Help save my Dendrobium (little green apples) - Orchid Board

Ridley Ann · #1 04-07-2019, 03:45 PM

I’ve had this plant a few months now and it was thriving when it had its flowers and now it’s just barely existing. I had it inside when it was blooming and then moved it outside after they had fallen off. It gets misted about 4-5 days a week and watered probably twice a week. The canes are turning yellow and are soft. I have since moved it so it is not getting so much sun but I’m not sure if that’s what it need. Any help would be extremely appreciated!

MrHappyRotter · #2 04-07-2019, 04:11 PM

These do like fairly even moisture, but without having been there and without lots of detail about care, culture, and conditions, it's hard to say how or why it declined so quickly.

You may want to repot it once it develops new shoots and when the roots start to emerge. Until then keep it in a slightly shaded, warm, and humid place. Although Dendrobiums from this section tend to like even moisture, if the roots are in poor shape, you may have to cut back on watering. Also, if you mist the leaves, I recommend not doing that. Maybe move it indoors and get a humidifier instead. If you had it outside and it declined, then perhaps it was too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet, too bright, too dark, etc.

Ridley Ann · #3 04-07-2019, 04:27 PM

Thank you for the info! I live in Florida and the temperature has been fluctuates lot lately so I think that had something to do with it. I’ve moved it inside mead a sunny window where I successfully keep other orchids. Can I ask why you recommend not misting the leaves??

aliceinwl · #4 04-07-2019, 10:07 PM

Misting the leaves is a good way to spread fungal infections around. If you ever see black spots on leaves, a lot of those are fungal. Hitting these with water spreads the spores and the spores often need to land on a wet leaf to successfully establish. Moisture sitting in leaf axils is also a good place for bacteria to establish.

I don’t have any experience with this species, but the substrate looks very chunky for a plant that likes to stay evenly moist. I’ve done repots out of season when I realize that a substrate is really not working for a plant. Get a second opinion, but sometimes if a plant’s on the way out anyway an out of season repotting into a better substrate can offer the best chance of survival.

You may also want to look at a root stimulant like Kelpmax. I’m trying it on some Cattleyas that I had to repot out of season and some rootless Paphiopedilum fans. The jury is still out on my plants, but a lot of people on here swear by it.

SaraJean · #5 04-08-2019, 07:55 AM

Not sure what part of Florida you are in but I’m in New Orleans so we might have similar climates and I grow primarily outdoors. I don’t grow the Den. Little Green Apples but I do have both of the species that are in the background. This hybrid is a Latouria type and is 75% Den. convolutum, 25% Den. alexandrae, and 100% a moisture lover. I wonder if it was just a case of dehydration. My first Latouria type hybrid developed similar symptoms to yours, leaves falling off rapidly and yellowing soft canes, when I was letting it dry out between waterings. At first I thought I was overwatering so I cut back my water further to every 3-4 days, which made the problem worse. Now, I let most of them just approach dryness in the winter months (kept at lows of 60F), and water daily, with frequent rains, once it starts to warm up (when nights over 65 F). I don’t recommend misting for these types, they want to be watered well and watered often, saturating all of the media. Misting isn’t going to do much of anything, let alone hydrate this guy. The bark yours is in looks pretty large and might be more suitable for an orchid that has thicker roots. I doubt it would be possible to over water in bark that size unless it is old and broken down media. Most of my Latourias are in small clay pots with a medium sized bark (I like to use the power sized orchiata bark as it holds up well in our heat with being constantly moist from frequent rains) with a bit of sponge rock mixed in to retain air pockets. Some are potted in clay pebbles that have a layer of live moss growing on the top. Those ones will get set in saucer of water in the summer and watered just as frequently as the others. That’s how much most of these species and hybrids like water. They still need an airy root zone, but that root zone can be evenly moist for most of the year. My Den. spectabile is the only one I treat different.

Keep an eye on the temps. I have moved all of Latouria types outside and they don’t mind the temps that are wildly swinging around but I do protect most of them from anything below 60F. They could probably handle it a little cooler but I don’t like to risk it.

Also watch out for spider mites this time of the year. If you are getting a few days or weeks with periods of low humidity like we do in my location, that is prime time for mites. The last time I got a bad spider mite infestation on my Den. Nora Takunaga (another Latouria hybrid) it ended up killing the plant. It was already weak from being dehydrated and the mites were the final nail in the coffin.

Good luck! Yours looks perfectly salvageable and these hybrids do tend to bounce back pretty quick once you identify and fix the problem. I would first check the roots to make sure you HAVE a root system to hydrate the plant and then go from there