Cymbidium with brown/yellow leaves
 

Hi all,

I got this cymbidium about a year ago. It has slowly lost a few leaves at a time (would turn yellow then fall off) from older bulbs. But over the last few months, this has increased dramatically and now I have lost over half of the overall bulbs. There is some brown discoloration of the leaf tips, and also some brown plaque near the leaf bases and deep in the leaf crease. It also seems to affect the new growth coming up with brown plaques. The bulbs are not super squishy. There are no visible organisms under a magnifying glass. I water once per week, and it is maintained in my apartment (mid 70s day, mid 60s night, indirect light near a window next to a humidifier). I am not sure if this is some sort of root or crown rot, or a fungal infection? I have doused it in physan 2 or 3 times over the last 2 months, but it has had no effect. I would appreciate any advice!

Thanks in advance.
Brendan

Welcome to the Orchid Board.

It looks severely underwatered. Either the roots are mostly dead or you're underwatering. Most people need to water Cymbidiums more than once a week. I suggest gently unpotting it to look at the roots. Don't cut anything off, however.

Indirect light near a window isn't enough. Most Cymbidiums are high light plants.

In a home browning leaves and dying growths are rarely due to infections. The humidity is rarely high enough for those. Cultural problems are usually the cause.

Where are you located? I agree with ES, it is severely underwatered. Cyms like to stay on the damp side. That mix looks very coarse, so it will dry out fast. (I use small bark, the cheapest and water every 2 days most of the year, maybe extend it to 3 days in winter... it stays damp, needs repotting in 2-3 years but the plants thrive). I also agree with ES that it is not getting nearly enough light. My Cyms get almost full southern California sun (just a little protection from the noon-day sun. Another cultural factor, most of them want a temperature difference between day and night. Ideal is cool nights and warm bright days. If you are in a cold climate, don't put it outside now... to tolerate cold (down to near freezing) it needs to be acclimated, this is too late in the season for that. In the spring it needs to go outside. Then bring it in, fall/winter only if there is danger of more than a degree or two of frost.

I live in PA, south facing window. I should have said it does get direct light for part of the day, but I certainly could water more frequently. I will give that a try! There's about an 8 degree difference in my day-night temp, which is about all I can do since I have to live in here as well!

Thank you both for the advice,
Brendan

For now, just keep it well watered, and give it as much light as you can. In the spring (once nights are reliably above about 45 deg F) you can put it outside. In the middle of summer you will want to protect it from the noonday sun a bit, but it needs a lot of light. Leave it out into the fall until nights approach freezing. (It will have had all those months to acclimate). With luck, it will get a period of bright, somewhat warm days as the nights cool, that's what it needs to trigger bloom spikes. Then, again when it comes inside, as much light as possible, and on the cool side.