Darkening Zygo spike

[TwoStems]

When I bought this it had two beautifully green spikes. Unfortunately I broke one while taking it out of the bag I was transporting it in The other one has recently started turning brownish. This thing sucks up water like there's no tomorrow, I have to drench it about 3x/wk for the psudobulb not to shrivel and even still it's a little wrinkly. I wonder if it should be in a different medium? This is the first Zygo I've ever had so I'm not sure whether or not this is normal. Maybe one of you experts can help
Thanks in advance!

[Dorsetman]

They do love water, but surprisingly don't seem to do well in S/H. I knew a grower who did very well with them , grew them into big specimens - ten leads all flowering, etc ... and he used a conventional bark mix, but stood the pots on capillary matting which was kept wet - so a lot more air around the roots than you would get in S/H, but nevertheless pretty wet.
If you can grow orchids in rock-wool cubes ( I can't...) you might try that as "compost" here.

[kiwiorchids]

I use Sphag for all mine and they do fine, but i suppose, each to their own. I would say it is blasting or terminating, which is usually brought on by rapid changes in temperature, humidity or even light i have found. My favorite Cymbidium did this exact thing when i brought inside to keep it out of reach of snails, and it went mushy after a while, and my Miltonia clowesii did the exact thing whne humidity levels dropped thanks to a passing weather system.

[TwoStems]

Hmm that's not promising It's currently in some kind of bark mix that it came from the grower in. The rest of the plant appears healthy. I don't think I've changed anything environmentally, though it has gotten a tad warmer as the weather warms up. I don't think I would put it in S/H, I may consider sphag with how much I currently water it. It now sits on a tray with pebbles and a bit of water and is also near a mini humidifier. Is there no hope for this spike? What exactly is blasting?
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[kiwiorchids]

Blasting is termination of the spike/flower buds. Simple really. Bark or sphag is fine for Zygos, i just use sphag because once when i was repotting, i ran put of bark and used sphag instead. Even though it may not feel as though there is a sharp temperature change, from the greenhouse to the office/home, temps can vary widely. I would say it may have been a change around a few degrees C, but that is all it takes.

[Dorsetman]

Yes I am sorry to say there is no hope for that spike - when it turns brown the cells are dead. It does happen from time to time, with any orchid , however good the culture seems to be ; its rather like people - you can find you offended someone, and have no idea what it was you said....something which got to them, maybe for a reason you could not possibly have known about so as to avoid , and it's like that with orchids too I guess - is not always possible to put the reason for failure. What you can say is that it is unlikely to recur, and sometimes after this sort of thing, the plant finds it has some surplus energy and will give you two growths instead of oine, or a specially good growth, or even put out another spike from the same bulb. Fingers crossed - just keep on giving the tlc and most likely it will come round.

[TwoStems]

Thanks for the kind words of support I will just continue caring for it, though I am going to have to exercise extra patience on this hehehe
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[Germinatorman]

Sometimes blasting causes another spike to come forward. At least a little hope for blossoms................

[TwoStems]

I'll keep my fingers crossed
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[Brutal_Dreamer]

I'll keep my fingers crossed
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ME too! I love these zygo blooms. Hope you get another spike soon, ALi.

Cheers,
BD