Pleating leaf question
 

If a leaf is pleating, will it fold in half on its vertical axis or make many folds horizontally. Can a leaf that has pleated be treated? Thanks, Lisa :scratchhead:

Hi , I have had pleating on Oncid type leaves horizontaly, like an accordian :( caused from lack of new roots when the leaf is growing , humidity may also be a factor . I have not found anything that will correct the leaf . Hope this helps a little .. Gin

Hi Lisa

I agree with Gin, horinzontal and no treatment possible.

The problem is that the plant didn't have enough water to expand the cells that were growing and after the structure is done, there is no turning back. It is like making something with cement (is this the right word?).

Increase humidity if low, watering if not enough, induce new root growth if they are few. These are the things that you should try to improve.

Lisa you will find this is a problem for most of the Oncidium alliance plants. I have fairly low RH, but I have found if I make sure they don't dry out, but not stay soggy that the leaf pleating stops. Nothing will make the old leaves get better.

Actually I have humidity in the 50% range and find that relative humidity must not have much to do with this problem. I was watering twice a week with that humidity and got some pretty severe pleating on a couple Brassias and the like. I went to every third day (3-4 times per week) and all is well. I think these guys suck up water fast enough that watering often during high growth period must not be a root-rot problem. I have been getting bursts of roots around the base of the new growths.

There was something about this in the Q&A in the AOS 'Orchid' in 2001...

Reproduced by Not So Green Thumb

Increasing watering should do no harm as long as the plant is actively growing and the potting medium is still open and free draining. With all of the new roots my Brassia sends out, they really do suck up a lot of water!

It's pretty interesting that when the bark (that's what mine are in) is dry, the green root tips quit growing. If I keep the bark moist (not wet) then the roots keep growing. I also notice a tendency for the pseudobulbs to "pleat vertically" when the plant is kept on dry side during active growth. So for my conditions I have developed a regime of constant fertilizer (nitrogen at 125ppm MSU mix in RO water) with every watering, making sure to pour the stuff through the pot to avoid mineral buildup and brown leaf tips. I also (like I said above) have increased the frequency a bit to 3-4 times per week. The bark seems a bit on the dry side just before watering. This has ended (for now) the pleating of the leaves and has increased gowth rates for the vegetation. Once the growths mature in fall, I will back off frequency, but not fertilizer. I don't believe 125ppm Nitrogen is enough to freak out the plant and not enough to encourage new growth beyond its natural tendency to make new growths each year. Got that info from Ray at Firstrays.com.

That's really good information, Ross! I'm copying that into my fact file for reference... :)

When it is warm (and warm for here is above 75F) I mist the aerial roots on mine every day. The whole plant gets watered 3 times a week.

Don't apologize for 75! That's plenty for any intermediate I am familiar with and an ideal temp max for lots of orchids. When it gets 90 here I envy your 75! I sometimes take pity on mine and take the water pot and pour a bit of solution on the roots out of pity :biggrin: .