Peristeria elata - Black spots and yellowing leaves?

[cladius-artanis]

Have had this one for a few weeks, lost a few leaves after I re potted and the stem has a big black spot on it. I sprayed the roots and leaves with 3% hydrogen peroxide because I was scared it was an infection. The last remaining leaf on the pseudo bulb is yellowing.

Peristeria elata - Album on Imgur

[OrchidBro]

How often are you watering it? Being potted in medium bark you might need to water it everyday. These like to be very moist during their active growth season and the preferred media is sphagnum moss. It’s hard to tell what the black spot is on the new growth from the photo. Any chance you can take a closeup shot of the spot? As for the leaf drops/yellowing this could be attributed to a few things. One, stress of transport (if ordered online or delivered to you). Two, stress of repotting the plant. Three, not being watered enough and probably a combination of all of these. I would avoid repotting again during this season to avoid anymore stress on the plant. Assuming the lack of water is the issue I would increase the watering for now until the plant enters its rest period, where water and fertilization should be cut back to a bare minimum, just enough to keep the bulbs from shriveling.

[cladius-artanis]

Added some pics to the link Peristeria elata - Album on Imgur

I think you’re right on the water part, I was doing once a week. I think some of the growths got dried out.

[isurus79]

Ouch, that doesn't look good! Large grade bark is definitely not what this species needs. They're a terrestrial species.

[cladius-artanis]

I know I pulled it out of the medium and put it in an ICU type care unit in a pot with damp sphagnum moss after watching a miss orchid girl video. What is a good mix for terrestrial orchids? I’ll watch the black spot, if it keeps going should I remove the second growth? I feel like this guy won’t make it.

[isurus79]

All my terrestrials go into clay pots with 50-50 peat-sand mix.

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by isurus79

All my terrestrials go into clay pots with 50-50 peat-sand mix.

Not intending to hijack this thread but I have been wanting to try a few more of my terrestrials in clay pots. Do you use this with terrestrials that make tubers and do you ever find that the tubers stick to the clay? Or do they release easily?


Sorry I don’t have any help for the OP. This is not a species I have tried yet. Where did you get yours from?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by SaraJean

Not intending to hijack this thread but I have been wanting to try a few more of my terrestrials in clay pots. Do you use this with terrestrials that make tubers and do you ever find that the tubers stick to the clay? Or do they release easily?

No tubers for me! Only Cyrtopodiums and Polystachya neobenthamia right now. There was a recent AOS webinar that talked about Habenaria. That author grew in plastic pots and repotted every year, in part, to keep from sticking to the pot. Very interesting video.

[aliceinwl]

Hydrogen peroxide should not be sprayed on roots: it kills and damages the root tissue and at most will only affect bacteria or fungi present on the surface. If a plant is struggling, it often doesn’t have the resources to recover from the damage :-( If you want to use hydrogen peroxide to try to curb an infection, it should be applied surgically with the understanding that it will also likely damage or kill the plant cells it contacts along with those of the bacteria or fungi.