Masdevallia 'Machu Picchu' Issues

[escualida]

I've had this Masdie for about a year now, and it has been in S/H for about 10 months. It seems like it's doing alright, it's growing roots and the existing leaves it had have almost all stayed green and intact.

However, every time it starts to grow a new leaf it does well for a bit, but at a certain point it turns yellow, shrivels up and dies off. It's done this at least 5 times, there have been no new leaves that have grown fully. What's weird is that the bottom part seems to stay alive because I get new growths coming from the stumps and new roots coming from them as well.

I used to think it was because of overfertilizing but I stopped fertilizing altogether and it's still happening. See picture.



What could be going on and how can I fix it?

[Brooke]

Are you getting water in the newly formed leaf? When I lose a new growth I chalk it up to water being trapped in the new leaf.

You might have the Masdie planted too deep in the LECA.

Brooke

[escualida]

I don't think it's too deep, when you look at it from above you can see the top of the roots. I guess it might be water but where would the water get trapped when the leaf is so small?

[RosieC]

I've never had a problem with water in the leaves causing a problem to masdies. I water all of mine by just pouring water all over the top and it's not been a problem.

Do you use pure water? If it's not fertiliser or water than what about temperature, I had problems with new growths on my first Masdie when I kept it in the house. It settled down after putting it in the greenhouse and I've not had the problem again. I can't fully say why, but temps were something that dropped at that point.

[jeremyinsf]

Are you in fact trying to grow this plant indoors?

[Tindomul]

My M. ayabacana (a parent of machu picchu) and M. regina, and M. princeps (closely related species) all abort new leaves when kept too warm. Try keeping it in cooler conditions.

[Bolero]

Low temperatures won't cause that, I have been growing mind for years down to 32F (0C). They can even tolerate a fair amount of heat and moisture.

So as to why it's happening I can't say as it's hard for me to imagine your conditions. But I will say if it's too warm that's a problem, it should be grown in cool - even cold conditions at times and never really hot even though they can take some warmth.

I personally would never grow it in LECA, nor any Masdevallia in it although I know some people do have success with it. I only grow mine in sphagnum moss which encourages great root growth........cool temps at the roots which I think is important.

[RosieC]

One thing with leca is that if it fully dries it can warm up quite a bit. Masdies like their roots cool.

I have found that will moss and clay pots I can keep the roots cool provided I never let them fully dry. When damp the pots are noticeably cold to the touch and the roots seem to love it. It allows me to grow the masdies in the summer in warmer temps than they perhaps like. They get whatever our outside temps are here which is not massively warm in the UK and get protected from frost in the winter.

I would suspect high temperature as a problem.

[cbuchman]

You can also look into a calcium deficiency. Search for it on the OB as I recall someone discussing this recently.

[jeremyinsf]

I have four Masd. Machu Picchu plants and any time I have brought any of them indoors I've been nothing but punished for it. The flowers - when they DO happen - are small and don't last long, the existing leaves develop all kinds of issues, and new ones don't grow correctly, or at least not very well. There are some Masd that can do great inside but this isn't one of them, in my experience. And I've tried it a few different ways.

Having said all that - this particular one has a reputation of being 'not a good grower' to start with. There are many, many ones that with proper conditions will double in size in a year or so. This one... not so much. They are prone to many problems, which I think help contribute to why some people think Masdevallia's are hard to grow anyway. Due to the striking color of the flower it's a very popular plant, just very hard to work with compared to others.