All new growths are stunted... any ideas?

[wirtlo]

Thanks Ray -- yeah, I definitely found that out. But I don't think I was watering enough (or watering too much at times) when I had the plants in bark (so thats probably why I mentioned S/H has a solution for humidity).
I now have a giant bucket of water in the room, with a big bubble stone in it and a fan trained right on it to keep things humid (I evaporate gallons every week). I don't have a barometer, but on warmer days especially, it's humid enough for everyone to notice when they come in.

[Becky15349]

I'm curious about this thread too, so please keep us updated I'm definitely leaning towards that your plants aren't getting enough moisture, and I say that because I 100% understand your southern window environment because that's what I have now too; I just moved in August. My plants were drying out too quickly in their new windowsill, so I started watering more frequently (2x a week) because with the southern sun, its strong enough even in the winter when most people would ease up on watering. I definitely see increased growth and "'activity" when I keep the watering up. I should also note that I grow in S&H also, and I have all catts. I keep watering because if I slowed down on it, they would go into dormancy and/or cook to death.

[Ray]

Wirtlo, "gallon a week" really isn't adding that much humidity. Read Evaporation

[wirtlo]

"gallons" - 5-10 gallons. thanks for the link Ray.

Becky - thanks for the input, I'll definitely keep this updated.

[Ray]

Ahhhh....that makes more sense

[calvin_orchidL]

This is a very interesting thread - thanks for posting those pictures, wirtlo (and welcome to the forum ). I have a bl yellow bird that kind of had the same thing - stunted growths. I think mine was due to a lack of water too (although mine is in bark). It's interesting though that I didn't get too much shrivelling of existing pbulbs, which typically happens with a lack of water. It's the first time I've seen this phenomenon of 'miniaturization'. That is, until I saw your photos. I suspect there may be more in play besides water - I think someone mentioned chemicals before? Very interesting.

[Ray]

I don't recall where the info came from, but I remember a discussion in which plant growth was shown to be directly proportional to the amount of provided water.

It was based upon that premise that I started growing all of my plants in a very coarse mix (so bridging water could not suffocate the roots), watering frequently. It is also what led to semi-hydroponics, but the applicability of airy medium and heavy watering is not limited to that.

[AHAB]

Lance Birk mentions that in the beggining of his great book on paphs, if you don't have it, it a must have and a great read. By the way I was very impressed by the quality of the book and it was printed and bound with excellent materials.
Jim