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Old 08-31-2007, 02:08 PM
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Cynthia, Prescott, AZ Cynthia, Prescott, AZ is offline
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First, the important thing. Your plant has spider mites. That whitening of the leaf on the under side is the mites removing and eating the chlorophyll. Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower does not work on mites, well not the systemic chemical in B A R&F. You will have to get some neem oil. A thorough spraying of the plant, followed by another spraying a week or 2 later to get any that were missed should do. However, you may have these mites on other plants in your home/yard/GH. I would recommend that you get a powerful land lens, ~4x jewelers loupe, or other magnifying apparatus, and actually go looking for the mites. They move around a lot, so they should not be too difficult to see, especially since you probably have a pretty bad case when you see the white on leaves. Check out this thread:
Checking For Mites Your den is one mites don't normally like, but when they are not near the plant they love, they love the plant they're near.

You plant is deciduous, so only this years growth will have leaves. Growth once a year, some times more, from the base is the normal growth pattern. If your plant has a growth from the bottom of the plant that has leaves, look for a new growth to come from the base of that. If it does not start a new growth at the base of that bulb next spring, then you can start to worry about the condition of the plant. In the mean time you can pot up the kiekis when their roots are long enough, 1"-3". The cane to the right of the first picture, if it has not had growth on that side of the plant in some time, can be cut off near the base with keiki and some roots in tact and potted up with the cane sticking out the bottom of the pot to give the keiki a lot of reserves to draw on and grow fast. I would repot this in the spring or when you see new growth starting at the base, and remove the very oldest canes. The plant grows in a chain pattern, and 3 canes in a row behind the new emerging growth is what should stay together. Please put the plant into a very small pot. Dens like their rots very crowded, and they like their mix to dry quickly. While growing, the mix can be kept a little damp, but they should have their mix dry very well when not growing or blooming. Until you repot, I would continue with whatever you have been doing for watering, as making that old mix sopping wet would probably be a bad idea. I am sure it would probably take forever to dry.
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