Question
Hi Jim,
I live near you, down in Santa Cruz, CA.  I recently received a beautiful zygopetalum orchid for my birthday about 2 weeks ago.  It has 3 bulbs with only one stem with 5 beautiful smelling flowers on it.  I noticed one leaf was already yellow when i got it, but that is not the problem.  The bulbs seem to be healthy and fine, however the flower stems are turning yellow one by one.  The whole stalk is still green, just the stems that the bottom three flowers are individually on are now yellow.  I'm worried the top two may be next!  

I keep it on a counter top about 3 feet from a big window which provides good indirect light and have only watered it once (yesterday) since i got it.  I allowed it to drain really nicely but i now see the flowers are drying up!?  I thought yellowing was from overwatering but the dry-ness makes me think i'm underwatering. I really LOVE this plant and want to save it!  

Is there anything i can do?  Should i be spraying the leaves or placing it on a bed of rocks with water as some people have told me humidity is good?  If all the flowers fall off, and i have to trim the whole stock : (  when will the plant re-bloom?

I hope you can help me with your expertise cause this plant is very sentimental to me!  amazing how attached i could get to a plant!

Please help with any advice you can offer...and any answers to the questions above would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much,
Sarah

Answer
Hi Sarah,

Yes, zygopetalum orchids are very fragrant and can fill several rooms with it.  The fragrance becomes more intense as the temperature rises above 60.  

If the yellowing of the flower stems is only on the lower part of the stem, it may only be the false leaf covering the stem and nothing to worry about.  But, if it is the stem itself, that would be highly unusual as flower stems normally turn yellow then brown from the top down.  If it is yellowing from the bottom up, that may indicate there may be a bacterial infection within the zygo.  Unfortunately, there is little you can do to save it if it is a bacterial infection without doing some major surgery on the zygo.  Let me know if you find that the stem is actually yellowing from the bottom up and I'll tell you how to perform the surgery.  

When you watered it, did you use lukewarm water or cold water right out of the tap?  Cold water can shock the plant.  I fill a container with water and leave it overnight by my indoor orchids then water in the morning.  

Zygos are basically outdoor plants and should be grown outdoors as much as possible.  Temperatures between 45 to 85 are no problem in Santa Cruz, lower or higher and it will need some overhead protection.  Also, you probably can grow it in full sunlight year round.  Humidity should be above 50% along with some light air movement.  Water when the potting mix becomes barely moist.  Feed it a balance type fertilizer recommended for orchids but at 1/2 the amount suggested on the container.  

Hope this has helped.  Good luck and good growing.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.