Restrepia Brachypus unhappy in S/H - weak roots, black spots/stem

[tjolson81]

Hello,

I bought a restrepia a few months ago from a reputable dealer. It was packed poorly in moss and kind of sideways, so I decided to pull it out and replant it. Unfortunately as gentle as I was with it, the plant split into four pieces when it came out of the moss. There were almost zero roots, just a small ball where the leaves originated. That is where it separated. So I took the largest piece of the ball and replanted it in a small S/H pot. It has four leaves on it now, some have died, some have grown. But I cannot get it to look healthy. I had it fairly close to a east facing window that gets mild light, and also a well shaded south facing window. Neither worked. I have been watering it about every 5 days (I'm in Seattle), but the leaves always look dry, even when there is definitely water wicking up the S/H media. On top of all that I occasionally get black spots on the plant, but it comes and goes. Currently there aren't any spots, but that's not to say there won't be any in a week. Also the base of the stems all look a bit black, although the mounted ones are getting greener.
I have no idea what is going on here. I have been using 10-10-10 about every third watering. For the other pieces that fell off I mounted them to cork and they are doing decent, although the are only now developing about 2 cm of roots.
Did I just get a bad plant or am I doing something terrible wrong?
Thanks for any info, -Todd

[isurus79]

First off, we need pics!! Second, don't move or touch the plants if possible. If you are changing the environment at all, you will stress the plant. Pick a place for them to grow and leave them there. In addition to being stressed from getting new environments, if you jostle the plant while it is trying to put out new roots, the roots will often abort and the plant will die.

Honestly, having multiple growing conditions for each piece (1 in an east window, 1 in a south window, mounting one, etc.) is a great idea! If you lose 1 or even 3 pieces, its ok because you will have at least one successful piece. You will also have a better idea of what conditions work for this species and you now have a baseline of what other species you can grow under those same conditions.

[isurus79]

Oh, and welcome to Orchidboard!!

[tjolson81]

hopefully attached...

[isurus79]

Ok, the first pic should never dry completely out. If that spag gets crispy its too dry. The second pic looks like it is getting sunburned. And you are right about all of them looking dehydrated. Is there any way you can keep the humidity higher for these guys? Wet but not sopping is key.

[tjolson81]

Thanks for the info Steve. I think I need to put some more spag around the mounted ones. But the one in the pot has been really far away from windows for a while, and I've been misting it and keeping it's roots pretty moist. That's the one that really has me confused right now. Maybe I just need to spend a day on the couch watching the sun cross my room, it's possible that the one in the pot is getting sun that I'm not even aware of.
Thanks for taking a look!

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[keithrs]

In my experience with R. is that they like 'I' temp, high humidity, and like to almost dry out in between watering. I would not recommend mounting it at this point. I would put in in moss in a clay 2" pot. This will allow the moss to dry out evenly. Humidity and 'I' temps will be the key to bringing this one back.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I recommend buying another one. They are beyond hope.

I would just grow them in a pot with moss.

Allow to dry to dampness before watering again.

Do not use huge pots, they have relatively small root systems compared to something like Phals. A 2" pot will last a very long time (several years).

Intermediate temps (55 F - 85 F).

Moderate to high humidity (50% - 80%) is adequate.

Bright shade.

[DelawareJim]

I agree with Philip. The two I have, have been in moss in 2-1/4 in plastic pots for over a year. They struggled until I put them in a nursery flat with a high plastic humidity dome over top. Now they are evenly moist and growing like weeds.

Cheers.
Jim

[ginnibug]

Let me say this first,I have had two of these buggers and killed both of them,but I did have them for a good long while each time. I killed them by not keeping up on the watering. First I had to keep mine in the basement,under lights. It was more of a temp range that they liked there (50ish to 70 something-ish). They grew in S.Moss in a net pot that was sitting inside a large soup take-out container (this helped with humidity). I personally had to keep just alittle bit of water in the bottom of the pot or my leaves started looking dessicated. Mine bloomed their little heads off and I loved them but one misstep of attention for these guys and they crash and burn. I believe the optimum would be having them in a terrarium type environment like Jim has done. Oh and welcome to the forum Todd
Ginnibug