Orchid issue
Hello! Not-my orchid is not doing well, what could that be in the centre? It’s not producing flowers nor leaves in that point. The plant is outside in the garden in a partly sunny / shadow position.. #HappyPlants #PlantAddict #OrchidLovers
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@EatMoreVeggies It looks like you’ve got some volunteers in the center. When seeds disperse on the wind they land in lots of places, and they look like something found it was a good spot to start growing.
It probably is. I think Nadia @DreamMachine was referring to the other growth in the center. The bulb looks quite old and/ or dehydrated. I find it hard to tell from this picture alone, but possible causes that come to my mind would range from the benign and normal to slightly concerning.
Basically age and soil quality/ root health. Is it really one plant? Because it's so huge. At some point, even healthy happy orchids will "drop" older, not quite as effective structures. In e.g. phals, they drop bottom leaves with sympodials they just don't invest a lot of upkeep into older pseudobulbs until they die. If the plant is stressed, this might be more pronounced (faster, more leaves/roots die). And if it really is all one plant and has been growing in several directions for a while, I would think the pseudobulbs in the center are the oldest part of the orchid?
As for the stress, given that it is growing outside and the box doesn't look like its's been repotted for a while now, there is a good chance that the roots or rhizome might be damaged in some way. Very old substrate might be too dense or acidic, fungi or critters might have settled in etc.. Or simply other plants like the one Nadia mentioned might have grown where they impact your orchid's root health. Some plants (e.g. ferns) can have surprisingly strong roots that might compete for space strangle the root system of your orchid.
So basically, like so very often with orchids, my advice would be to take a peek under the hood, if possible. and not to worry until you can see the state of the rhyzome and roots. It could simply be that a lot of roots have died at this point. (more than ususal, I mean. In any case, there probably aren't many left on the older PBs.)
If the rhizome is damaged in the mddle as well, that would explain the dry center perfectly. And even if it isn't, but there aren't sufficient roots on the newer PBs left to sustain the whole plant, the less efficient structures would be put on the back burner and might be the first to go.
However, this of course is 90% guesswork at this point. you didn't mention the species. my guess would be cymbidium? in which case I am even more in the dark since my experience is very limited with them. Only thing I could add in that case might be that the effect of the older medium might not have quite as much of an effect in the case of a terrestrial one. But since there could be still various other causes of damage, I would still check.
hope any of this helps and wasn't too chaotic. Good luck
Basically age and soil quality/ root health. Is it really one plant? Because it's so huge. At some point, even healthy happy orchids will "drop" older, not quite as effective structures. In e.g. phals, they drop bottom leaves with sympodials they just don't invest a lot of upkeep into older pseudobulbs until they die. If the plant is stressed, this might be more pronounced (faster, more leaves/roots die). And if it really is all one plant and has been growing in several directions for a while, I would think the pseudobulbs in the center are the oldest part of the orchid?
As for the stress, given that it is growing outside and the box doesn't look like its's been repotted for a while now, there is a good chance that the roots or rhizome might be damaged in some way. Very old substrate might be too dense or acidic, fungi or critters might have settled in etc.. Or simply other plants like the one Nadia mentioned might have grown where they impact your orchid's root health. Some plants (e.g. ferns) can have surprisingly strong roots that might compete for space strangle the root system of your orchid.
So basically, like so very often with orchids, my advice would be to take a peek under the hood, if possible. and not to worry until you can see the state of the rhyzome and roots. It could simply be that a lot of roots have died at this point. (more than ususal, I mean. In any case, there probably aren't many left on the older PBs.)
If the rhizome is damaged in the mddle as well, that would explain the dry center perfectly. And even if it isn't, but there aren't sufficient roots on the newer PBs left to sustain the whole plant, the less efficient structures would be put on the back burner and might be the first to go.
However, this of course is 90% guesswork at this point. you didn't mention the species. my guess would be cymbidium? in which case I am even more in the dark since my experience is very limited with them. Only thing I could add in that case might be that the effect of the older medium might not have quite as much of an effect in the case of a terrestrial one. But since there could be still various other causes of damage, I would still check.
hope any of this helps and wasn't too chaotic. Good luck
oh. I do remember, @MariansOasis has at least one cymbidium.(if yours even is one 😅 I'm sorry, I am not great at IDing anything that's not an absolutely in-your-face obvious oncidium, phal or catt). So maybe she has more genus specific insights that cover more than my more general broadly sympodial specific ideas.
Good luck
Good luck
Hi @EatMoreVeggies and thanks Susann @MusicalRedmint for the tag 🏷️. Lovely to see your reply! I have 1 cymbidium (good memory Susann 😊) so an expert I am not. That said it looks like a very old cymbidium that has no where left to go. They’re sympodial and grow from horizontal rhizomes. If it has reached its boundaries then it’ll just grow where it can, competing with itself for water and nutrients. It should have been split every few years. You should do that but wait until it’s done blooming. Use a sterilized sharp knife to cut it into pieces. Don’t know how big this gal is but you’ll probably get 3-4 pieces. And as Susann mentioned it’ll be the opportunity to examine her roots and cut out the dead parts. Also remove the “volunteers “ that @DreamMachine noted. They’ll only compete with the orchid. Here’s a great article on dividing cymbidiums. https://orchidwise.com/dividing/
@MariansOasis @MusicalRedmint thanks to both of you! Actually I know nothing of this orchid, since it’s not mine, but I’ll pass your infos and see.. 🍃
@DreamMachine 🧘🧘🏻♀️Yes, picked up on the vibes 🤭