Help w/ new Max. tenuifolia

[cschmidt305]

I'm new to the board, and newish to orchids. I recently got a Max. tenuifolia from a guy at out local orchid group. He gave me a piece of his well established plant (bout 6 weeks ago). i think he said it was from back bulbs? it had the leaves but no/very little roots. he put it in a plastic pot with spag. he said to let the spag dry out completely then water again to encourage root growth. it just doesn't seem to be doing great. the leaves are still nice and green. but the bulbs? seem to be kinda wrinkled (looking at pics on here they don't look like they should be). I am too worried about damaging it to take it out and check to see if any roots have grown. it has been in my bathroom on a ledge below a good sized south facing window.

should i risk pulling it to see if it is growing? change medium? water different? any suggestions would be great.

thanks.

[kiki-do]

Hi and welcome! I have a couple of different Maxillarias, but I have the tenuifolia. I keep mine in sphag moss, and I have all of mine in either slotted plastic pots or open wooden hanging boxes (for good air flow). They like to be moist all the time, and love good air flow, and like cool night temps if possible (55 to 65F). Medium to bright light. One thing about them, they really resent being repotted.
I wouldn't let it dry out much, but don't have it soaking wet either. Just keep it on the damp side in moss and make sure there's lots of air flow. It may take a while and if you didn't have many roots, it will be even slower getting going, but once it's done it's hissy fit from being disturbed, you will have a nice orchid there. I hope!
Another thing, this is not their active time (I don't believe-not for me here anyway) so that will slow it up a bit, too.

[stitz]

cschmidt305,
Welcome!

I noted the US flag -- are you located in Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Montana? That info might help us help you!

Good Luck!

--Stitz--

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You don't have to be too concerned unless those back bulbs don't have ANY new lead growths.

I have a Max. tenuifolia that lost most of it's roots, and has been rootless for almost over a year. It started growing new ones recently. New growths are more likely to put out new roots than the older growths.

Cultural requirements are as said by Kiki. The only thing I'd throw in is that I use 2 parts perlite and 1 part Supersphag instead of the New Zealand sphag. This combo provides great water retention and aeration, while making replacing old media hassle free. There is no root disturbance whatsoever with this media because it's loose.

They don't flower quite so easily, so take care not to damage the roots.

When they flower, the flowers smell strongly of coconut milk.