What to do about my Dendrobium Cleopatra

[Trisha27]

Hi all!

About a 2 months ago I bought a Dendrobium Cleopatra from a local orchid show.

Since purchasing, i'm a little worried about my plant. The leaves are becoming yellow and dying off one by one (I read in one of the threads that Den Phal's should not be losing their leaves). Also, 1 of the leafless canes,although still firm to touch, have patches where the colour appears to be dark brownish. I am worried that this orchid is not getting enough light? Or that something else is wrong? The flowers appear to be fine.

I live in Pretoria, South Africa. My city is a summer rainfall region, with cold and dry winters. During winter, the sensitive orchids are moved indoors, as nightime temps can drop to 3 degrees Celcius. I do not have a hothouse.

At this stage, the Den Cleopatra is standing by a window, which receives full sun till about 12:00. And I was wondering whether it would make a difference placing the orchid outside during the day, in a spot which receives sun for longer, on a tray with pebbles and water, to aid humidity? As I also read that a Den Phal's leaves should be very green (and mine obviously aren't).

I will try post a photo tomorrow.

Am I worrying for nothing?

Thank you! :-)

[brookn]

Hi, have you repotted this and inspected the roots? Sounds like it may have a bacterial infection, possibly fungus, I am leaning toward bacterial. If you could get a pic of it that would help out greatly. Anyway, we would be able to help you more thoroughly with a good picture of it. A close up of the parts in question, and a shot showing the whole plant helps a lot. Welcome to the forum.

[Trisha27]

Thanx for the help!

I'm just scared (if I cam put it that way?) that i take it out of it's pot, and I won't be able to pot it back (being a 'newbie' and all). I have orchid mix, as well as some fine bark chips and some mossy stuff (will take a photo too). Can I repot with this and are there pics somewhere of how to do it properly?

Just need to batteries for my cam, then i'll post the phodies.

Thanx again!

[brookn]

I am sure that one of us can walk you through it. I won't be on here agin until late tonight, so someone else will probably help you. Good luck. Pics will be helpful.

[Trisha27]

Now that i've taken the plant out and photographed it, it appears to be in quite a bad condition..... Help Please!!!!! Can I still save it?

[brookn]

Well, it could be much worse. It will probably live. Cut the bad mushy roots. I had one that looked similar and it's fine, but it was a tweezing, cutting, seek and destroy mission that was like delicate surgery. Just carefully cut the bad mushy roots, tease them with you fingers to get to the middle, and tweezers are helpful. Then give it a good soak in peroxide. Repot it into a pot that is only maybe a half inch bigger around than the rootball. I use a bark mix on my Dends for the most part and they are happy. The pseudobulbs don't look bad, I would not remove any that are not mushy, and those I would just cut past the mushy parts. Give it good culture:


AOS | Dendrobium

Skewer use for watering of orchids

Make sure it gets plenty of light, and water when it is dry, and it should recover. I am not going to guarantee it, but I really have seen worse ones that have recovered, Dends are like weeds. If there is a spike and blooms on this, I would also recomend cutting the spike to help give the plant evergy to recover. Hope that helps some. When you repot you just pour the bark in around the roots and tap the pot gently to help the bark settle. Then give the plant some water, and you are done. Be sure that you soak the bark in water for 24 hours before potting the plant in to it, and sterilize the tools that you use on it. The hard part is over, which is getting the courage to take it out of it's pot and give the roots a look. Deep breath and dive in!

[Anton]

Trisha, personally I would try and save the one good cane with the leaves, and maybe use the sphag and bag technique to try save the others.
But I wouldn't lose sleep if I didn't save them.

You can find the sphag and bag technique at http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orc...tructions.html.

I would probably do as Brook said to save that one good cane, and as long as I could save that one, I would be happy. One good cane is better than several sick ones.

The sphag and bag technique is a good one to learn for saving plants which have not quite reached that point of no return. Then in future if needed, you'll know what to do.

[brookn]

Anton, I thought of that, but would one pbulb be able to survive and produce new growths? I've never had one down to one pbulb to save is why I ask. I did try it with an Onc. alliance, but it died.

[Trisha27]

Thank you very much Brookn and Anton!

The bark chips I have are small and dry (weird way of putting it, I know), but i've tried soaking them in water, and they all float to the top (as if the water just runs over them). Is this fine??? Can I use them?

The peroxide (I see everybody mentions this on the forum), is this the 3% solution? I will stop by the pharmacy and get some.

Thanx!

[Anton]

Oh yes Brook, you can do it with just one, Dens aren't like Cyms where you need 2 or 3 bulbs for them to survive.

[solay]

Anton, even Cyms. will survive on one bulb. For example, a backbulb. You only need approximately 3 bulbs for it to bloom. That's why when you divide you try to keep a minimum of 3 bulbs in tact.

[Anton]

That was the point I was eluding to.

Yes, one bulb can survive, but, do you want flowers ???

One bulb will take around 4 seasons to progress to flowering stage, BEEN THERE, DONE THAT !!! Several years ago, when I was dividing a large cym, I thought I would see what would happen with one bulb.

It took 4 seasons to grow another 2 bulbs and even then the leaves were only just starting to shoot. So from my "experiment" I learnt, no less than 3 bulbs, but rarely do I ever have 3 anyway, usually I make sure I have around 5 minimum.

If you have prolific cyms you can afford to try little experiments like this, because if you only lose one or 2 bulbs of a separated plant, so what ??!! And, you have added to your knowledge databank.

[solay]

Oh, I thought you were saying Cyms. won't survive on one just bulb. Sorry. I must of misunderstood.