Roth questions

Slippertalk Orchid Forum

Help Support Slippertalk Orchid Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
J

jay

Guest
Ok, so I have a roth that is quite young. I know that they grow very slowly, but how slow? The actual plant is Roth 'Rex' x 'Borneo'.

This plant has one growth with about a 12 inch leaf span and one new growth that is just 2-3 inches. On the large growth, one of the leaves has a dark brown tip that seems to be dying. What should I do?

This plant is kept in 50% humidity, plenty of light, plenty of air movement.

In this picture, you can see the leaf in question. This particular plant belonged to someone who passed in January. The family tried to care for the plants but were over/underwatering, and watering at the wrong times causing problems with a lot of their orchids. You can also see the new growth which looks so much better than the old growth.

Any advice/tips. I grow S/H. I have heard of adding calcium, is that right?


Jay
 
:confused:It is an older, lower leaf, there might not be much you can do for it.:( Just be consistent with it, correcting what you know was not right. It wouldn't hurt to use epsom salts in rotation with your fertilizing program. If it was watered at the wrong time, it might not hurt to use a fungicide. This also seems to be a time of the year for spider mites.
 
If I am doing this S/H, at what strength should I flush with epsom salts? And I am sorry, but what are they used for exactly?

Jay
 
Jay, the epsom salts are magnesium sulfate and work better than water for flushing mineral or salt buildup from your S/H medium as well as providing necessary nutrients. I use about a teaspoon per gallon for flushing, and follow up with a couple of flushes of water before adding fertilizer. For Paphs in S/H I would recommend a fertilizer with plenty of calcium and magnesium. There are many formulations out there. Tap water has both but probably not enough for many Paphs to grow at their best (depending on your water source).
 
Ok, I went out and got some epsom salts and will give them a flush today. Is this flush good for all types of orchids or just paphs?

Jay
 
Also, does anyone have any ideas on the black leaf tip? Should I cut it off or let it be? Treat it?

Jay
 
Ok, I went out and got some epsom salts and will give them a flush today. Is this flush good for all types of orchids or just paphs?

Jay

I use it on all of mine - paphs, phrags, bulbos, catt alliance, intergeneric oncidiums,angraecum, neofinetia & sedira!
 
I wouldn't do any cutting or pulling on the leaf just yet. If the rest of the plant is in decent shape, that's probably just due to the bad watering it received before (or perhaps it's just that leaf's time to go). As soon as the rest of the plant has 'sucked' most of the green out of the browning leaf, then pull gently and see if it will come off. If not, wait longer - some nutrients are mobile and can be moved to the rest of the plant and will be 'recycled' if you leave the leaf there long enough for the plant to do it. The only time you should avoid this is if you know the die-back is from fungus, bacteria, or damage that might lead to diseases like that that could spread.
 
I agree with Miss Paphiopedilum. Some longtime roth growers have told me it is better to leave the lower leaves on while they turn dark brown until they comeoff with a gentle pull with the fingers. Again the exception would be leaf-tip die back, usually on upper leaves that is usually caused by excessive mineral buildup. These areas can be colonized by bacteria or fungi. When this happens, cut back into the green area with a sterilized cutting tool and treat the wound with something like physan 20. That usually does the trick for me.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top