Rotting root but wrinkled pseudobulb?

[mchhuang]

This is a Zygopetalum acquired from Trader Joe's. Started noticing wrinkled pseudobulb - so I started watering more (but the pseudobulbs never became smooth). Later noticed the leaf are turning black and brown/yellow - so I thought this is a fungal disease with the root. Opened up the roots and saw that a lot of them are dead/rotten. I removed the old media, planning spraying the roots for a couple weeks until healthy roots starts to show, then planting in a pot with orchid bark. Sounds like a good plan? Hopefully this one will survive.

[estación seca]

You may save it, so don't give up. Zygos don't much like temperatures over around 70 F. A lot of people struggle with them in centrally-heated houses. They prefer being cool, damp and in high humidity. It might do better for you outside, if you don't have frost.

The sick leaves were probably related to heat and low humidity. The roots often rot when too warm. Wrinkling pseudobulbs reflect bad roots, and high water loss secondary to low humidity.

People do grow them successfully in bark, but sphagnum moss may keep them more evenly moist in a dry home. I would also consider resuscitating it with water culture.

If I lived in San Jose I would use water culture, and put it outside, in bright shade. Pick a container just a little wider than the plant, and tall enough that the plant stands upright. Set the plant in there, and add water to cover just the root zone. Put it where it will be bright and cool. Change the water every few days. It should root and grow. If you can't grow outside, put it in a cool, bright room.

Meanwhile, read more about Zygopetalums here on Orchid Board. And when you see orchids for sale, be sure you get ones good with your conditions of temperature, light and humidity. Many people find Oncidium intergeneric hybrids much easier to grow than Zygos.

[Roberta]

There's a new growth, which should start putting out roots soon so I think the odds are good. I would use small bark. I grow them outdoors in southern California (so they do get a wide temperature range) , but more shaded than Cyms. Losing leaves on the older p-bulbs is normal. If they have dessicated from bad roots they won't plump back up, but can continue to feed the new growth until it roots.

[Ray]

I'd probably pot it up, anchoring the plant to the top surface of the medium, so it wouldn't wobble, so that the roots can start to adapt immediately upon emerging.

"Wrinkled pseudobulbs" occur when they are losing water faster than they can replenish it. That may be due to underwatering, or more likely, an insufficient root system to take the water up in the first place, as you discovered.

Plants like the zygo, with thin leaves - lots of surface area and no internal storage to speak of - can lose water quickly. At a bare minimum, I'd invert a clear plastic bag over the plant and pot, to trap the humidity around it, slowing the desiccation process. If you really wanted to "kick-start" the rerooting, apply some KelpMax.