I've been trying to trouble shoot my Soph. cernua for a bit and I thought I had the problem "solved" and then lost two new growths in a matter of days due to rot.
I got my cernua last fall from Andy's and, at first, all seemed fine. It had two new growths that bloomed. Then began a series of rotting issues. I lost a new growth during winter plus two mature growths. Crap, water sitting in the nooks and cranies? I move it to another area with better air circulation but still high humidity (70-80%) and it seemed okay for a while. It started putting out three new growths, which was great. Then I lost another pseudobulb. Crap again, so I moved it to my bathroom window, which is southern (it only got morning sun) and, unless we shower, lower humidity (around 50-60%). My thought was that it would dry better. Whenever I watered it, I would blow into all the nooks to get excess water out.
Again, all seemed well for a bit, the new growths were coming along, one was nearing full size. At this point, of course, I was keeping a closer eye on it. Still, a few days ago I noticed the two of the new growths turning a sickly yellow near the base. Sure enough, both were rotted at the bottom. I've moved it outside at this point and am about to tell it to sink or swim. I have some phyton 27, but I would rather not use it on a plant that I have no strong feelings about and has only ever given me problems.
My culture:
- Mounted
- intermediate to intermediate warm
- watered with rain or r/o daily in the morning, blow out excess water from crevices
- fertilize with MSU at 1/8 tsp/gal once or twice a week
- bright light, couple hours of direct morning sun
I honestly don't know what I am doing wrong with this little plant. I have heard that Catts can lose new growths due to calcium deficiency, but I've lost matured growths too. It's also mounted and is always dry by the end of the day. The parts that die turn black and squishy.
I am not attached to this plant and it's certainly not dead yet, but they are pretty common at the moment. I plan on buying another. I like them as a species a lot, so if I end up with two, that's not a problem for me. I simply want to make sure I don't make the same mistake twice. Maybe I've just ended up with a weak plant to begin with, I'm not really sure?
I welcome any thoughts on this matter. Like I said, I love the species and do want to grow one successfully!
Sophronitis cernua rotting problems
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