Possible first kill in S/H :(

[Reeses]

A bit of backstory: I transferred my oncidium-type orchids to S/H about a month ago, because it seemed like they were in active growth. I moved a Twinkle, a Sharry Baby belonging to my mom, and a Hwra. Lava Burst "Puanani."

Then, about two weeks ago, I bought a seedling heat mat, thinking that would help speed up the transition.The Sharry Baby and Twinkle seem to be doing okay. The Twinkle lost a couple of leaves, but I can just see a tiny pseudobulb starting to emerge.

The problem is the Lava Burst. It was not doing well even when I bought it--the pb's were shriveled to almost flat, and it didn't have many roots. It's been hanging in there, and I thought the increased humidity might be good for it. It had a new growth forming, so I thought it was worth taking a shot with s/h for it. Since being on the heat mat, it's been losing leaves, to the point that it is only has two left. One pb is turning yellow (no leaves left) and today I saw the new growth looks like it's wet, like water is climbing up the shoot.

I think it's possible that new roots weren't growing when I transplanted it. I thought they were. Anyone have any advice? Is this little guy done for?


UPDATE: He's dead, Jim The last pb is turning yellow, the roots are all dark brown, and the new shoot looks water-logged. I'm so disappointed! I really like this little guy! It was the first non-phal I ever had. I tried my best to save it

[mtorchid]

Well, sounds like your Lava Burst might have been on its last legs (roots) when you got it. SH can't perform miracles, but at least you tried. My Oncs love SH and I have a Sharry Baby that seems obsessed with putting out bloom spikes ;-)
I'm sure your other ones will do fine.

One thing I've done when adopting drowned orchids is set them in LECA but don't maintain a water reservoir. Instead, spray the roots with growth hormone occasionally and spray water twice daily. This allows the LECA to dry out between waterings which forces new root growth. Once roots proliferate, I transfer to a typical (water reservoir) SH setup.

[Reeses]

Thanks so much for the tip! That is great advice--I will keep that in mind for next time!

[BettyE]

Most orchids are killed by receiving too much water. I know that many yrs. ago, when I was a beginner orchid grower, I certainly killed my fair share. This is something that happens to most of us. Just press on, get another orchid, and try again...BettyE.

[Jenn4a]

I moved my (sick) cattleya's into LECA. I didn't really know that they were sick at the time, and they got sick during shipment...

It's generally true that when switching to S/H that you should keep things on the drier side until they acclimate.
My problem is mainly their sickness but I watered when the pseudobulbs started shriveling. Only, they continued to shrivel even after watering... that's when I unpotted my catts to find horrible waterlogged brown, smelly roots.

I originally had 2 seperate plants, but they divided from rotting rhizomes and roots; now I'm left with 4 catts that seem to have new areas of rotting, even after removing bad areas. So I definitely feel your pain...
What I did was set the plants on top of the LECA clay so only their root tips are exposed to the water. The roots drink up the water like a straw, and I can monitor the plants.
This means I don't have to wonder if the roots are rotting where I can't see them.

Maybe we can relate? I know they aren't the same, maybe this is helpful? I hope you can save them all.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by BettyE

Most orchids are killed by receiving too much water.

Sorry, Betty. That's just plain incorrect. Most orchids are killed by suffocating the roots, and that simply cannot happen in S/H culture. If your potting medium is too dense - compressed, decomposed, or just too fine to begin with - then it is possible that surface tension can hold a lot of water in the spaces in the medium, cutting off all air flow and suffocating the roots. (That's where the myth that "orchids must dry out between waterings" comes from; if your medium is suffocating the roots, letting it dry out reopens the air flow pathways.)

If too much water was truly the reason for orchid death, then most of the plants we grow would be extinct, as many of them stay constantly wet in nature.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Jenn4a

It's generally true that when switching to S/H that you should keep things on the drier side until they acclimate.

I disagree.

As roots grow, they "tailor" themselves to the conditions in which they are growing. Once they have grown, they cannot change.

If you "keep them on the dry side" at first, they will acclimate to those conditions, rather than the fully moist conditions of good S/H culture, so will have to acclimate a second time.

The key to successful transition to S/H culture is starting with a healthy plant in active growth, and keeping it in a stress-free environment while those new roots grow.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

[Leafmite]

When re-potting new orchids into LECA, I keep the roots higher in the new basket pots. Then I put the pots in bowls of water. The roots grew down into the reservoir on their own so now they are quite happy being wet most of the time. The older roots are above the 'water line'. The open nature of the basket pot helps keep good air circulation around the roots.
Temperature does play an important part in how happy the roots are if they are sitting in water. Even a lotus or water lily will rot if temperatures are too cool during the growing season.
I agree that if you have a plant/orchid die that you really like, replace it (from a better vendor) and try again. I am guessing that if you start out with a healthy one, you won't have the same trouble.

[Jenn4a]

Originally Posted by Ray

I disagree.

As roots grow, they "tailor" themselves to the conditions in which they are growing. Once they have grown, they cannot change.

If you "keep them on the dry side" at first, they will acclimate to those conditions, rather than the fully moist conditions of good S/H culture, so will have to acclimate a second time.

The key to successful transition to S/H culture is starting with a healthy plant in active growth, and keeping it in a stress-free environment while those new roots grow.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

Okay, I'll remember that. Like I said my seedlings (large seedlings? 2 years from blooming) got stressed through shipping (some sort of bacterial infection I think.) they arrived with black areas on the leaves that grew bigger and sunken; some roots were rotted/rotting all the way up to the new PBulb but I didn't know they were infected then. It was my first experience with rot or any fast moving infection, and there were growing green tipped aerial roots at the time; that's one reason why I repotted. They're still holding on, but if I didn't repot them, they would probably be dead. My experience with LECA is only with the sick seedlings so far so next time I will water normally.

I also have a near blooming size cattleya that came with the seedlings but is doing fine. I'll probably repot it in LECA in a year or so