Aerides help
I have an aerides lawrenciae that doesn't seem to be too thrilled with me. I got it from a previous owner about two months ago and had it in basket without any media. It is of flowering size, with evidence of an old spike, with an offshoot of growth at the bottom (I don't think it's a keiki...there are no roots from the offshoot, and it appears to be directly from the main plant). I watered it daily and sprayed the roots in the afternoon. It seemed to be drying up too much, so i added a little moss to the basket and left some of the air roots hanging. That was a mistake bc the plant started looking even worse. I checked the roots and some were brown and mushy from being in the damp moss. Yesterday I cut the bad roots and got rid of the moss...I soaked all roots for 20 minutes this morning and set the plant in one of my palm bushes on the balcony to get good air circulation (I'm guessing that the moss and lack of air circulation was to blame)...so should I give it a soak every morning? Should I put it in a basket with some bark? Is it all droopy because I am watering it TOO much? I thought maybe the plant was just adjusting to the climate here, but it was previously in Florida, so the weather wasn't drastically different. I live in St. Maarten and it's fairly humid here, but I know the roots dry so quickly without media. I apologize for the long orchid-rant, but this plant was on my orchid bucket-list (and still is, since I definitely won't check this sad plant off the list)...any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sara
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