Maxillaria tenuifolia problems

[dpm2010]

Greetings. Ive been growing this species in south Louisiana for 4 years and have had great success. I recently repotted it and need some help with identifying the problems. The plant has been successfully grown in sphagnum since I acquired it. (I read somewhere that was a good choice for potting medium but AOS tells me otherwise). The orchid gets morning sun and is shaded by the afternoon. It has flowered profusely year after year. I winter the orchid in my Orchidarium. Ive seen the plant growing in somewhat harsh conditions in Belize. Spectacular display of a species! Please take a look at the photos and share your knowledge. I don't want to lose my coconut orchid!

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

These have a reputation for resenting disturbing of their roots. So it may needs some time to do new growth and recuperate. I have one that took several years after repotting to start to get back to being productive (and make new growth). So I suspect that the ideal situation is to just leave it alone - I have found that related species do best after they escape from the pot (and I'm not going to repot my Max tenuifolia plants anymore) . I have a friend with one of these in the original 4 inch basket and it's now, some 10 years or maybe more, about 4 feet across. Of course what is in basket is pretty much irrelevant at this point.

If it starts growing pseudobulbs on top of the existing ones, that's great... don't ever try to "clean up" dry bracts between growths, since those contain roots and the dry bracts protect them.

[estación seca]

I think sphagnum is a good choice for this orchid.

I'm confused... your plant looks good. Are you worried about something I'm not noticing?

[dpm2010]

Thanks for the info. I will take the wait and see approach and report it to the forum.

---------- Post added at 10:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 PM ----------

In the first pic the (im not sure if Im describing them as pseudobulbs) are a bit desiccated. They are usually a little more plumb.

---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 PM ----------

Thanks for the reply. My gut instinct after posting was that the pot was too big causing the sphagnum to stay too wet for too long. Do you suggest moving it to a smaller size pot?

[Roberta]

These actually do like to stay on the damp side. I would suggest watering when the sphagnum is just damp... you don't want it to get dry. In the open basket, I don't think that you have to worry much about overwatering if you let it dry out just to that damp stage - as water evaporates it is replaced by air, which is what the roots want. The basket will provide plenty of that. (Airless wet pot-centers in too-large pots are more of an issue in solid pots) I agree that the pseudobulbs look a bit desiccated. If roots got damaged during the repotting effort, could be the cause. (When I repot I don't remove medium that might be clinging to roots... I just leave it, which is gentler on the roots). This is a pretty tough plant... new growth with new roots will look better, the plant should be OK getting back to that condition, its size will give it plenty of reserves. So keep damp not soggy, and just let it recover.

[dpm2010]

Thank you for the insight. I’ll use it wisely. From what I’m reading the plant will most likely survive but may take sometime. On an orchid expedition to Belize, this plant was found growing on burnt trees in full Sun. I was amazed on the toughness of the species. Thanks to this invaluable website. I love your site!

[syspila]

mine had a mite infestation and lost all its leaves a year ago. Still alive, green bulbs only, no grean growth. Ideas?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by syspila

mine had a mite infestation and lost all its leaves a year ago. Still alive, green bulbs only, no grean growth. Ideas?

Patience. If there are green pseudobulbs, you very likely will get new growth eventually.

[syspila]

Thanks!