[Rob Clack]

In January 2005 I was visiting Madeira with my wife, where we bought a Zygopedalum. Initially we kept it in the kitchen, but it clearly wasn't happy there, we thought because the light was too poor. So for the last couple of years it's lived in an upstairs room on a north-west facing windowsill.

As with all my other orchids, I usually give it a good drenching at the weekend, allowing the pot to drain after a few minutes. In really hot weather I'll do that mid-week, too. Mostly I'l use rain water, but sometimes tap, particularly for the upstairs plants. The mains water here is quite hard, but most orchids have seemed tolerant. (but see also below)

At irregular intervals I add liquid orchid feed to the water.

It did flower this spring, but rather feebly, with only 3 or 4 flowers on 2 spikes.

Now the leaves are dull and droopy, quite a few leaves have died and dropped off, and I think it's dying. I did try to upload a photo of it, taken when we first brought it home, but that doesn't seem to have worked.

One difference is that March we had a water softener fitted.

I hope I've given enough information that someone can identify what I'm doing wrong. As I type, I wonder it it's not the softened water.

Thanks
Rob Clack