Help for Declining Masd. princeps - new medium?
 

Hi, my Masdevallia princeps has seemed healthy enough for quite some time, until recently.

Or has it?

For about two years, it has been blooming non stop - from one spike. The plant has never grown very fast, but recently dropped a leaf or two and has turned very pale, with some yellowing and mottling. One more leaf has quickly turned brown, and yet one more looks like it might have had a leaf borer in it.

So, I'm thinking of resting it and then re-potting in several weeks. It's in straight sphag, which does look like it's ready to go into the compost.

Questions:
Any ideas what this rapid (say, 10 weeks) decline could be from?
Any suggestions for medium amendments?
Any opinions about the flowering behavior?

I wonder whether multiple successive blooms from only one spike is "normal". It would be nice to see multiple spikes in a burst, rather than a single ever-bloomer.

I was gng to attach some pictures but camera batteries are dead :) give me an hour to charge 'em. Thanks!

I don't know a lot about masdevallias, but since I bought 2 several months ago I have been doing some checking. One thing I read is that most of them do very well in straight sphagnum, and so far mine are getting new growths and looking good. But I read that because masdies are usually kept moist and in straight sphag, it must be changed every 9 months to a year max. It goes bad fast under those conditions. Has yours been in the same stuff for 2 years? Also, some masdies need more moisture than others and I'm not sure what category the princeps falls. There are likely some other growers of that one that will chime in here.

Without seeing photos, I would suggest soaking it in rooting hormone and then getting it into some new sphagnum. I also read that if they are in a warm environment, it is better to keep the sphag a little drier and mist the plants frequently as they can be prone to fungus and moulds in warm wet conditions more so than in cooler ones.

I know zero about Madevalias specifically, but generally a rapid decline needs rapid attention. I wouldn't wait to repot and check "under the hood". Silken seems dead on.

I'm not hugely experienced with getting my Masdies to bloom, but it sounds like a medium problem. So far all the big issues I've had with mine is they wanted fresh Sphag, and more air movement. Could it be yours is suffering the effects of heated air and is being stifled?

-Tristan

I read somewhere that for Masdevallias, if the leaves aren't moving (from a breeze) then there isn't enough air movement.

I've grown Masd princeps before. This is usually a very hardy Masdevallia.

It is one of the more temperature tolerant species.

It favors being intermediate to warm, but can handle cool (so, 45 F to 95 F).

Blooming successively from the same spike is common amongst many Masdevallia species. So there's no need to worry about that.

Have you checked the roots?

I believe your plant has some root rot going on.

Sphag tends to retain more and more water with age. You might want to look into that. Acidity of sphag may go down in value as well with age.

Giving your plant a brief 3 to 5 day dry spell would probably go in your favor.

You didn't mention how much light it was receiving. The light should be bright shade.

Are you using RO/DI water to water them with?

What is the concentration of fertilizer you're using. Usually 1/4 or 1/2 strength fertilizer from the recommended dosage on the bottle is good enough.

How large is the pot size in relation to the root mass? Too big = too wet.

Air circulation is important too. I grew mine outdoors. If you're growing indoors, maybe a small muffin fan would work.