Angraecum elephantinum care questions

[farley101]

Hey all,

I picked up a little elephant at the St Paul Winter Carnival orchid show in January and it's been in a holding pattern every since.

It was in sphag but doing research it looked like bark or mounting would be better. Much easier to pot in bark in my climate so I moved it to that. The root system was pretty bad, only 1 long mostly alive root when I re-potted. It lost 3 leaves that had shown brown tips or slight yellowing.

Seems to have leveled off, no leaf loss but no real growth as far as I can see. The crown seems to be full of a sticky substance that is holding it together, I'm afraid it's inhibiting new growth.

I keep it in a temp controlled grow space, 72 or so with very high humidity under lights. Water every 2-3 days when pot is mostly dry. Use Klite and Kelpmax for supplementation.
Wondering if there's anything else I can try to give this a jump start or is it only active in certain seasons and we're not there yet? I really want to give it the best chance to thrive so any suggestions welcomed! Thanks!

Pic is from just after re-pot, lost the 3 lowest leaves shortly after. Looks the same otherwise.

[Leafmite]

Not sure if you are already doing this but, if not, make certain that it has a steady source of Calcium. These come from breezy Madagascar and so they can be prone to fungus issues and extra Calcium really helps.

[farley101]

Thanks for the recommendation, I am not doing this so
I will look into adding a source of calcium. I've seen small shells which I'd guess is a good way to do it but not sure where to get something like that locally. I'll have to dig into it!

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Not sure if you are already doing this but, if not, make certain that it has a steady source of Calcium. These come from breezy Madagascar and so they can be prone to fungus issues and extra Calcium really helps.

[OrchidSue]

Angraecums in general are notorious for disliking their roots being disturbed. They can sulk for extended periods of time depending on the circumstances. A poor root system may not help in your situation. The best advice is probably to treat it well and hope for the best.


Susan

[farley101]

As an update to this, I've been doing as Susan suggested and treating it well. It is currently working on sending out a new root through the bottom leaf. It looks like quite the struggle but it's pretty close to breaking through! Hoping to get some good summer growth.

Edit: attaching photo of root growth 2 weeks after above post, seems to be finally waking up!