Angraecum alabaster leaf drop - I think something is wrong
 

Hello! I understand that leaf drop is normal, but my plant dropped three leaves today, and something doesn't seem right. The leaves didn't yellow first. Conditions:

- mounted, in a terrarium
- 2 small fans on all day
- humidity was at 70% before watering time then went to 85%
- misted daily with distilled water

It's been in there a few months and seemed fine. I have increased humidity a lot the past week because I'm trying to establish some new moss I bought, so I've been spraying the moss 3x a day (but not the orchids, although obviously some gets on them) and it's probably a few degrees cooler (68 or so).

Should I be worried and if so what steps should I take? Thanks!

I'm thinking it's too cool as I believe the parents are warm to hot growers and 68deg. may be the reason.

I thought that could be it. As it gets cooler here, this will be an issue with more of my plants. Can anyone recommend a waterproof terrarium heater? The ones I'm finding are heat mats made to attach to glass and my tank is acrylic. Also, I think those would be like the heat mat I have for plants and only warm that area, not the air. I have a ceramic bulb heater but that isn't waterproof and I bet would melt the acrylic without actually passing the heat into the tank if I had it outside.

---------- Post added at 07:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 PM ----------

Ok, I found this heat cable for lizard tanks. There are a couple brands out there and these are made to go in the substrate or wrap around decorations. Might try it out. This "little" project is getting more complicated and costlier by the minute!!

Robot Check

Already have a temp outlet controller, so would use that with it.

I am certain you have the wrong name for that plant. That is not an Angraecum. Angraecums look like Vandas.

It is mislabeled unfortunately as I can see it has a tag that says Angraceum. Vendors unfortunately make this mistake often. I’ve never seen a sympodial labeled as a monopodial though. That is quite the mislabeling.

What I can’t tell is if that is a bifoliate Cattleya or a Dendrobium from the picture. Since you are talking about leaf drop being normal, I’m going to assume it is a Dendrobium.

Either way, the bulbs/canes look wrinkled and since it’s been getting a lot of water, I would check the roots.

To be honest, it looks like an Australian Dendrobium which probably won’t do well in that moist of an environment.

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:37 PM ----------

Do you think you could post more photos from different angles? I really can’t tell what plant it is. The leaves look like Dendrobium leaves but the bulbs and growing pattern suggest it is a Cattleya.

Agreed. what you have there is a Latouria type Dendrobium, I don't know what would cause it to drop leaves, but the I would guess that it is staying a little too wet.

I was thinking it was one of those too. I’d really like to see the roots but either way it is likely staying too wet.

Thank you for the replies. Unfortunately, at this point, I'm not so sure it will make it... I've attached two pictures from today. I pulled it out of the tank to take a better look, and it looks kind of dead... Unless it is deciduous and losing it's leaves because it thinks it's winter??

Also, I am simply in shock that I plant I purchased at Lowe's was mislabeled:roll: It was one of the Better Gro orchids. I bought it a few months ago (the part I wrote about leaf drop was more about experience I have had with losing leaves on Dendrobiums I've had, not this specif plant - sorry for the confusion). At the store there were many good looking leaves, but the whole thing was wrapped in a white net. When I opened it at home, the canes already looked shriveled like that.

Anyway, Better Gro sells a Latouriate Dendrobium in these packets. Sounds like you think that is what it should have been labeled as. A lot of the canes already look lighter in color, but I'm hoping he hangs in there. Pulled him out before watering time today in the hopes reducing moisture will help help him come back to life. On the other hand, also worried about changing the conditions too rapidly.

I'm still just learning about orchids, and even though this one was $7, it is still making me sad.... So far my track record is mainly killing them, but really trying!!

My observation has been Latourias die more often from drying out than incorrect temperatures. When this happens they look exactly as yours does.

This group should not even approach dryness. One episode may lead to frightening leaf loss. If you use the Search feature above in the menu you will find plenty of people here on OB standing them in shallow dishes of water. They still need good root aeration.

Oh interesting, I will definitely be tweaking the conditions for mine now, it hasn't been doing so great lately and I have been letting it dry out a fair amount.

Yes, definitely frightening leaf loss! Thank you for the information. Do you think semi-hydro would be a good way to go for this type?