Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Psychopsis Mariposa loses new growth

Dried out new growth on Psychopsis Mariposa 'Mountain'

     Turns out there was one victim from my 3-week absence after all.  The new growth on my Psychopsis Mariposa looked a little dryish on the edges when I first got home, and it completely dried out within a few days later.  When I unpotted the orchid, I saw that none of the new roots have taken--very few short roots remained, and their tips are blackened.  This is not the look of a plant in recovery.

     I'm almost ready to just chuck the plant.  After all, my Psychopsis Mendenhall is growing and blooming beautifully.  Do I need two Psychopsis plants in my limited space? Perhaps a final fungicide treatment is in order.  Otherwise, I think I'll just water the plant as usual, with no special treatment (and let it either die or recover on its own).

3 comments:

  1. On the advice of an orchid growing friend, when my plants appear on their last leg, I unpot them and throw them under a bush for 6 months to a year. I have successfully repotted one cattleya after a year of this 'tough love' and two remain. It is interesting how healthy roots appear after maybe 3-4 months. There are advantages to living in central Florida.

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  2. Maybe try to prop it in the small clay pot of coconut husk chips. I found that roots grow like crazy in chc and having it in clay will make sure it doesn't stay too wet.

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  3. Perhaps a bath with a good fungicide and treatment of resting in a plastic bottle with sphagnum and hoped that react and generates new shoots only. Luck and that recovers. Best regards.

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