Sedirea japonica dropping green leaves

[Burgos]

Hello all!

I bought a sedirea japonica last winter and it hasn't done much since. It started putting out new leaves in April. They are almost fully developed now.

The problem is that it has been dropping leaves ever since I got it. It lost 2 one day and has gone from having 5 to having only two and the developing one.

I wonder what is causing this because the plant looks green, healthy and the leaves that drop are green with no signs of rot. They just break at the joint between leaf and stem.

Maybe I should check the roots out. I water it every three days or so and humidity is 60-80%. No sunlight, but abundant east light. Outdoors temps 15-25°C.

Any ideas and help are welcome.

[estación seca]

I haven't grown this because it doesn't like my high temperatures. It is now considered a Phalaenopsis. I think looking at the roots is a good idea.

[Burgos]

I checked the roots and most of them seemed to be fine. There were lots of algae growing on the inner sides of the plastic pot. This climate is quite humid, so that would explain it. Bark was thin and maybe starting to break down, so I replaced it with coarser bark and added some charcoal and sphagnum. Now it's in a clay pot. Hopefully it'll stop dropping leaves.

[Roberta]

It sounds like your new potting environment sounds good. It grows more like a Vanda than a Phal. (Renaming didn't change that...<sigh>)

[isurus79]

Mine did that several times in high temps (>32C). It was really quick too! Not sure if that applies to your situation.

[Burgos]

I can't exactly recall the dates when it happened. It is true that we suffered from a very intense haze coming from Africa. We had 30-40% humidity for five days, high temps and a lot of dust.

That may explain it. Thank you!