Mounted encyclia bractescens dying?

[mrphilips]

I acquired this mounted encyclia bractescens about a year ago.
It had a few more leaves on it then...

The care instructions I got were essentially to hang it somewhere where it gets mostly shade, a little warmer than room temp (cooler at night) and high humidity. Water it by spraying it daily. fertilize at 1/4 strength occasionally.

Right away it lost a leaf - turned brown, dried and fell off within two days of yellowing.
A few months after that it lost another.

I contacted the greenhouse where i bought it and they suggested soaking it in water for 10 min every couple of weeks, which I did but the leaves didn't really stop dropping.

The truth is I can't build a special room for this - it gets the treatment the other orchids get, and they seem fine for the most part - but this guy appears to like it more humid? Then it lost it's 3rd last leaf.

I hung it in the bathroom where it would get daily shower steam but there's little light and less circulation, so now I'm hanging it above my phragmipedium pearcei as that is a water-loving orchid and sits in a dish of water - I figure it will get extra humidity there.

In the picture you can see a yellow spot on the 2nd last leaf

Also I wonder about the mounting it'self... it looks old and crappy. i wonder if i should remount it with fresh sprag or something but have never mounted and am afraid to damage those dry little roots...

Any suggestions?

[WhiteRabbit]

It may benefit from more moss on the mount. More light, too.

In the dry weather here, this time of year, mine gets watered well daily; has a pad of sphag at the base and roots

[mrphilips]

ok.
i felt similarly, but i'm very new and don't have too many details on what this plant would like.

would you suggest:
a) attempting to remove the old spag? it's quite old but i don't want to harm the roots.

b) how much more? we're looking at a dime-sized area of spag at most, but i'm wondering just how far to bump it up - nickel-sized? i don't want to cause rot

c) should i attempt to remove those staples? the plant is well-fastened to the stick so i don't think they're useful - unless i'm going to wind the new spag threads through there?

any input would be helpful.

as for light i could move it back to where it has been hanging but any closer to the window and it'll get direct light for a lot of the day and very low temperatures in winter... it will also move away from the humidity of the water-loving orchid's pot.
hard to tell which one is the most helpful for it now but i won;t be able to do more light AND more humidity unless the extra spag covers that...

[Ray]

The thing simply isn't getting enough water!

Mounted on a log like that, being totally immersed in a bucket for an hour daily would be a big improvement.

[WhiteRabbit]

With more sphag on there it won't need higher humidity.
A single layer of sphag will dry quickly no matter how large the area covered is.

Mine has about an inch or more of sphag extending beyond the base of the plant. A bit thicker layer towards the center.

During the warm, dry daytime weather we have, I water well in the morning - it's dry by night. During hot, very dry days, it may get watered twice. Our daytime humidity during much of the year is usually around 25%, often lower. When it really heats up, under 20%, sometimes under 10% - so VERY dry days - but it goes up a lot at night (with much cooler temps).

You can leave the old sphag and the staples - just add more sphag - you can use plant twist tie, velcro tape, yarn (synthetic) or other material that won't disintegrate, and isn't too difficult to handle for you, to secure the added sphag.

I took some pix of mine, but it's dark, and I don't have a proper camera (no flash), so I hope you can see them ok ...

I've not had mine very long - got the plant and mounted it in March - but it has been doing well so far. I have a skewer in the moss, to help me judge when it's thoroughly dry

If your Phrag gets moderately bright light or more, the Enc. may be fine hanging out with it I don't grow any Phrags, so don't know how much light they take...

[mrphilips]

ray - i can't soak this in water for an hour a day cause i don't have time like that.
that's not going to happen and if i have to give this away to someone who has that sort of time then that's fine... but i'm really hoping for a solution other than that! thanks for the thoughts though. and i will try to soak it more often (weekly or so) but it's tricky cause it aggressively wants to float whenever i submerge it - dried out completely i guess.

white rabbit - you keep suggesting light. surprised me because i thought i had read this was a shady guy...
but the extra sphag trick may be a good plan. i'll soak some up and tuck and wrap it... will let you know how that works out.
thanks

[Ray]

I would suggest doing that for about a week, to at least kick-start the recovery process, even if you only have time to do it every couple of days.

Water is a huge driving force in plants' physiological processes, and a very large portion of the plants' mass is water - roughly 95%.

Have you considered potting it up, instead?

As an editorial comment, not intended to single you out: if you don't have time to deal with them, don't acquire plants grown in a manner that require frequent attention.

[mrphilips]

lol, ray - i know!
trust me, when i got him i was advised his care would be very easy - spray him down daily, hang him in mostly shade near light.
i bought it because it was small and easy to care for, and i agree with you, even more so when it comes to animals... i stopped collecting animals as i knew i couldn't always care for them properly, and now some of the orchids have taken their place. again, i'll give it away if i'm destined to kill it... but i'm coming out for help so maybe i can try a few things and avoid that!
(also the supplier has lovely orchids, but this is the second major thing they advised on me that i have found to be false, so their trust is now at 0 in my books.)

i will consider potting it as well, but i do like it mounted and it has some really nice well-dug-in roots in the bark i would hate to damage, but it's an option.

my game plan:
a) i'm going to start a recovery regime of soaking for an hour daily (or as often as possible) for a week or more
b) i'm going to tuck more sphag in under those staples - it appears a chunk has fallen out on one side before i brought it home!
c) i'm going to add a second layer of sphag all around, an inch or more like white rabbit suggested
d) get back to you on this

...if it isn't looking much better in a bit, i'll get into trying to pot it.

[Maryanne]

helo MrPhilips
I have E. bractescens too, but in a basket with a little sphag, bark and charcoal, still very airy tho. It's blooming now. : -)
I suggest: much more light, higher humidity, and don't be afraid to let temps drop. I have mine in my tiny greenhouse where it is hung near the glass and temps in winter fall to the 40sF. Give less water when very cold. Fish ans seaweed fertilizer may be a good option.

Yours from the photo looks like yours has lost vigor. It's lost so many leaves : -( Sometimes you can bring back a severely stressed plant, but sometimes its better to get another with the vigor of "youth" and try again with the new routine.

Much luck to you and ahppy grwoing
ML in WMass

---------- Post added at 01:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------

oops, please forgive my missspellings!
ML

[mrphilips]

i'll keep it around till it completely dies on me if i can't bring it back or find someone who can put it in a happier home.

but as everyone is pushing for light, i ask you - is direct light ok for it? it'll dry out more quickly, but i'm hoping the extra sphag will help.