Brassavola Nodosa shriveled leaves, over or underwatering?

[Jim S]

I lightly water each day, with a heavy soaking/fertilizer every once in a while. My Brassavola Nodosa Has been growing very fast and consistent, is sending out two new leaves. I've had the orchid for about one year.

I recently noticed leaf shriveling that you can see in the pics. Before I take it out of the pot to look at the roots, I thought I'd post here - maybe this type of shriveling is normal?

[Ray]

In my experience, shriveling is not normal.

The surface roots look pretty good, but if you've had it for a year - and I assume you may not know when it was last repotted - I would check the deeper roots, in case the medium is decomposing.

Generally, however, I think that a thorough watering should be done every time you water. Depending upon your growing conditions, that could be as much as a couple of time a week.

[Jim S]

Thanks. I've killed my share of plants over the years by over watering, the system I have now seems to work with others.

I think the over-sized pot is coming into play.

Cut off any damaged roots with a sterile scissor?

[SouthPark]

Also ----- could try feeling the weight of the pot after 15 minutes or so ------ or anytime you want --- after watering, just to see if it feels a bit light.

Bark that is quite dry, or bark that has fungal growth on the surface ------ repels water. So plants can die from dehydration if the bark isn't wetted adequately. In this case ----- might not be due to dry bark ----- as you had been growing the orchid successfully for a year.

Ray could be onto something too ---- eg. decomposing media. What sort of media is in there?

Also - maybe as usual - monitor the humidity and temperature etc.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

And no on the roots. Unless there is obvious rot, leave the roots alone.

[Roberta]

If you can manage more frequent watering, B. nodosa really grows better mounted, or in a basket with very large bark. It needs air around the roots, and a pronounced wet-dry cycle. Mine is in a plastic basket, I suspect that there is little medium left since it has been there for quite a few years, with roots all over the place mostly on the outside of the basket. It gets daily watering - outside in summer, in the greenhouse in winter. You don't indicate where you live or where you grow the plant... that would be very helpful so that the advice could be better tailored to your conditions.

I totally agree with ES... don't cut anything unless there is a very good reason. If there are bad roots in the pot, just getting them out of bad medium and rinsing them off will take care of any rot problems.

[Jim S]

The media is medium/small orchid bark with charcoal, small sponge rock and a bit of crushed up sphagnum from the bottom of a bag. Repotted from a little 2-inch pot about6-8 months ago. I realize that the media is not ideal, but it's what I had on hand so I used it. The plant was in poor condition when I received it, has been a very, very fast grower for about a year.

[Roberta]

If the plant is growing, it's fine. It may just need a bit more frequent watering in hot weather. Mine started out as a weak little plant with three growths, and this is what it has become... they're tough and can grow fast when they are getting what they need.
(This is in a 6 inch basket, pretty much filled with roots... buds all over the place)

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

The plant and the surface roots look good, as others have noticed. I suspect the rest is fine too.

You can grow this plant in a clay pot that just fits the root ball, with no medium. You could water it daily like this and not worry about it.