shriviling stems,yellowing then browning then dying leaves

[lydia]

My dendr came from Home Depot. It was so Beautiful when I picked it out Then about a month later I discovered the horrible mites. Well those are gone b-cuz of transplanting to new pot w/new bark and treatment w/insecticidal soap. Now it's sick with something else. The stems start to shrivle and dry up while the leaves get yellow then brown spots and fall off.
Other parts of the plant are doing great...it just got thru flowering too. I just tried some systemic treatment that I got for my roses. I figured either I'm gonna kill it,do something or nothing at all. Can anyone tell me what's going on?? I love the plant beause of when it flowers it just is beautiful but can this be treated?

[lydia]

Here are som pics

[Orchid_lady]

The yellowing of the leave was probably from the stress that you cause by repoting. I saw the second pic and I couldn't help to notice that the pot is kind of large. Since dens like to be pot bound. If you did re poted into a bigger pot when it was not nessecerily, it would be a good idea to put it back into its old pot since, you said that you bought it when it was in bloom. It is better to re pot them when they are finished blooming.

[lydia]

I transplanted it bcuz of the mites, I was told they are in the potting media as well as on the plant. Sooo when I put it back in the original pot how do I sterilize the pot to be sure I dont get the mites back?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I am not worrying about the leaves, as Dens usually only keep leaves for a year or 2 or 3, depending on the parents. So the leaf loss could be senescense, and the leaf looks like it. Hopefully the newest leaves are OK. The shrivaling bulbs are another thing These plants should only be repotted when they are about to produce a flush of new roots from a new growth. Your transplanting may have killed most or all of the roots. So, until new roots come along, you need to raise the local humidity to keep the plant from desicating further. Forget the humidity trays, they do very little. Find a large baggy (from cleaner?) to put over the plant loosely, as you do want the plant to have cycles of near drying at the roots to avoid root rot, just in case there might be a few left. Keep it in good light, but not direct, as the plant can not take in water to cool its leaves thru transpiration. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[viper]

give it some seasole if u live in australia. it promotes exelent groth, gives great flowers and it fixes the stress problem to.