Unsure of the state of my Burr. Nelly Isler
 

Hello all,

I am a new user and recently got my first orchid after not having any for a few years. I have only had a few Phalaenopsis' before with varying success. I have now ordered some books about orchids in hopes of being able to take care of them properly.

I got this Nelly Isler just before Christmas and it has been blooming nicely. A tip of one leaf on one of the small pseudobulbs was a little yellow/brown from start, and over the weeks this has spread, as seen in the pictures. Since these pictures were taken, I have cut off the brown parts and added cinnamon to the ends (as I have read is good). I wouldn't be too worried if this happened on the bigger pseudobulb, but this is on a small (new?) one, so I think there might be something wrong with the roots.

I suspect my apartment has too low humidity for this orchid, but I try to help it by having a bowl of hot water next to the orchid sometimes.

I have been watering it every 7th to 10th day. It's tricky to know when to water it, because the plastic pot is white. I am considering buying a transparent plastic pot with more holes and repot it, but I have read I should wait with this until the flowers have fallen off. On the other hand, I'd like to know if something is wrong with the roots.

Also, despite watering it the day before the pictures were taken, the pseudobulbs are wrinkly. Is this a reason for concern?

I hope someone can provide some advice. I'd really like to keep it alive despite not living in the best conditions for this orchid.

Best regards
Hanna

Looks like it might need more water. The bulbs are shriveled. I'd increase to watering every 4 days or so and see how it responds.

Since you live in Sweden, maybe your house is warm... and probably he HR is not too high.
Can you give us the temp and HR values where the plant is?

Thank you both for your replies! I will water it more often and see how it goes.

I don't have a hygrometer, but will pick one up tomorrow so I'll be able to keep track of the environment. I'll post the values once I have them.


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Welcome, and best wishes on resuming your orchid life!

This plant is in the Oncidium alliance. They need a lot more water than some other orchids. I agree you have not been giving enough water, and that is why the leaf is dying back. You can use a small wooden skewer to check the moisture level in the center of the pot. Here is a thread describing it:

Using Skewers

You can read a lot more in the various forums, devoted to different orchid alliances. There is a lot of information on this kind of plant in the

Oncidium

forum.

Thank you estación seca!

I will definitely use a skewer, and probably wait with repotting until my orchid is finished blooming.

I have now set up my hygrometer and unfortunately the HR is only 23%, and the temperature is 24ºC/75ºF.

I am not sure how to proceed from here. I will probably try out a humidity tray and try to mist the orchid with fine sprays of water. Hopefully that will help a little. I can also lower the heat of the radiator which is located under the plant.

Thank you all for your help!

Maybe use a desktop humidifier in the area too.

Thank you for the tip! I had no idea such small ones were available. I will definitely try that out.

The air over the radiator will normally be the driest in the room.