Hello,

I am new to growing Zygopetalums. I have purchased two, one is doing great! The other - not so much. My Zygopetalum Jumpin Jack arrived to my home on October 2, 2020 in bud. This plant was placed on my kitchen table, I now realize erroneously - for display as I wanted to have it front and center as it opened. It has produced beautiful buds but within 2 days of arrival I began noticing some spotting on the leaves. After about a week, this stopped. I did spray it with some physan 20. I allowed the medium to mostly dry out (it appears to be a moss of sorts, it is growing algae on top and something else began to grow, which I had plucked out...) I just watered it about 2 days ago with a low dose of fertilizer as the medium had finally felt soft, very slightly moist and spongey. Since it had been 10 days since I received it, I felt it probably should be watered by now.

I have attempted to gently inspect the plant roots today, which by all accounts looks good to me. When I move the moss around, what I am able to see appears plump, white to green, and no appearance of rotting. My leaves look bad. The new growth in the largest bulb has even turned brown. This happened after I moved it to an east facing window with a small amount of direct sun in the morning, where my Oncidiums and oncidium-type plants have grown well for a couple days. I have now moved it to a different spot - still an east facing window with more dappled morning light, which I have successfully been able to grow 3 phaleanopsis plants for a couple years, as well as some paphs. I am concerned this may be more than a light issue but I need advice.

Of note, the current location is where my other Zygopetalum Louisendorf is growing and the leaves look wonderful, with not a single spot or discoloration. It also arrived to me on the same day, planted in the same medium, watered at the same time interval. If you wish, I will provide pictures of the other for reference.

I have considered repotting, as I am not entirely comfortable with using moss as a 100% medium, and to see what root issues may be underlying. I have spent hours and hours researching this subject and find that I am rather hesitant to repot, as the orchid is still actively blooming, it has tender roots, and I do not want to risk losing the plant if I do. I have ordered some clear pots for my other orchids as I prefer these, and they will be here before the end of the week. If you believe repotting is necessary, I would like to stick with 50% moss, with medium bark and perlite as I am more comfortable with this set up, and additionally with some natural dolomitic pelletized lyme as I have read this will help provide the alkaline environment that zygopetalum prefers. Regarding watering, I use distilled water as my city provides extremely hard water and I would like to avoid salt buildup, and I use fertilizer from repotme which is apparently formulated for tap, RO, and rain water and provides 13-3-15 NPK ratio.

Thank you for your assistance.

Knowing where this orchid is located would help, as climates differ and orchid care goes with it. In So. Cal., I can grow many outdoors year round, but some die no matter what I do... some thrive that others find difficult. Humidity, light, air movement, and water all matter.

Hi! Thank you so much. I get lost in what details are needed so thanks for asking. We live in Houston TX. My home has AC and we keep the house between 68 and 75. The humidity in the home is usually around 40-50%.

I believe that my hot and extremely humid climate is not ideal for zygopetalums outdoors.

Carol, I agree!
What makes this a bit tougher to answer for me would be the fact that your other Zygopetalum does fine under the same conditions.
I myself hate to see any Orchid potted up in Sphagnum, it is usually used by vendors to keep the Orchids hydrated when in transit. I find it very difficult to keep any Orchid potted up in that stuff, but that is me. If that were my Orchid, I would trim that compromised leaf and repot the plant in fresh bark-mix. Without Sphagnum! I would place it in decent light (without direct sun) and good air movement and water when needed. Other than that, I would enjoy the blooms and hope for the best that the new growth comes out clean.
I wouldn't overthink it?
Ursula in NJ

What concerns me most is this photo:

jmherbstritt said:

It looks like the new leaf has died. I don't grow Zygos, so I can't say for sure, but my guess would be that this bulb won't produce any new leaves now (when this occasionally happens with my Cyms - usually because something has gone wrong - that's it for that bulb; I have to wait for a new growth).

Joshua,

Yes, this is my concern as well! This is extremely disappointing, but not the end of the line I suppose. I am hopeful that if I can figure out what on earth is wrong, that maybe I will be able to save the plant and get new growths. I just don't want it to die. Hopefully I can make it for a couple days until the clear pots come - if it gets any worse, I guess I'll just repot in what I have available.

Jenna, I can certainly understand the disappointment. If it's any consolation, I killed a number of Cyms - all due to issues controlling moisture levels - when I first started out (and Cyms are typically hardier than Phals!). I don't think all hope is lost and there are a number of knowledgeable growers here.

The only other advice I can give right now is to avoid fertilising whilst trying to resolve problems with the plant and keep a close watch for any changes whilst waiting for the new pots and media.

The problem is that your sickly Zygopetalum was shipped damp or worse, moist. Sitting sealed in a package can be murder on a Zygo. But when it arrives in such a state or it is in trouble soon after arriving, we tend to panic. It is natural. We all do it!

Whatever it's issues are, fertilizer is never the answer! Zygopetalum are not easy plants to grow. They love moist conditions with high humidity levels. They also grow cool. Air conditioning might make us comfortable but this type of orchid may not care for it at all.
Zygopetalum like humidity in the 60-80% range. They can grow just fine in sphagnum moss but should be repotted every year to keep the moss fresh. The other alternative is a fine mix like seedling grade fir bark, charcoal and sponge rock.
These guys did not like growing in South Florida and I doubt that they will like Texas any better. In Texas they will be very hard to grow outside.

So right now, the best advice I can give you is not to panic. Let its health stabilize. Just grow it in a bright spot. NO sun for now. It needs to survive!! Worry about flowers later. When ANY ORCHID IS IN TROUBLE, remove the flowers. You do not want their energy directed towards pretty blooms. You need that energy to go internally to save itself!
Good luck!!

Thank you both so much! I am trying not to panic and do silly things, which is why I have done a watchful waiting kind of approach. I will hold off on fertilization. Going forward. I'm not planning to put it outside. I can place it in my bathroom, there are two large windows where I grow cattleya she dendrobiums, a vanda and a hibiscus plant. I will put it on a shelf away from the window but in good light. Or, alternatively, my entire north side of my house is essentially glass. There is a lot of natural light there without any sun. I could place it there.

Would you suggest if I wanted to repot that I do it now, or allow the orchid to stabilize first prior to messing with it? I try not to traumatize my plants, but I guess there are times it can't be helped.

If it were my plant, I would not repot it unless it meant life and death. If the largest bulb has turned brown, that is typically due to rot. In that case you do want to un-pot, remove bad tissue and treat fresh cuts with cinnamon.
Then after a few days, repot into new media. You select a pot according to the size of the living root system. Not too big nor too small where you need to cram it into a pot. Just the right size allowing for a little room.

I know that you said that you do not want to traumatize your plants but in this case, it arrived traumatized!!