HELP MY CYMBIDIUM'S LEAVES ARE FALLING OFF...
 

Hi I am new to the orchid world...and need some assistance to try and save my Cymbidium.

So I was given a Cymbidium as a gift and I love it, it has sooooo many stalks ready to bloom...and it was originally in a small black drainage pot and i allowed it to sit in there and put it in a much bigger pot for show, because i had heard that the roots like to be tight and i shouldnt replant until the flowers stop blooming because it could stress out the plant. Well it was doing great for a week, I watered it only once, and i gave it orchid food (the blue kind) and let it be (it is in a passage way type of area, but its in diffused light and its not a main passageway. This week I noticed some leaves had just fallen off. They are perfectly green, but at the bottom of the leaf where they detached its a little slimy and lighter green. The next day more leaves fell off, and when i would touch a leaf it would just fall off, completely break off (much like a lizards tail clean break) and just an hour ago a baby stalk fell off. Its totally depressing me as there are so many flowers in bloom on it already and i dont want it to die...because its like a little person to me..

So can someone tell me what the problem could be? It has drainage, i havent overwatered it (or at least i havent watered it since i first received it), i dont see any aphids, or insects on the leaves or buds...could it be stress?

Please get back to me, because i think there is still time to save it.

Thank you
Jessica:(

Hi Jessica, Welcome to OrchidBoard! :)
Do you have any pictures? That would help a lot to try to find the problem. But based on your description of the base of the leaf being slimy and a bit off color, it sounds like there may be some bacterial rot going on.

Camille,
I dont know how to post pictures on this website yet...do you know how to? Sorry....otherwise i can send them to your email address...what should i do if i have a bacterial rot? The orchid was bought for me from trader joes (not the best for buying orchids but it was so pretty) and i only watered it with food once, over a week ago...i have barely had this flower for two and a half weeks...how can i save it?

Thanks

Or a fungus of some sort ,I must admit that in my years of growing I have not seen this type of infection so maybe we dont get it here.Are the bulbs going soft ? It sounds as though you need to take immediate action to treat the problem but without knowing what the bug is , I would treat the plant for both fungal and bacterial infections . Go to your local garden shop and ask for advice on what to use

For the photos, this link should help figure out how to post them
Tips for posting photos on OrchidBoard
Don't forget to resize them first, or else they will be too big to upload. Or another way of posting photos is to host them on a photo website (like flickr or webshots) and then copy the URL to the pic here.

If you still need help, don't hesitate to ask! :)

Hey Camille,

Ok...i posted them in my gallery...i hope you can see them...let me know. Thanks!

also I just recently put him by the window...before he had a lot more diffused light in a room where he was not by a window...from what i read it said his kind likes light...

For starters, that's not a Cymbidium. It an Oncidium alliance plant, an intergeneric probably. It's strange since there is no yellowing or anything like that, and the bulbs seem unaffected. I've never seen blooming Oncs drop geen leaves.
I would do as Des suggests, and buy something to treat for fungal and bacterial infections. I'm a bit at loss as to what it could be.
As for a precise name, Intergenerics are fairly easy to identify; they are all very different looking. So if I had to venture a guess, I would say it's Beallara 'Eurostar'.

Wow...thank you so much for clarifying...i wasn't too sure as i couldnt find the exact flower, but the leaves on the cymbidium looked similar...but now i know....So what do you suggest would be the best thing to use? I will probably just go to my local gardener tomorrow...but their own orchid collection didnt look the best thats why i was trying to come to people who were not novices like me.

As for Des' question (sorry i didnt see your post until now) the bulb is not soft...I had thought maybe there was a problem with the container it came in, so i repotted it and it felt dry but slightly moist...so i didnt think there was any rot...thats what really frustrating to me...all the typical orchid problems dont seem to be applying...if you guys come up with anything let me know...otherwise i will see what the garden store has to say tomorrow.
Thanks for responding!

Oh and I think its funny they call it a Eurostar...when I see it i see a man with a big beard and an even bigger nose.