Is my Orchid sick? How can I save it? =(

[lilsoy]

Dear Orchid Experts,

I have just joined the forum and have so many questions and would really appreciate any help/guidance you can provide!

I have had a mini dendrobium for some time but I suspect that is is not very healthy.

1. Even though some of the canes are plump, a lot of them are blackish color. Please see picture 1 "whole plant". You can see that the far right cane is black near the top. There is a keikis growing out of the top but is has been black for a long time, before the keikis appeared.

whole plant.jpg


2. Also the stems are covered in a lot of "skin" and a number of the stems have never grown leaves since i bought the plant. A number of them are shriveled as well. Please see pic 2 "near roots"

near roots.jpg


3. Lastly, I was really excited because I noticed that some of the stems are growing keikis! I thought this would be a great opportunity to make new plants that are healthy from the start. However, one of the keikis seem to be sick already... the underside of one of the leaves look white-ish and there are a few brown spots. I am not sure if it is scale? or some other pest?

leaf.jpg


4. In taking these pictures I was also very clumsy and broke one of the stems off... =(. I heard that it may be possible to grow keikis from the broken cane... does anyone know how i can do this? Please see picture 4...

DSC_0022.jpg

Does anyone know how I can better take care of my orchid and save it??

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!

Regards,
Clumsy Worried Newbie...

[mayres]

You will probably get plenty of comments on this thread but I will start out. How long since you have repotted this plant? It might be time. The same pot might be fine. Does that pot have holes in the bottom? It needs to drain well for the health of your plants. Good air circulation is important to prevent disease issues from becoming a problem (black). The shriveled canes can probably be removed when you repot. Plump leafless canes are not unusual for many dendrobiums - they still provide nutrients and strength to the remainder of the developing plant. The "skin" is also normal. It is possible to start new plants by cutting canes and laying them horizontally in damp sphag - they will commonly sprout keikis and root. Do the whitish spots rub off? Mealy bugs can deposit white cotton-like residue on both sides of leaves - but often times it may start with just the bottoms. If this be the case you might be able to just clean it off with soap and water and then keep a vigilant look/see on the plant to remove any further. A spray with Bayer Rose and Flower insecticide would work at weekly intervals for a few weeks as well. Of course many other options are available too. Lots and lots of people here who will help you get your "baby" back into a state of health - good luck and enjoy! mike

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by lilsoy

1. Even though some of the canes are plump, a lot of them are blackish color. Please see picture 1 "whole plant". You can see that the far right cane is black near the top.

If the canes are black and also mushy, remove them at once as they have a fungal rot. This occasionally happens when Dens are kept both too wet and too cold at the same time.

Originally Posted by lilsoy

2. Also the stems are covered in a lot of "skin" and a number of the stems have never grown leaves since i bought the plant. A number of them are shriveled as well.

First the "skin." When new canes are growing they are covered in protective leafy bracts. Once the cane is finished growing it no longer needs this protection and the protective bracts die. This "skin" is what is left fo the dead bracts. it is perfectly normal. Some people like to remove them. You may do so or leave them alone.

Next the leafless canes. Many Dendrobiums will loose their leaves off old canes. this also is perfectly nromal. The canes will remain leafless. they will never grow new leaves. Leave leafless canes alone, do not cut them off. These old canes store energy for the plant.

If the energy stores of the plant become depleted, the canes will look shriveled. A little shriveling is usually normal especially in drier months but severe shriveling is not desirable. Extensive shriveling is often caused by one fo 2 problems, either: 1) underwatering, especially in drier, warmer months, or 2) overwatering which causes roots to die off thus restricting the ability of the plant t take in water and nutrients.

I recommend checking the health of your roots. they should be whit-ish and firm or crisp, not grey or black or mushy.

if your plant is not healthy I would remove any keikis as they will continue to deplete your plants energy.

[lilsoy]

Thanks for all your quick response Mike!

To answer your quesitons, when I bought this dend 2 years ago, it was already in this pot. It is a rectangular clay pot that is glazed on the outside. But the pot doesn't have holes in the bottom. Is that why it is black? I try not to overwater (i use spray bottle only when the wood/moss feels dry) it but it probably does not get very much air circulation in the pot?

I am not sure if the white silky membrane comes off the leaf. I tried to rub it now but it doesn't seem to come off. Alternatively if I scratch it, it seems to be a bit more green, but i'm not sure if I am scratching off the white residue or just scratching off the top membrane of the leaf! I also forgot to mention that the leaf looks a bit shruken and dented where there is a white membrane...is that a clue?

As per your and OrchidFlowerChild's advice, I have now put my broken cane into a bag with some moist sphag. I hope that it will grow new roots or keikis!! Are there any rules for how much sphag I need? Currently I have used just enough sphag to make a small bed for the cane to lay on and have inflated the large ziploc bag by blowing in it. Is it ok if the bag is completely sealed, or does it need air circulation?

Thanks again for your help!

[lilsoy]

Thanks Kmarch, I just went to have another look. The canes are black but not mushy. Actually it seems like the "skin" is black, thick and tough to peel off, but I am not sure if both the cane and skin are black, or just the skin.

I am having a tough time peeling off the skin. Is that normal? Should i try to do this with a razor, or is it supposed to come off more easily?

I can only see the few roots that are popping out of the pot, but these seem to be dry and crisp. A bit light brown though. Is this ok? Or am i just looking at the few dead roots that are popping out?

If I have a few plump canes with leaves, a few plump canes without leaves and A LOT of skinny canes without leaves. Does this sound normal, or should my plant have more plump canes and fewer skinny leafless ones?

I am now thinking that I should repot my orchid since the pot doesn't have holes in the bottom...

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

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.

[slippery_biscuit]

You've got good advice going here. The only thing I can chip in on is an emphasis on pullilng the plant out of the pot so you can get a good look at the roots. I've had orchids in orchid pots and even when the top seemed dry there was a lot of moist media in the bottom portion. Orchids are pretty tough plants and can bounce back from a lot of problems. I'm sure you can bring yours back to prime.

[lilsoy]

Thank you all for your advice and guidance! I will go out and get some neem oil today! (if anyone know where i can get this in HK, please let me know! otherwise I will wander around and see if I can find some...)

Thanks Cynthia for letting me know that my plant is deciduous... I bought this plant in a small HK nursery (the sales person didn't speak english) so I really don't know much about my plant at all. I was thinking that I must be doing something wrong since my canes have no leaves anymore...

In taking another look, I have noticed that the only canes with leaves are the keikis. Most of the other canes are just bare. One cane has a flower spike though. Do the canes all grow at the same time so that they should all be without leaves at the same time?

Thanks again everyone for all your help!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I some times get new growth twice a year. I am assuming that your Den is deciduous because it has leafless canes and many of the Phal types do this. If the plant does not produce a new growth from the base by the spring, it may be that the eyes were ruined by fungal activity. But don't assume this is the case until you've given the plant plenty of chance to show its life. If there never are new canes from the base, then you will be dependent on the keikis to be the replacement plant. Keikis are not necessarily an indication of a problem. I think this is just the season for keikis.