Zygo breeds dropping leaves

[Syrinth]

Hi, I have a few zygo breeds, snowbirds, advance australia and mathina elizabeth.

I really love these flowers and how they look, but this past year, all of my zygo breeds have defoliated. By this I mean, all leaves gone, they all turned yellow in the middle with a single streak which spread out until the leaf dropped off.

Now I have several plants with pseudobulbs but no other leaves. Two of them have since put forth a new shoot and the leaves are... okish but one of them, the snowbirds I think, has the leaves starting to mottle again.

The mathina elizabeth wound up having no roots and it's currently in a high humidity chamberand I'm praying for the best. It had a new growth but it didn't make it.

any thoughts on what could have cause this? My room isn't the most humid, it seems to float around 50 during the winter, and it gets surprisingly warm (90 F during the day)so that could be a factor...

[estación seca]

I went to a lecture where the speaker said Advance Australia was bred to tolerate high temperatures - up to the upper 70s F during the day. He also said they like to be very cool and have high humidity. I suspect your temperatures are too high and humidity too low for these to be really happy.

[Syrinth]

Ok that's what I suspected, thanks.

Going to have to look into a terrarium or something.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Your problems with these plants are most likely not temperature related. 90 F should be tolerated fairly well.

What kind of potting media do you grow them in?

How often are you watering?

I suspect that the roots on all the plants you mentioned as being problematic in this thread could have some degree of root damage or another, possibly being due to the media staying too wet for extended periods of time. You did, after all, state that one of them had significant root damage. I wouldn't be surprised if the other ones had quite a bit of root damage on them as well.

Despite the fact that many of them like moisture, they do not like their roots to stay sopping wet. The potting media should at the very least dry out to the point where it is still a tiny bit damp. It is not necessary to allow the potting medium to dry out completely before watering again, however, allowing the potting media to dry out completely between waterings will not do any harm either.

As with any other orchid, I'd pay closer attention to the root health of the plant. A healthy root system is likely to foster a strong orchid.

Zygos are not that difficult to grow in my opinion. They bloom reliably and are quite vigorous growers, (regardless of whether they are species or hybrids).

Hope you find the solution to your problems.

[estación seca]

90 F / 32C days might be acceptable for Zygos if it's quite humid AND nights get a lot cooler. Nights cool down a lot in Los Angeles. A lot of people in other places don't have this luxury, and zygos are a lot harder for them.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I highly doubt that it stays all that warm at night in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada during the summer...

It might even cool down to a similar degree as Los Angeles up there, or perhaps get a bit cooler than us during their summer nights.

Los Angeles cools down significantly during the summer at night, but it can still be somewhat warm. I haven't paid close attention to what the temperatures outside the house would be at night during our summers, but let's just be safe and say that our summer nights should hover around 70 F - 75 F.

As for inside the house...it can stay 80 F at night during our summers without fans running or air conditioning. That's not what I'd consider cool.

Our humidity is about 50% - 60% during the day. During certain times of the night, the humidity does rise.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Just out of curiosity, I pulled up the average high and low temperatures by month in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Well...it turns out their temperatures during the summer months are significantly cooler than ours here in Rosemead, California, USA, (Rosemead is the actual city I live in, but it is still in Los Angeles County).

Ottawa ON Average Temperatures by Month - Current Results

Ottawa, Ontario Weather Averages | Monthly Average High and Low Temperature | Average Precipitation and Rainfall days | World Weather Online

Average Weather in Ottawa, Canada, Year Round - Weather Spark

Average Temperatures in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Temperature

There are several sources that correspond to each other, so I'd say that Syrinth should be well within temperature range for growing Zygopetalums during the summer months regardless of day or night temperatures.

You can compare Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to Rosemead, California, USA, and see how the temperatures stack up against each other.

Average Weather in Rosemead, California, United States, Year Round - Weather Spark

http://www.intellicast.com/local/his...ation=USCA0956

https://weather.com/weather/monthly/...+CA+91770:4:US

https://www.worldweatheronline.com/v...s.aspx?q=91770

Since I have provided multiple sources for the temperatures in the city I live in, there shouldn't be too big of a problem corroborating information I've provided either.

Turns out, humidity-wise, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, beats Rosemead, California, USA as well. They have higher humidity than we do. So Syrinth should be well within humidity range for growing Zygopetalum as well.

Like I said, I believe the problems that Syrinth are experiencing are cultural technique problems, not environmental problems.

[Syrinth]

Hmm alright then, so much much for that theory...

Now just need to figure out what the Hell I'm doing wrong.

Thanks a lot!