Help with aerangis kirkii
 

I got this plant less than a week ago and just noticed this strange spot. Is it cause for concern? Thank you for your time.

hi nic,
it could be of concern but hard to tell yet. It might be ok. If it starts to get bigger then you need to remove that patch by cutting it out of the leaf.

I'd start by circling it with a marker pen, then check on it over the next 3 days. If it doesn't spread then it will probably be ok.

I think it could go either way so just monitor it and then you will know.

What are the temperatures day/night and relative humidity in your growing area? My observation of the few Aerangis I've grown has been they really don't like lower humidity, and this is what happens.

My temperatures stay pretty constant around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I would probably say you are correct about the humidity; my humidity is pretty low but I try to remedy it with some humidifiers. I currently have it on a mount right now and water it every night; however, I have noticed it seems pretty dry in the morning. Should I water it twice a day? Or should I mist it in the morning and afternoon then water at night?

generally Aerangis need a terrarium or a greenhouse with high humidity but I have potted up my main Aerangis mystacidii so the roots stay humid and that is generally enough. It certainly likes that.

If you have not got a greenhouse then what I would recommend you do is get an empty 2 liter coke cottle. Cut a large window out of the side of the bottle, big enough to easily stick the mount into the bottle.

Then attach the mount to a long piece of wire and add a little stick a few cm's above the mount, thread the wire through the bottle hole and place the mount inside the bottle so the stick holds up the top of the bottle.

Now fill the bottom of the bottle with spagnum moss. This is the most important step. A layer of spagnum at the bottom of the bottle a few cm's below the plant will provide a great humid environment. You want to leave a big window so there is plenty of airflow and so you can easy get to the plant.

It's a simple cheap way to provide higher humidity without a terrarium, every day when you spray the roots a little will drip down and keep the moss damp below

I looked it up on IOSPE. It's from shady, low elevation forests along river banks and the tropical coast. These areas are, hot, wet and humid all year. I don't think it's going to be happy unless you can keep it a lot warmer and give a lot more humidity.

I suggest reading about species on IOSPE when you're thinking of buying them. People may disagree but I think the temperature suggestions there are more accurate than on most orchid vendor Web sites.

There are cooler growing Aerangis species. The temperature key is on the IOSPE home page. You can go there and see the thermometer icons. The temperature descriptions are for overnight temperatures, with the understanding most daytime temperatures will be warmer.

In your setting I would look for cool growing plants because your days aren't warmer than your nights. Higher humidity will be important for all of them.

Thank you I will give this a try :biggrin:

---------- Post added at 01:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:52 AM ----------

Trust me, I have been carefully been following all of your advice. I checked the IOSPE before I bought, but the blooms are so beautiful I thought I would give it a try. I am a strong believer in the saying “where there’s a will there’s a way” :biggrin: so I guess I will try out shadeflower’s suggestion of making a little terrarium to increase humidity. It has active root growth right now but we will see what happens. (My daytime temperatures are warmer than my nights. General temp range in my house is 71-75 which is why I just said 70)

hello nico,

please come back and update us with how your mysticidi is doing and what changes you have made. i got a couple for my terrarium and they are like watching paint dry. seriously, mine don’t do anything....they just sit there, like they are fake plastic trees.

so yeah, i wanna know if you get growth and what you did to get it! thanks!

tmoney,
I've got the mystacidii, nic has the kirkii

Mine was bought I think 5 years ago from schwerter and it is still settling in!

Only 4 flowers are forming this year, pretty much an additional flower every year so to reach 10 flowers does take a long time.

That is the main reason Aerangis growers are so proud of their flowers (to me they are a bit boring, just white, don't flower very long, just once a year but if it takes 10 years to have something nobody else has then it becomes more special)

Ps: I already mentioned the horrible yellow leaves in my spike watch thread but I am soo happy they are finally turning yellow! I've been waiting a long time for those lower leaves to drop off so not worried about them at all.