Masdevallia not growing well

[The Orchid Boy]

I have a Masdevallia Aquarius that I got from Michel's Orchids this spring at an orchid show. It doesn't seem to be doing too well but it is alive and it doesn't look bad. I have it a few inches under T8 lights and the temperature never goes above 76F and gets down to 70F or 65F. The humidity is around 50%. If I move it under my T5 lights the leaves don't last long but it blooms. It didn't look that great when I got it and maybe it has something wrong with it... It looks better now than it did. It won't bloom under the T8 lights and it is about 3-5 inches beneath them. What do you think about this orchid?

I would post pictures but I misplaced my $500 camera...

 

[bcostello]

check this out;



http://www.grandvalleyos.org/docs/GVOS09Oct.pdf

 

[goldenrose]

My gut says I don't think your night time temps are low enough and are you pushing too much light?

 

[NYEric]

Thanks. It's so cool to see other OS monthly publications.

 

[gotsomerice]

Most Masdevallias like night temperature in the low 50's. If you live in San Francisco. They grow like weeds!

 

[Rick]

And 50% humidity is too low. Especially if you are already too warm.

 

[Paph_LdyMacBeth]

I grow Masdies in our spare bedroom (turned orchid room ha ha) and I manage to do this quite well.
While I agree with others that ideally Masdies should have lower night temperatures, I've never had the room below 65!
As Rick said Humidity really is key! If you can even bump it up to 65% you'll be better for it -I usually keep mine at 75% in the winter, but they do better even higher (80-85) to be honest -especially in higher light. Obviously, you will need to consider air movement with increased humidity.

As far as light goes I don't see why the T8's won't work. Masdies require little light. Actually, mine grow and flower well sitting on the floor next to my grow rack (still T8's) at a position that barely registers 500fc. Is there a way you can play around with the height of your plants in relation to the T8's?

Also, I grow mine in sphag and styrofoam for moisture retention. I have found the quality of the moss makes a HUGE difference. I am currently happy with the moss from Lee Valley.

Hope that helps and you can play around with your culture a little!

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[Ozpaph]

Very helpful info - thank-you all.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I could place it almost any distance from the T8s. Right now I have it 3 inches away from the lights. My night temps are now around 67F. I could put it in a small cookie jar for a terrarium for humidity. When I got it, it didn't look to good. After a while I thought it had a disease but I guess not. I could move it to natural light where there would be 73F to 64F temps and 40% humidity.

I really like masdevallias. Are there any intermediate or warm growing ones or ones that can handle less humidity? At The Plant House, they grow beautiful masdevallias in 70F temps and low humidity.

 

[billc]

I think 3-4 in. is way too close. I keep mine @ 10 or so in. with T8's and they seem to do OK. I keep them in clay pots in CHC to cool the roots a bit thru evaporative cooling.

Bill

 

[Leo Schordje]

My growing area has no air conditioning. This summer was the warmest ever for night temperature. Many of my Masdevallia became toast. However there were a few surprises.

Species, Masd infracta came through with clean foliage, no browning, spots or die back. Outstanding heat tolerance.

Hybrids, my hybrids with infracta & floribunda came through without any damage at all. And surprisingly of 5 clones of Masdevallia Heathii (veitchiana x coccineae) all were side by side. Four became compost, one came through with only minor damage. Go figure. I think there is something special about the one, I am going to hang onto it and see how it performs in the future. Some other veitchii hybrids came through with little damage, which is odd, but veitchiana is know to be surprising in its heat tolerance, even though it is a very high elevation species.

So definitely look for Masdevallia hybrids with infracta, floribunda and veitchiana. And any mix of the 3 should be really good. They tolerate heat and tolerate cold. Well work tracking down.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

What should I do with M. Aquarius? Terrarium? Give to local vendor?

 

[Leo Schordje]

I think you should just keep the Aquarius, it is a widely available hybrid, so you don't have the 'last of its kind'. Put it in your normal windowsill, light garden conditions, in a spot with good light, and see if it recovers. It may, or it may not. If it dies, you've learned something in the process. If it recovers, you know it was the warm temperatures.

 

[Paph_LdyMacBeth]

I'm with Leo on this one. Use this masdie as an opportunity to experiment and learn.
In my experience its low humidity and poor air movement as opposed to heat that causes loss.
I've grown my masdies in 28+ degree weather in the summer with little drop at night -they pout, but if you keep em moist they manage.
If (and only if) your plant dies you'll be better for having tried a few things first!

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[Marc]

Only thing that I've been told about them is that they like soft water a lot.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I've been saving my rain water for this orchid. We really need some rain!

 

[Leo Schordje]

Only thing that I've been told about them is that they like soft water a lot.

I have often received this advice too, and a contrary piece of advice. The contrary advice was, leaf tip die back is usually caused by insufficient water. Keep the orchid wetter, and you will avoid leaf die back. So in a not rigorous enough manner for science I tested both recommendations. After about 10 years of fooling around trying rain water, RO and Deionized water, and then abandoning those for a more frequent watering schedule, my conclusion is that most often the issue is not enough water rather than mineral content of the water. The Masdevallia hybrid Aquarius is common, and noted for being reliable across most of the US. So it is not a salt sensitive hybrid.

Lack of water or lack of roots (from any of a dozen causes) is more likely the cause of the leaf tip die back. At least from my experience.

The harder your water, the wetter you should keep your orchids.

 

[Paphman910]

I agree with Leo's comments. One of my friends us to grow all his Masd in a greenhouse with the minimum temperature set to 40 F. He grew them in small clay pots with moss and treefern. He used a swamp cooler during the hot days to cool the greenhouse to about 70 F during the day. His greenhouse had a fan to circulate the air all the time.


Warm tolerant species to look for are Masdevallia infracta, Masdevallia floribunda, Masdevallia tovarensis and Masdevallia veitchiana.


Paphman910

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I put the masdevallia in a bag for a few weeks now I took it out. House temps are about 65F-69F nights and 69F-73F day with low humidity around 30%-40%. It looks fairly rough. Will it do well and recover in these conditions? My "orchid room" is about 50% humidity and goes from 70F-73F at night to around 85F during the day and my paphs grow like weeds. It looks barren with not as many leaves but most of them are green and there are new ones coming.

 

[Paph_LdyMacBeth]

Errr, the humidity is really low. Especially for a recovering plant, though I am happy to hear about the new leaves.
I grow my masdies with a humidity of no less then 60% (like that's on the 4th day after watering with no misting) and its still not ideal. Typically, I am for 80% in my masdie area.
Can you get a humidifier and set up a 3 walled tent?