Problem Pleurothallis

[anramitaco]

I have a Pleurothallis eumecocaulon, which is one of my favorite plants. I've had it for several months, during which it bloomed nonstop. Now it has been putting up new leaves, but the problem is that as the new growth matures it remains much smaller than the old growth. The ramicauls on the old growth are about four inches long, but the recent ones have been only 2-3 inches long. The leaves are noticeably smaller, too.

The plant is on a grow-rack in front of a large SSW-facing window, with supplementary CFLs. It is shaded from both the sun and the CFLs by other plants (nepenthes) and receives indirect light, perhaps a little dappled sun in the late afternoon. I water with distilled H20 and never let it dry out. It gets half-strength orchid fert (Better-Gro) about once per week, when I remember. The humidity is between 50% and 70%, depending on the day. Temps range from 68-70 (night) to 80-84 (day). Lepanthes calodictyon, P. alata and Masdevallia erinacea are all growing in much the same conditions and do not have this problem.

Any ideas? This is by far my favorite orchid and I would hate to lose it.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It's probably just fine.

Some Pleuros do this, and they are none the worse.

If you have a picture so that I can confirm, that'd be great.

[anramitaco]

Thanks for the quick reply! I've attached an image to this post.

You'll see that the center leaf, one of the newer ones, has a very short ramicaul in comparison to the older growth. The two leaves on the left are just a few days old, but they already seem very small or stunted to me...

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

This is something that doesn't get mentioned about Pleurothallis often.

Some of them grow flowering growths that are full sized, but they also grow sterile growths that are smaller.

There's nothing wrong with your Pleurothallis.

[anramitaco]

Some of them grow flowering growths that are full sized, but they also grow sterile growths that are smaller.

I had no idea. Thank you!

[Polarizeme]

You have only had it a couple of months. It might be related to the change in environment. It may be getting more or less light than where it came from. The fact that you have had blooms and now new growth tells me that your plant is doing ok and you are doing something right!

[RNCollins]

Originally Posted by anramitaco

I water with distilled H20 and never let it dry out. It gets half-strength orchid fert (Better-Gro) about once per week, when I remember.

Any ideas? This is by far my favorite orchid and I would hate to lose it.

Since you are using distilled water, you may need to add calcium and magnesium... I don't think the Better-Gro fert
has them in it.