When transition to SH does not go smoothly - Orchid Board

SundayGardener · #1 10-05-2018, 02:33 PM

Hello,

In general, all my transitions to SH have gone really well. So well that I just kept moving more and more orchids to SH.

I do have 2 that appear to be dying. I'll post pictures later. One is a phrag, which was healthy. After moving to SH, leaves started turning black (from the bottom) and falling off. This seemed to have slowed down briefly, but has started again. There aren't many leaves left!

Then I have a paph with similar issues.

My question is, what steps, if any, can I take to save these plants? I knew going in that I would lose a few, so I can deal with that, but before I seal their fate, I'm curious if there is something I should be doing. Drier reservoir? More frequent flushing? Somehow treat what looks to be rot?

I used Innocuor and KelpMax for the initiation transition, and have used monthly since then. They get flushed with RO or distilled water with fertilizer 2x week.

Ray · #2 10-05-2018, 06:05 PM

Hmmm... I find that both paphs and phrags take very well to conversion to semi-hydroponics.

Could it be that they are planted too deeply?

estación seca · #3 10-21-2018, 02:57 AM

My slight experience is in agreement with Ray: slippers generally transition quite well. I don't quite know what you mean by drier reservoir - the reservoir should never dry out completely.

Depending on your ambient humidity, both Phrag and Paph might not be getting enough water. The water in the reservoir might not wick up far enough to supply the roots adequately. You can compensate by watering more frequently - every day is fine.

SundayGardener · #4 10-21-2018, 11:42 PM

Hmm, I thought I had posted pictures. Anyway, these are over 2 weeks old. You can see it in its original state, and then browning.

As of today, the main growth is all gone. All the leaves turned dark brown with wet black at the base of the leaves, and they fell off. The side growth has 2 leaves left. I would say it is a lost cause! But I'll wait it out.

The reservoir was never dry, and I flush 2x week. Maybe somehow rot set in.

The paph is doing a better job hanging inm but it had the same issues, black/brown at the base moving out and "consuming" the leaves.

My only other casualty was an oncidium, and none of the other oncidiums that I moved to SH look great, which is surprising. Their roots are very wet, they're not too dry. They all have new root growth, I think it's the rotting of the old roots that's a problem for them.

The phals are happy as can be.

Ray · #5 10-22-2018, 08:56 AM

What temperatures are they seeing?

How's the humidity this time of year?

estación seca · #6 10-23-2018, 03:20 AM

That is what Phrags look like when they don't get enough water. There may be other explanations, but that is a fairly tall S/H container.

SundayGardener · #7 10-23-2018, 10:53 PM

When I moved it to SH, temps were over 75F and humidity was around 70%. That would have been in late August. Now indoor temp is 70F and humidity is around 45 to 50%.

I actually was concerned that it wasn't getting enough water, because the leaves were turning brown, not black and soft. At that point, I flushed 3x a week. I have the quart container (it's Ziploc I think) sitting in a tub, and I also kept water in the tub, so that the reservoir couldn't dry up or get too low.

However, it always seemed quite wet around the base of the plant. I've noticed with the oncidiums as well, which are in taller containers, that their roots at the top are always wet even if the hydroton doesn't seem particularly damp on top. These are all plants that are not exposed to high air circulation. The plants that are located near a fan do get pretty darn dry on top.

On the other hand, the phals are also in a room with no fan, and I'm just amazed that moving to SH has not set them back at all. When I repot in bark, it always turns into a sick bay situation, but they're really embracing the SH lifestyle (so far, we'll see as the winter progresses since cooler drier air will likely be a problem). Now the phals were all putting out new roots when I transitioned them. The oncidiums also had a lot of root growth going on, but they have so many roots that I think they are just dealing with losing some right now?

The phrags are more of a black box to me, probably orchids with big fleshy visible roots are easier for me to to track.