Cymbidium #2 has yellowing leaves and black spots

[robb]

i bought this one at home depot for $5 (one of two) but it has some health issues! please see attached picture!

it has some blackened spots, some bent/creased and yellowing leaves. it does have a new shoot growing, but how well can it do?

i repotted this one several times, as each time the medium was retaining too much water. i hope i didn't hurt it too much. i trimmed roots of anything looking dead (not much, maybe 20 cuts, <1" ea.) and the dead leaves i trimmed back too. it had black spots when i got it, so no idea where it came from.

any suggestions please!

[kmarch]

When you repotted, did you give the plant a dip/soak in Physan? If you've cleaned the plant up and repotted, I'm not sure what more you can do except give the plant good culture and wait for it to recover. It looks dehydrated which could come from the root damage or from underwaterng. Cymbidiums are semi-terrestrials and so they like a moisture retentive mix. What kind of mix do you have it in?

[robb]

it's in a straight orchid mix i picked up at home depot. it has a bunch of bark, some coal? and some chunks of white pumice-like rock. i didn't soak it in anything but water, and that i only rinsed it over the whole pot and drained it for several days.

[kmarch]

Yup the standard bark usually contains bark, charcoal, and perelite. That mix seems dry to me for Cymbids. If I used that I'd have to water nearly every day in summer (very hot and dry here in summer) but your conditions may be more humid and wetter so it's hard to say anything about the watering. Does the Cymbidium ever dry completely out? Come close to beign dry?

[robb]

well, here is probably a lot like there (melbourne). so maybe i have too dry of a mix. when i do water them full on (not misting) the water goes straight thru the pot, i don't think much is absorbed at all. does it ever dry out? i think it is quite dry right now, judging by weight. perhaps i should increase the watering frequency? i was concerned they were getting too much water, and possibly rotting. i am picking up some of the TerraCycle today, maybe it will help.

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/protect/org...reaClimate.htm

might give some more details i am not providing. we are quite dry...