How long without water until leaves get pleated? When do leaves pleat?

[astrid]

Hey all!

I have a few orchids (Mtssa Charles M Fitch, Nelly Isler) who are pretty prone to pleated leaves.

However, I can go a week without watering them, be forgetful, and none of the leaves are pleating. Even now, thanks to a potting disaster my nellys are packed in pure (dry) sphagnum moss and I've watered them once in the last week, and there is no pleating happening.

Does pleating happen long after a period of insufficient watering as the leaves grow in, or does it happen *during* the period of underwatering?

My nelly is getting a really shriveled pseudobulb under all this stress (in addition to having two flower spikes coming from it) and still, no pleating.

Have I misunderstood when/why this pleating happens? Or do you just have to be really really extra bad to the plant before it pleats up for you?

[sweetjblue]

Pleating will occur when the new pseudobulbs and their leaves are growing in if their not kept properly watered.

Pleating will not occur on leaves from underwatering on fully mature growths.

Hope that's the info you were looking for!


Judi

[snowflake311]

I have a Miltonia these guys get pleated leave really easy. My oncidiums are a bit more forgiving.

I went on Vacation for 2 weeks. I watered my Miltonia before I left. It is in 70% Moss and bark mix, potted in plastic. I told my husband to water it. He forgot a few times. The plant only got water once when I was gone. on the new growth you can see where I went on vacation. I have those wrinkles. lack of water effects the new growth not the old ones. The bulbs never did wrinkle they looked fine when I got home. It was just that little part of new growth that now has wrinkles.

SO it really depends on your plant and how you keep it.