Masdevallia infracta dropping leaves....please help
 

I've had my Masdevallia infracta for about 4 weeks now, and yesterday it started dropping its leaves. Since yesterday morning, it's dropped 6 leaves. I think it has about 4 leaves left now. The leaves it dropped were all healthy looking and green. They didn't have any discolored spots on them. Actually it kind of surprises me that its dropping leaves, up until yesterday it appeared to be perfectly healthy and happy with no signs of stress, but I guess that's how it goes.

I grow my plants on a windowsill with humidity trays. I just set up my thermometer this week, so I can only give you my max/min temps for the week. My max temp was 76 degrees and my min was 66 degrees. Its been dark and rainy the past three days, so I know my temp has gotten no where near 76 again. My humidity has been between 50-60%. I water the plant with distilled water when it starts to get a little dry to avoid keeping it soggy. Oh, and I mist all my plants every morning.

This species is supposed to be warm tolerant, but could it be that my conditions are just too warm for it? I really don't want to lose the plant, but at the rate its losing leaves, I'm worried I won't be able to figure out what the problem is before it's dead. :(

you didn't mention air circulation. I understand these are very sensitive to still air but the major effect would be black (? fungus) spots before leaf loss.
Nick

I think my air circulation is pretty good. Since I grow on a windowsill, nothing is enclosed. I don't have any fans on my grow area, but it is near an air vent and we keep our air on circulate and I live in an old house that has extremely drafty windows and doors. This particular plant was behind a couple of other plants and in a corner, so it is possible that it got stuck in a pocket that didn't have great circulation. I have been considering putting a small fan on it just in case. I did move the plant out of that corner and as far from the window as I could get it (just in case it was a sun issue).

I checked the leaves for black and brown spots and there weren't any. It did have some black spots on one leaf when it arrived, but it didn't seem to have developed any new ones since I've had it.

I don't know if this matters, but the leaves it dropped seemed to be older leaves. The newer ones are still hanging on...for the moment.

Did you repot when you brought it home? with that you would be able to pick up on hidden problems. Some of us repot either it be in or out of bloom with our new additions. They like low / med light 1000-1500 foot-candles and can withstand up to 2500 if located in a cool area in the winter months. Night temps of 55 to 60 F is ideal; day temperatures should be 65 to 75 F. Humidity is a factor with growing Masd. Roots do like to dry between waterings but if the potting medium has good drainage you can water more often.

I'll chime in with a different opinion based on my Masdies. I personally feel strongly, that while Masdies need moist roots, they are very sensitive to changes in the regimen that the original grower provided. I have moved a couple of mine from the wet sphagnum they were delivered in, to a fine bark-based Paph mix and kept them (what I thought was) wet. The new growths are pleating worse than anything I've seen on any other orchid. On the ones I got from Hawaii, grown in a bark-based mix, all of these are developing new growths (leaves) normally and do just fine with every-other-day watering. I have all mine in really cool temps and high air movement, so those two things are constants. The mix, though, seems to be a variable. I do know that most Pleuros are very sensitive to bad water, high minerals, high fertilizer, etc. When my Drac leaves were dropping (like 5-6 per day) I traced it to a daily weak fertilizer. Since I've moved to pure RO water for the Dracs, they've quit dropping leaves and are adding new ones. Hope some of this rambling makes sense and triggers a thought or two as to what you may be doing.

I think we sometimes give these too little light. I got 6 from a grower of some repute and they looked great. The moss was a little old so I repotted into chopped sphagnum, fern tree needles, and charcoal. The lost a few leaves but were languishing. I replaced the bulbs with T5s and got the light close to 2000 FC and they have perked up. They were always putting out new growths but lost a leaf for each new one. Now thing look stable. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Nick

I had not repotted the plant when I received it, and I was a little curious if there was a problem with the roots, but I was too nervous to yank it out of its pot while it was apparently in the process of spontaneous self-combustion. I probably should have checked the roots and repotted it when this first started, I mean what's the worst that could happen.....it could lose all its leaves and die. :roll: So, I checked the roots and repotted it today. The roots looked pretty good to me. There was a small clump of yucky black looking ones, which I removed, but the rest looked pretty healthy to me. It was potted in sphagnum, and the sphagnum looked really yucky, so it must have been in need of a change. I actually thought it was potted in some other kind of moss from the way it looked on the surface. Also, there was also a ton of moss packed in there. There is no way it was drying out as fast as I thought it was. My guess is that it was staying way too damp around the roots. I repotted in sphag. because that's what I had on hand for an emergency transplant, and because I know that if I plant it in bark I will let it get way too dry between waterings. I didn't put nearly as much moss in it though. I also moved the plant to a much shadier spot. I don't think sun was the problem because this started while it was really overcast and dark outside, but I had noticed since the sun was back out today that it looked like it was getting way too much sun. Hopefully this will save it. It's lost two more leaves since my original post, but the leaf loss seems to have slowed down a little bit. Of course, now its down to only 2 leaves and one developing leaf (the developing leaf was there when I received it).

If this doesn't help and it loses all it's leaves, can it still come back from that? I would hate to throw in the towel if it loses all its leaves, but there's still a chance that it could come back from the roots.

Ross, I only water with distilled water, and I've only fertilized it once because I read they are sensitive to fertilizer (read that after I fertilized it). The one time I fertilized, I used a weak solution mixed at 1/4 strength, but that was a couple of weeks ago so I don't think that had anything to do with it.

Thanks for all your help with this. Hopefully it will pull through. Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

I hate to say this but some Masdevallias commit suicide they for no apparent reason will drop all leaves... of all things as you are worried about it being to warm, some people find that they can not take cold as well as other orchids (not the cool that they want to be but COLD) I have a few friend that have had heating problems and had trays of masdevallias look perfectly fine then if you bump them all the leaves of every plant in the tray fall off, but the catts paphs etc around them were fine .....

Bryan

Have Masdevallia "Cheryl Shohan" w/tiny black spots
 

My Masdevallia "Cheryl Shohan" has started to develop tiny dark, blackish, perfectly round spots on its leaves. Looks like something might be boring thru the underside of the leaves, but haven't spotted anything. Used an insecticide w/neems oil on it and water it about twice a week. It is kept on antique pillow or shoe rack with other orchids in a west window in my home. Circulation is standard central heat/air. My home is about 80 years old and on pier and beam. Any advice? I recently moved this plant from my bathroom, where it sat in a northern window--moved it because the bathroom tends to be colder. Please help--I'm fairly new to growing different types of orchids other than phals, but have recently added oncidiums, cattleyas, a vanda, and dendrochilum. Thanks.
-Susan