Guidance needed: care for a Zygopedalum

[Rob Clack]

In January 2005 I was visiting Madeira with my wife, where we bought a Zygopedalum. Initially we kept it in the kitchen, but it clearly wasn't happy there, we thought because the light was too poor. So for the last couple of years it's lived in an upstairs room on a north-west facing windowsill.

As with all my other orchids, I usually give it a good drenching at the weekend, allowing the pot to drain after a few minutes. In really hot weather I'll do that mid-week, too. Mostly I'l use rain water, but sometimes tap, particularly for the upstairs plants. The mains water here is quite hard, but most orchids have seemed tolerant. (but see also below)

At irregular intervals I add liquid orchid feed to the water.

It did flower this spring, but rather feebly, with only 3 or 4 flowers on 2 spikes.

Now the leaves are dull and droopy, quite a few leaves have died and dropped off, and I think it's dying. I did try to upload a photo of it, taken when we first brought it home, but that doesn't seem to have worked.

One difference is that March we had a water softener fitted.

I hope I've given enough information that someone can identify what I'm doing wrong. As I type, I wonder it it's not the softened water.

Thanks
Rob Clack

[cupcake]

The first thing I would do is check the roots. I haven't been at this lark all that long but I have learnt to trust my finger to see if I need to water rather than do it on a regular basis. Can you post a picture of it now? What sort of other orchids do you have? And have they shown any symptoms since you got the softener?

[shakkai]

Rob, it may very well be the softened water. If the water softener is the type that uses salt to soften the water, that would definitely be your reason. The salty water will kill your plants.

I would tap the plant out of its pot and have a good look at the roots. If they're still white and green and healthy looking, just switch to using rainwater - or even water from an outside tap that isn't softened (though rainwater is the best, really, as you know). If the roots have started to die back, you'll have to cut off the brown, mushy ones and replace the potting medium so that no residues are left behind. Give the remaining roots a good washing off as well. Then repot. It may take some time for the plant to fully recover, but if it has any new growths (mine is putting them out now) then new roots will grow and you'll be back to normal in a year or two.

I hope this helps! Any questions or if anything comes up when you look at the roots, let us know! Cheers.

[Rob Clack]

Thanks Shakkai and Cupcake. I'll knock it out of its pot shortly (got a visitor due any sec!) and check out the roots. Then I'll put it back onto a rainwater diet and will report back. It sounds as though the soft water might be the problem, in which case I imagine fresh compost would do no harm, too.

[Dorothy]

Rob - when you say you use liquid orchid feed, do you mean fertilizer or food. There is a difference between the 2. Orchid food is like a multivitamin for the plant supplying it with trace minerals and nutrients. Fertilizer is composed of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium in varying percentages.
Check out Firstray's site for more information by clicking this link - Fertilizers & Plant Nutrition
Good luck

[Rob Clack]

Wow! I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the response! I've posted to various computer-related forums over the years and generally get either no response at all, or at best, something obscure or offhand. You guys are so welcoming! Thank you!

The Chempac Liquid Orchid Formula I've been using, Dorothy, is a 3-10-10 NPK fertiliser. It also has a long list of other ingredients, so maybe it's fulfilling both roles.

Anyhow, it looks as though I won't get around to knocking it out of its pot until tomorrow, since I find I don't have any more orchid compost after all.

[shakkai]

I told you we like to help! We wouldn't be here if we didn't.

I hope all goes well for you...and your Zygo. Let us know what you find when you check those roots.

[Rob Clack]

Well the roots are all horrid and the compost was really soggy, so even if the softened water wasn't killing it, it looks as though I've been overwatering it. Hopefully, it will recover.

I've tried to upload an image now I've repotted it, but not having much success. If I click 'Insert Image' it just asks me for a URL, but the picture is on my computer, not at a URL. So I did Manage Attachments, but I don't see any result.

[shakkai]

Rob, If you go to Member Galleries, you will be able to upload a photo from your computer there. Then once it is in your gallery, you can easily insert a thumbnail of the photo into any thread.

If you get stuck, there are some 'sticky' threads at the top of the Beginner's Questions forum which give help on resizing, uploading and inserting photos into threads.

I hope you will be able to save the Zygo! If you've caught it soon enough, it should come through alright.

[shakkai]

PS. Have you checked your other orchids to ensure they aren't having the same problem?