leaves that don't open
 

I wonder if any of you has the same problem with Catts and Laelias: leaves that don't open...
I must open them with my fingers, but they don't stay flat anyway. I think light is good, since most of them are reddish...
It's really frustrating.

may be a little dry ? I know that my dens will do this when humidity is too low and they are a little too dry.....

Cattleyas do this when they don't get enough moisture. This could mean a) not enough humidity, b) not enough water or a damaged root system. Reddish leaves indicate that maybe you give too much sun.

reddish leaves may be typical; it depends on the genetic history of the plant

since the issue of root health was mentioned have you looked at the roots? That could be the issue, but if it is several plants and a long term issue I wouls say humidity or a little dry in general most likely. Red or purplish tints are usually a sign of light levels being close the max ....you could back off light a bit but if you are not getting any burn on leaves I wuold not myself.

I would try and raise humidity first but please tell us what condition your plants roots are in so we can rule that out or not

Hi, thanks for your kind replies.
My Catts are kept in a big orchidarium, under a 200 W MH light.
R.H. is usually 65-80%
They are mounted on cork slabs and their roots look fine.
I water them only by daily misting and i never soak them (I think it should be enough for orchids that live in a wardian case with high R. H..or not???)
Do you think I should mist them more often?

Thanks for the extra info very helpfull....how far from they from the light by the way I keep my catts unbder a 250 watt hps in the winter at about 32 inches above them and I get a nice tinge of red.This winter I am adding a 100 watt mh to this.

can you add a temperature mesurement to that ? this could be helpfull also ....

As for misting I would indeed try misting a little more if that is the only water they get Humidity while it does help is not the same as watering ....

If possible post a picture for us not just to help diagnose but LOl just to show off and make us all wish we had a set up like that too as well.

I would like to see how red your leaves are... it may be you are right at the edge of sunburn with 200 watts of mh and may need to raise the lights a bit

Hi monna lisa,
Again, I suggest that the reddish coloring in the leaves might be typical for your plants. For example, some varieties of Cattleya labiata (especially!) and Laelia purpurata are well-known to have red/purple coloring in the leaves. Both species are very popular components in the background of Catt hybrids.

Your light levels, as I understand them, are not sufficient to cause light damage.

it will depend on how much water they get when misted, but normally you would need to soak them at least once per week. If your plants are not opening the leave correctly it is obvious in this case that tehy do not get enough water... Furthermore, when you mist them, do you also add fertilizer?

as per the reddish leave... indeed some species and some hybrids will tend to have reddish leave (even at not very high light levels) and some will even need to get enough light to induce that coloration before they can bloom correctly... However, this is mor ethe exception than the rule, and if all your plants have this reddish color, then you should reduce the light a bit...

Mh lights tend to have what is called hot spots due to reflectors not distrubuting evenly sometimes ...and with 200 watts and a orchadarium it could well be the lights are too close I use a 250 watt hps and have to keep it 32 inches above the tops of leaves or I get very very redish purple leaves almost burnt in fact.You get lots of heat with mh and hps as well so I would not rule out too much light for sure.

A picture would be very helpfull on that issue if your not sure and would like advice from others.