Maxillaria tenuifolia: watering sheaths and rot concerns.
 

Hi all,

I recently joined this board and this is a first time post. I own several orchids one of which is a Maxillaria Tenuifolia. I've read in a few places that some folks will water the sheath of their Max Ten pseudobulbs because of the roots that run up alongside them. Won't this cause rotting?

Also, a curiosity question. Does the orchid take in water from the roots beneath the substrate and then pass it up through the side roots to the new growth or do those new growths have root tips hiding in the sheath that can absorb water?

My main concern is potential rot, so the second question is a bonus if anyone wants to answer it too.

Thanks in advance,

Julie :D

I would never let water sit in the sheaths of an orchid - period. Even when I mist the roots, I dry off any water collecting in the sheaths of on new growth. I'm not saying that there aren't exceptions to this rule. I just don't know of any.

My Maxillaria tenuifolia has not yet completed an entire growth cycle for me (had it for nearly a year, many highly held pseudobulbs), and so far, it hasn't formed roots from the highest pseudobulbs. Even so, it seems to have no problems keeping itself plump and hydrated, so I'm guessing the roots in the medium are more than capable of passing water up through the rhizomes to the newest growth.

Thanks Kim. I also dry off anything wet on an orchid, so my instincts told me to leave them alone until I checked it out to be sure. I suppose there could be exceptions (I lived in Texas and wet sheaths outside would probably dry up within an hour in the shade), but I'm indoors and in a cold climate (Chicago) which would almost guarantee rotting on the sheaths.

This orchid is so easy to grow I wouldn't worry about water in the sheaths. Drench away.

I grow mine outside. During the warmer months I drench them almost daily. Now that it’s winter they’re getting rained on and getting hit with low temperatures in the high 30s and 40s Fahrenheit. Even the small division I bought this summer is doing very well. They don’t seem to have any issues with getting wet, but since they’re outside air circulation is very good.

In my experience maxillaria tenuifolia prefers more water to less. I water it every day by holding it under the shower head, always making sure to drench the sheaths. It blooms and grows prolifically for me. Compare the thin sheath to sphagnum or other media. Why would it cause rot?

Because poor air circulation seems to be a fairly leading cause of losing orchids, so lots of obsessive behavior has been encouraged by people with high rot prone environments.

I can tell you what I do this time of year, then you can decide what advice is most suitable for you in your conditions.

I live in Georgia, a high humidity environment in warm weather, but in January the air is colder, lower humidity. Not as cold and low humidity as Chicago indoor winter air though. The Max. ten pseudobulbs tend to shrivel in those conditions.

I leave my Max. ten out in cold soaking rains when there is no danger of freezing. Several hours seems to be well tolerated, no sign of damage. This allows all the roots to soak up a lot of water and rehydrate the plant. I started doing this 3 or 4 years ago, the plant has bloomed well every year I have done this.

I will say this procedure runs counter to all advice I hear about this species, which says grow them at intermediate to warm temperatures. My take-away message is that "drench away" as estacion seca suggests never seems to hurt mine, even when cold.

I agree with ES and OW... drench away. As far as warm-intermediate goes, please don't tell my plants, which are quite happy with outdoor temperatures occasionally into the high 30's F. in winter. (It does warm up during the day so they don't stay that cold for more than a few hours, but the winter days aren't all that warm either) They get watered every couple of days with everything else, totally drenched with whatever rain they happen to occasionally get, and I have never had rot problems with them.

My tenuifolia is inside this winter (we'll see how well it blooms this year) but I also water from the top and dribble some over the dry looking sheaths. I haven't had any rot problems, nor did I have them when it was outside during other years.