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Originally Posted by gngrhill
I got one last year in bud and it was beautiful. Now I apparently do not have the right conditions for it because it is really struggling and I'm not sure I can keep it alive. Yours is beautiful and I hope it continues to do well for you.
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In this alliance I have Pescatoria klabachiorum, Bollea / Pescatoria ecuadorana, Warczatoria Heaven's Bank and Acacallis / Aganisia cyanea. Unless they're sopping wet they are very unhappy. When they're unhappy the leaves get spots, then turn chestnut brown and look like they have fungus, then fall off. The new growths turn the same chestnut brown and die. I've learned this is not fungus, it's dying from not enough water. Did I say they need to be sopping wet?
My first in this group, Pescatoria klabachiorum, arrived in December 2015 in chunky bark in excellent shape. There was one mature fan and one semi-mature fan. It was barely in the pot, very wobbly. I had no experience with this kind of orchid at all, so I was afraid to repot it. I watered it when the top of the bark was somewhat dry. The plant began getting the nice brown spots. I did some more reading and plunked it into semi-hydroponic culture. It had very few roots; I'm guessing it was a recently-established division. It immediately perked up and began making 5 new growths from the fan already producing one. I didn't have time to water it every day. All but one of those 6 growths died, and I am sure it is because with just a few roots, I should have kept it soggy, and I didn't. Now the original big growth has dropped its leaves, and I have another fan bigger than the big growth was on arrival.
The next was Pescatoria / Bollea ecuadorana from Ray. It was a division in sphagnum in a clear plastic pot. I knew to keep it wet, and that has worked well. It has made another growth as big as the first, and not done yet. I let it dry out too much last week when I was busy at work, and it got some brown spots. I have toyed with the idea of keeping it in the clear pot in sphagnum and standing it in a shallow dish of water.
The third was Acacallis / Aganisia cyanea, in August 2016 in bark. IOSPE says this about Acacallis cyanea: "In nature these plants are often found semi-submerged by flooding rivers in the Amazon area with only the flowers above the water line." Note this would be during the rainy season. During the "dry" season they would only be rained on constantly, but above the water line. Did I say they need to be sopping wet? I haven't been able to water it enough in bark. For the first week I was able to water daily, and it began making a new growth. Then I got busy at work. The new growth died. I hope to have time tomorrow to put it into S/H. I will drill the holes farther up the pot so the reservoir is much deeper.
The fourth was Warczatoria Heaven's Bank from Ray, a hybrid he made. It arrived (I think, I can't see the pot through the leaves, but it feels like...) in a 1-quart plastic S/H container. It is actually a small haystack with hundreds of growths. It's too big to get into one photo. It blooms down near the crown, so I have missed some flowers. It is doing very well in S/H.
So even though Zygopetalum and Pabstia are not supposed to enjoy wetness as much as Acacallis and Bollea, if there were any sign of unhappiness in a plant in this alliance, I would water it a lot more.
Tsubotaara (Tst.) Melinda Marie 'Blue Moon'
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