orchid losing leaves

[amb163]

Hi,
I'm kinda new to the whole orchid thing and my dendrobium orchid was doing really well... until I had to leave for Christmas and my friend plant sat for me. So now most of the leaves have turned brown and fallen off... what do i do?

[cb977]

Hi and

Are they the lower leaves only or all of them? A picture might help us to give you the correct answer.

If they are the bottom leaves, it may just be the natural process of things.

If you need help around the forums, let us know

[amb163]

All of them are falling off. From what i understand when i bought it in hawaii, it was just a seedling and as i was reading up on them, it seemed it wouldn't bloom for at least another two to three years. All but one leaf has fallen off and even that leaf doesn't look good at all. Here are three pictures that might help. Anything helps... i really don't want this one to die!!

Thanks,
amb

[CodiMN]

Hmm, do you know what kind of dendrobium it is? If I'm not mistaken, there are a few that shed leaves and some go dormant in the winter?
Looks like the medium is damp...if there's too much water, it can water-log the roots and cause some problems. What kind of growing conditions do you usually keep? (for example, how often does it normally get water or fertilizer, light and temperature conditions, etc)
Let's get down to finding out what's making your little baby 'chid upset!

[quiltergal]

Looks like it has been overwatered, and now has an advanced case of root rot. I'd repot immediately and in something other than sphagnum moss.

[Undergrounder]

Yeah do you know what kind of Dendrobium it is? Some species of Dendrobium react completely different to others.

As the others said, repot it into a medium that dries out much quicker. Most Dendrobiums like big, coarse, airy medium like coarse bark chips or something. They need the roots to dry out periodically. If they don't try out they'll develop rot, kill the roots, stop water getting to the leaves, the leaves drop one by one and die.

When you're repotting it, check the healthiness of the roots. Put up a pic of the roots if you can, they should be nice and white or at least plump and tan. Cut of any dead roots and repot it in a coarser mix.

[Neverend]

Yikes! It's going to rot! Keep it out of water now, follow undergrounder's advice on repotting.

[amb163]

I'm not sure what type of Dendrobium it is. I took it out of th the pot and I let the roots dry out. It wasn't in sphagnum, that was just on the top. It was in a gravelly type medium. I, however, planted it into a coarser material. also, the top of the cane is not soft and mushy. Here are some pictures of the roots. Anything helps!!

Thanks so much,
amb

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by amb163

I'm not sure what type of Dendrobium it is. I took it out of th the pot and I let the roots dry out. It wasn't in sphagnum, that was just on the top. It was in a gravelly type medium. I, however, planted it into a coarser material. also, the top of the cane is not soft and mushy. Here are some pictures of the roots. Anything helps!!

Thanks so much,
amb

The roots look pretty good actually, still not sure what type it is though..

Anyway the roots look fine so it can't be root rot, seedlings can just be finecky like that, not all of them survive. It might be that you have a more tropical dendrobium that requires good high humidity... again hard to tell without the species name.

Now that its just a bulb i guess all you can do is keep it in that coarse mix and wait for it to reshoot in the spring.

Can i ask where did the other leaves fall off from? were they all attached to that one bulb or were there other bulbs that died?

[amb163]

Well, there was another shoot that had begun to grow, it hadn't developed the pseudobulb yet. Unfortunately that whole thing was dead when i got it back from my friend. then the leaves dropped from this bulb. I hope it lives... i bought it in hawaii and i probably won't be back there for a while! Thanks so much for the help!
amb