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URGENT orchid suddenly lost all leaves
paperpheasant
Posts: 16
Hi all, I'm so devastated!! all of a sudden my orchid lost all of its leaves, and it was the one orchid that I was thinking it was perfectly fine! I don't understand it, I didn't even touch it, the leaves seemed perfectly fine and healthy and just fell off!!!
is there anything that can be done?? the roots seem to be fine, but without the leaves I think it will not survive?
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Posts
Does it still have a flowering spike? It could send out keikis. I tend to see orchids do amazing things but for it to recover will take a long time. But its possible. Do you have many other orchids ?
Is it too wet.? I allow that sort to get pretty dry and then give them a soak. Let it drain Off so they do not stand in water.
yes, there seems to be like a little bud on the top, and I think the roots also look fine, so I'm not sure what might be the reason, I just sprinkled the wound where the leaves fell off with ground cinnamon, and I watered with some fertiliser,
I have 5 other orchids, they seem to be growing still with more or less luck but still surviving, however I have never encountered such a disaster!!!
No, I make sure not to over water them, I think I haven't watered it for more than a week now as I was away for the weekend - I always put them on the shower and make sure all the water drains before putting them back in the pot
I would hold back on the fertiliser and instead try applying some type of systemic disease control. Can you tell if the bud is a flower bud or a keiki ? How long have you had this plant ? if only a short time you never know what the shop/previous owner done the the plant previous to you getting it.
so I had it for about less than two months, it was fine, flowered in full for couple weeks... I think the roots look fairly decent? I think those are flower buds though
I haven't watered mine for a fortnight , house plants don't need too much water with low light levels at this time of year
What kind of fertilizer did you use? I never fertilize my moth orchids and they flower twice every year! Not as profuse as with fertilisation, though.
Orchids need a different type of fertilizer than normal house plants, with less than 20% nitrogen. A fertilizer such as 20-20-20 is perfect for them. They also need a different watering regime. Maybe yhis will help: http://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=72
that looks really wet, first thing you need to do is cut off the flower spike - you want it focusing on living not flowering.
let it dry out for a full week, then only water once a week, make sure its not sat in water as well. hopefully new leaves will appear in a month or so