HELP! My Angraecum Didieri dropped all its leaves! - Orchid Board

NeoNJ · #1 06-06-2011, 02:47 PM

I have a large Mounted Angraecum Didieri - It finished blooming about 3-weeks ago. All of a sudden, I noticed it began dropping all of its leaves. The leaves would turn brown at the base and just drop. They appeared dry and brittle. Has anyone ever seen this happen before.??
It was 'dunked' and watered daily and has a humidifer near-by for added humidity, so I'm not sure why this happened?

What should I do with this orchid now ... ?

Leafmite · #2 06-06-2011, 04:52 PM

I'm so sorry to hear about this! I hope someone can help you. Until then, try to eliminate possibilities. Think of anything in your conditions that might have changed. Temperature, different lighting, or damage to the roots? If no changes have occurred, could your ang be under attack? Are the brown leaves mushy or dry? Could it be a fungus, bacteria or spidermites? With a mister, the latter is unlikely but not impossible. The first, though.... Then there are things like salt/fertilizer build up or mineral definciencies. Angs like very pure water but every plant needs certain nutients.
I hope you haven't lost all your leaves and your plant recovers. Good luck,
leafmite

Leafmite · #3 06-06-2011, 05:10 PM

Oops. It sounds like it did drop all of it's leaves. And they were dry. Well, you probably want to look closely and see how the roots are, see if a new leaf could form, see if there is any chance of new growth. If the plant is dead, replace it. Either way, you need to figure out what went wrong, naturally, so it doesn't happen again.
Leafmite

Jennyfleur · #4 06-07-2011, 10:47 AM

Hi, On the other thread (which I'm just about to post on and I'm pretty sure you two have as well (?)), Oscarman said something like happened to his and it was suggested it might be water quality... I don't know if that helps.... ?

NeoNJ · #5 06-07-2011, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jennyfleur

Hi, On the other thread (which I'm just about to post on and I'm pretty sure you two have as well (?)), Oscarman said something like happened to his and it was suggested it might be water quality... I don't know if that helps.... ?

As I indicated, this is a large mounted Angraecum didieri with 2 plants on Cork ---- it just finished blooming 3-weeks ago ---- all of the leaves on both plants have dropped.

The roots are solid and healthy and attached to the cork - plus it has alot of 'fine dangling roots'.

I only use DISTILLED WATER when watering orchids, and the Humidifier only has Distilled Water in it.

It could have been to much Light and temps were to high.....

#6 06-07-2011, 01:37 PM

NeoNJ , Sorry about your angraecum. I am new to them and have my sesquipedale only since April. Just because you mentioned distilled water, I thought, could it be the sign of nutrients deficiency because of using distilled water?

NeoNJ · #7 06-07-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orchideya

NeoNJ , Sorry about your angraecum. I am new to them and have my sesquipedale only since April. Just because you mentioned distilled water, I thought, could it be the sign of nutrients deficiency because of using distilled water?

Well, not really, since I fertilize all orchids weekly.

Leafmite · #8 06-07-2011, 06:21 PM

We are all a little anxious to figure out what happened to cause this tragedy. It hits close to home since there are so few of us posting about angraecums. You mention fertilizing every week. Did you water in between with plain, distilled, water to get rid of buildup from the fertilizers? Too high a concentration can kill plants very fast, especially in higher light and temperatures. Angraecums might be sensitive to this, some more than others. Just a shot in the dark.
Leafmite

NeoNJ · #9 06-07-2011, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leafmite

We are all a little anxious to figure out what happened to cause this tragedy. It hits close to home since there are so few of us posting about angraecums. You mention fertilizing every week. Did you water in between with plain, distilled, water to get rid of buildup from the fertilizers? Too high a concentration can kill plants very fast, especially in higher light and temperatures. Angraecums might be sensitive to this, some more than others. Just a shot in the dark.
Leafmite

Well, I have ALOT of mounted orchids, and most if not all of them are Angraecum and Aerangis ......
Most get watered daily - actually they are dunked and soaked daily .....

So yeah, I think that would have helped rid the plants of any fertilizer build-up ....

As for fertilizer I provide 1/4 tsp. per Gallon of water.
Not the 1-tsp. per gallon of water recommended and
I use GROW-MORE Urea Free fertilizer.

Looking in retrospect, I think it was the HEAT that did this - since this particular mounted plant was Higher up than some others and probably needed higher humidity and lower light levels......

I don't know at this point if this plant is able to be Saved.....I really have my doubts.

calvin_orchidL · #10 06-08-2011, 12:53 AM

How dry did it become in between waterings? Sorry about your plant. : (