Discolored Scaphosepalum verricosum

[CarnivorousPlanter]

Hello all!

Unfortunately my first post here is about an unhealthy plant… I bought this S. Verricosum about 2 months ago, and recently moved around my growing setup. I think I may have placed this plant in the vicinity of my bright carnivore lights and it has turned a pale yellow throughout. the root system has also declined. I have kept it cool (70d/60n) and in a terrarium under diffused grow lights for 16 hrs (too long I know, I am dialing it back to 11). Is this plant a goner? The new growth looks a little better than the old but overall it is quite unhealthy… still flowering for now though!

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

This species is a survivor... Some culture changes in order... It is a fairly low light plant. I grow mine mounted... but it gets watered daily. So.. the goal is lots of air around the roots, but good moisture. If you want to grow it potted, then it likely needs repotting. A terrarium will likely give you sufficient humidity that you could grow it mounted. It isn't particularly temperature-sensitive (I grow it outside in coastal southern California, winter lows 40 feg F or occasionally lower, summer highs in the 90s F) So... less light, air in the root zone I think. Once it gets going it is capable of essentially non-stop blooming (spikes keep popping out new flowers, so don't cut spikes unless they're brown and crispy all the way down)

[CarnivorousPlanter]

Thanks for the reply! I stuck it in a bigger pot in bark (I have a history of forgetting to water mounted plants…). The root system looks like this. Im not sure what the roots of this plant are supposed to look like; are the brown roots rotted? They are still crisp(not soggy) but some roots are definitely more healthy than others.

[Roberta]

I think those roots look fantastic. Even if there is a bad one or two or a few in there, no problem. Larger pot, bark mix, more air will take care of any possible potential problems. I think that it'll look a lot better once you cut back on the light. It's just getting a lot more than it wants, for a lot longer. (In general, 16 hours is really excessive for any orchid... in the tropics they get pretty close to 12 hours day and 12 hours night all year around, and that's a good target) Then, move them farther away from the lights too. They'll green up.