Please help before I kill my new plant

[nynighthawk]

Howdy,

I recently bought a Maxillaria Tenuifolia on eBay. It arrived last Wednesday in good condition with about seven flowers in bloom. The plant looked a little dry from its travels, so I gave it a little water, with very dilute fertilizer and put it in my plant room...moderate light. The plant looked great for a couple of days, but by today-Sunday- all the flowers have turned dark, soft brown and some have started to wither. The leaves all still look fine.

Whaaaa happened? Did I do something terrible by giving it a drink? It was not standing in water or anything, just enough water to run out of the bottom a bit.

Could the plant have gotten overheated in its shipping box and resulted in all the flowers disintegrating this way?

The plant is in a mix of bark chips and spongey rock (like small chunks of pearlite). It's in a 4" pot.

Is there something I should/should not do at this point?

I know that once a plant is damaged, there's a "lag time" before symptoms show up and then it takes a really long time to turn things around, so I'm hoping that you can give me a little guidance on this. I'm a newbie with this plant and don't want to kill it. It's a great looking plant.

Yikes!

[nynighthawk]

Oh...one other comment.

There were two other orchids in the shipping box with the Maxillaria tenuifolia. One was a Zygonisia cynosure that had two spikes in bud and flower. Those flowers are opening beautifully, so I don't think the shipping box could have gotten too hot. Otherwise, I don't think the flowers on the other plant would be looking so nice.

Thanks for any suggestions on what might have caused the problem with the Maxillaria flowers and if that's a symptom of something really serious going on.

[cowboy51278]

it may either be at the end of its blooming cycle or the blooms didn't care for the stress of shipping. if the plant itself looks happy and healthy I wouldn't worry too much at this point.

[Griffon Girl]

Orchids sometimes bud blast when their conditions change. I have had this on many occasions. As long as the orchid is ok just give it a rest and let it rebloom.

[aliceinwl]

Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in, I read that Maxillaria tenuifolia does not like to totally dry out. Mine is in medium bark in partial sun and I water it daily. My guess on the flower drop would be shipping stress: maybe it got too dry?

[Roberta]

Shipping stress could certainly cause the flowers to drop. Also, these flowers are typically pretty short lived anyway (but can bloom more than once a year). So it might have just been "force of nature" If the plant is healthy, it will grow and bloom even better next time. I keep mine on the damp side, though I also have a piece mounted (with some sphagnum) which dries out but seems to be growing OK.

One little tip... DO NOT peel off what looks like dried "skin" below the pseudobulbs... that dry stuff is protecting roots that may go quite a long way into the medium. If you "tidy it up" you are likely to kill it, so don't....

[Griffon Girl]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in, I read that Maxillaria tenuifolia does not like to totally dry out. Mine is in medium bark in partial sun and I water it daily. My guess on the flower drop would be shipping stress: maybe it got too dry?

Pardon moi

[aliceinwl]

I just meant: take my advice with a grain of salt, I’ve only had my Maxillaria tenuifolia 5 months and most of my knowledge on it comes second hand rather than from personal experience. To me, it sounded like your call to water it was the right decision.

[Griffon Girl]

I am so sorry. I have a hard time peoples intentions especially ideally in the written text.
Griffon Girl

[aliceinwl]

No problem :-)