Max. tenuifolia - in trouble?

[dipasquo]

I'm having some problems with a small Max. tenuifolia that I got a couple months ago. Two leaves died back and now one of the pseudobulbs is blackening - looks very ugly, I'm wondering if it's mold or something else and whether I should do some surgery to remove it before it spreads. So far the rest of the plant is holding up. Here's what it looks like now -- should I try to cut that PB out or leave it be?

[arleneg]

That pbulb doesn't look good. I suggest cutting if off then dusting the 'wound' with cinnamon or spraying with Physan 20 as a preventive measure. Personally, when I cut one of my Max. tenuifola pbulbs, I heated the blades on my shears which cauterized it. All done with one step.

[dipasquo]

I did in fact remove the sickly PB and I'm pleased to say that 10 months later this plant is still going. Whether or not it's going _strong_, exactly, might be debated. In the current photos you'll see that the plant has put out a couple new PBs and there are two new shoots starting. Questions:

Most of the PBs are quite - uh - shriveled - should I be watering more, or misting?

The plant is beginning to get rather tall. Should I keep letting it get taller and taller, or is there a safe way to remove and repot the upper PBs to get the plant growing out as well as up?

[Orchidflowerchild]

I like Max. tenuifolia mounted or put in a basket, as it has a growth habit that is less than conducive to pot culture. I found treefern slabs to be best.

-CJ

[snowballsarebad]

I have two max tenuifolias. When I first got the mother plant, the pseudobulbs were all soooo plump, not wrinkled at all. When I went on a 10-day vacation, they became all shriveled. Haven't recovered since, but it's got tons of roots growing everywhere, and tons on new pseudobulbs. It has upwards of 30 bulbs I would say. It's in a pot, and I water it twice a week, lettting it soak for about half an hour. Still won't plump back up though! On the other hand, I divided a section of about 6 pseudobulbs, and mounted it on wood, with sphag. This I drop in a bucket of water for a couple minutes every day. These bulbs have surprisingly plumped back up quite a bit. It might be because there are fewer bulbs, and it might be because it gets watered evryday.
I also haven't been using the humidifier, so that could be a factor too.

[dipasquo]

What medium are you using in the pot? Mine is in a medium bark but I am wondering if this is not ideal. Do these plants grow out on their own or do they only grow up - i.e. I doubt yours is a ladder 30 pbulbs tall - have you been removing the upper growth and repotting it down next to the original growth?

[snowballsarebad]

I have it potted in coconut coir and bark, pieces are about 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch. I think the coir really helps in retaining moisture, even though it is still a little dehydrated looking.
The whole plant is about a foot tall. Yes, they do grow upwards for the most part. But, I'm also getting a lot of growth from the bottom, so it is kind of growing outward, too. Let's see...on average, it looks like it is 5 pseudobulbs tall. I have not yet tried to shorten it, and I don't think I will, unless it gets a couple feet tall.
To keep it standing up, I have a ring stand around the upper part. Before, it had a terrible lean. It might be helpful to do the same thing, to keep it from growing in every which way.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I have been told they need a hair cut every so often, but yours looks like it could use a bit more grow before do give it a hair cut. I would say yours looks every bit as good as mine, or visa versa, I'm no expert on these.

[dipasquo]

Thanks for the replies. Since growth seems to be slow and steady I suppose I'll keep things as-is for now. Hopefully things will stay on track, and I'll post updated photos in a few months.

[dipasquo]

Thought I'd add an update to the story of this plant. Some good news and some bad news. Good news is that I've discovered that this plant likes to be in sphag more than it liked being in bark. I've potted this with a bark-spag-bark sandwich from bottom to top, with most of the roots being in the sphag, and the bark layers to provide some drainage so I didn't wind up with a big sopping mess. Now I've got some nice plump pseudobulbs, including the newest which came out about two weeks ago and is still getting bigger. Bad news is that the other half of the plant (three PBs) had gotten to the point where it was completely desiccated, had stopped growing, and began to look sick. I had to remove it. Picture attached will show what I've got, which is sadly something less than what I started with when I got this plant a year ago; but it's still alive, and I'm still learning I suppose.