Question
I have a Wilsonara orchid that has one very huge dark green shoot.  But, it also has three pseudobulbs that are very withered & light green.  Is this normal for this type of orchid?  Also, it has two leaves that are very pale yellow.  I have the orchid placed in a lower light facing location in the greenhouse.  I have tried moving it to other light locations & it does not respond well.  The potting medium is a medium sized bark.  Should I be concerned about this?  Thank you.  Vickie Kidd

Answer
Vickie, since Wilsonara have fine (ie small diameter) roots, your potting mix may consist of particles that are too coarse.  Hopefully, it is a standard orchid potting mix and not just medium fir bark.  A standard orchid potting mix has perlite, perhaps charcoal and other ingredients designed to achieve a balance between moisture retention and air flow.  The usual time to repot is when new growth is just starting. Since the roots are fine, my preference is to avoid using too large of particle size when repotting. If your particle size is 1/2 inch or more you may want to mix in some seedling orchid potting mix and/or perlite until next year's repotting. Since your new grwoth is quite large, try not to disturb the root zone in adding the finer potting mix.  The larger potting mix particles probably let your roots dry out too much.  Another issue, if you haven't repotted this plant in the past year, the potting mix further down in the pot may be degraded permitting some root rot to occur limiting the availability of moisture to the pseudobulbs.  The good news is that you have a nice new growth showing that this plant has a great potential.