Maxillaria tenuifolia small plant yellow bulb

[silanah77]

Hello everyone,
I,ve just got a baby Maxillaria tenuifolia from our botanical garden here in my city-as you can see it is a small plant, one of the bulbs and the leaf above are yellow, so I don't know if I have to worry about it...? I don't have experience with such an orchid, I know they call it a coconut orchid, I' ve searched this group and I've read about the growing conditions. What are your recommendations- do I have to repot it? How often do I have to water it now during the winter? I put it on an east-north window. Thank you in advance!

[aliceinwl]

It looks like the bark is in good shape and it has plenty of room to grow so I don’t think there’s any rush to repot. These don’t like to dry out but don’t like to be soggy either so I try to water mine when they’re still a bit damp. Sometimes they drop the older leaves and they’ll go yellow, I think that may be what yours is doing.

[silanah77]

Thank you very much, aliceinwl ! Two last questions - how do you water your plant - I mean do you soak it in water for a certain period of time or not? And what should I do with that yellow bulb, should I remove it later? I'm sorry for my English

[camille1585]

I have one of these as well. I water by soaking and like Alice, I also water when it's still damp, except in the winter where I let it dry out a bit more. In the summer I often leave it sitting in a saucer of water for a few days at a time.

Don't remove that yellow bulb. For one, it acts as food reserves for the rest of the plant. The other reason is that the other bulbs are connected to it. This plant grows new bulbs from the previous one, and over the years it creates stacks of bulbs. Once it's larger you'll see brown papery covering between the bulbs. Don't remove them as roots grow down the plant under the coverings.

Do you have a brighter window? This plant loves lots of light. Here in the Netherlands I grow it outside in full sun most of the afternoon in the summer (after getting it used to full sun gradually), and behind a south window the rest of the year.

[silanah77]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I have one of these as well. I water by soaking and like Alice, I also water when it's still damp, except in the winter where I let it dry out a bit more. In the summer I often leave it sitting in a saucer of water for a few days at a time.

Don't remove that yellow bulb. For one, it acts as food reserves for the rest of the plant. The other reason is that the other bulbs are connected to it. This plant grows new bulbs from the previous one, and over the years it creates stacks of bulbs. Once it's larger you'll see brown papery covering between the bulbs. Don't remove them as roots grow down the plant under the coverings.

Do you have a brighter window? This plant loves lots of light. Here in the Netherlands I grow it outside in full sun most of the afternoon in the summer (after getting it used to full sun gradually), and behind a south window the rest of the year.

Thank you very much, Camille! This was very helpful. My window is east-north but it has a lot of light. But in the spring I can move the plant on an open balcony Thank you again and have a nice day!