rainfall for cities within the distribution area.

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras forests at around 1200 meters. Most of the year lots of rain - February or March can be very dry. So maybe a bit of a dry rest for a month. I saw at least one report of co-occurance with Brassavola nodosa.

[Ray]

This one was grown in a basket of sphagnum moss, mixed with about 20% coarse perlite to ensure openness even what saturated.



Growing in a basket in a bright greenhouse, suffocating the roots was never an issue. (Missing a propane delivery in the middle of winter was a fatal issue.)

[mrphilips]

oooh... that's nice.
a really cool alternative to the mounted one.

my guy is sick. i waited too long. he lost leaves last summer but was doing all since last fall, i thought i had it licked. then the leaves began to drop again and then i posted my concern now. hopefully not too late...

so my plan is to try to nurse him back to health without dismounting him - a potted version is an idea for a healthier plant i think, or else i may break the roots? we shall see how i go with emergency re-sphagging:

this is my first attempt. sphag threads and some fishing line, but i think it looks ok

that and more soaking we'll see how it goes

[mrphilips]

update:

i added a fair amount of spag, hung it in a well-lit area, and soaked it daily for about 10 days, then twice a week after that. the bulbs swoll up and looked to be doing much better, though i know i had already really taxed it in the past.

anyway it has continued to do better... but now i think i took it too far. the two leaves left went yellowish yesterday and fell off in my hands today. i think the base of the plant rotted with all the extra humidity! the pendulum has swung the other way.

so now i will reduce the spraying and soaking and monitor the moss's humidity more closely, but i don't know if i am going to get any new growth from it.

perhaps if i had tried this step earlier, i would have some plant left to try another correction.

[WhiteRabbit]

Good luck!
I slide a skewer into the sphag so I can tell for certain when it's dry.

[dendro king]

What I do with orchids like that, is if they're mounted I place the mount into a pot, fill it with gravel and they absolutely thrive. I would remove the sphagnum if you chose to do this.

[mrphilips]

good ideas guys.
will keep you posted.