Orchids

Some of my babies...

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:07:40 GMT

This is my phal. called 'Wedding Promenade' - I thought I would share as I am so very proud.

new setup for my orchids

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:19:22 GMT

Trying the idea I had with the orchids. Thought I would share.

I haven't been getting along with my phalenopsis. The pots I had them in didn't allow enough circulation around the roots. I was afraid that if I put them in better ventilated pots that they would dry out too much since I am not good with keeping up with regular watering schedules (although I do well with most house plants).

I figured I would give them a close to nature solution :)

They are growing in baskets with no liners. I have them on a metal grid over my 75 gallon aquarium to raise humidity and have an airstone that makes little bubble burst against the bottoms of the baskets on occasion like the odd splash in nature. So far so good but it has only been a week. I will let you all know how it works out long term :)

Newby Needs Help

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:19:29 GMT

Hi All,
I'm a newby to this community and to being an orchid lover.

First problem.
My Significant Other got 4 orchids from his sister 3 or 4 years ago in the hope that one of his green thumbs would save them. She had them several years prior before giving them up. She originally got 2 big handfuls of bulbs from their grandmother's house after she died.
My SIL thinks that that their grandmother got these plants sometime around late '60's or the '70's.
1 died of neglect. Second died from being re-potted in soil and from too much attention. We were able to save the last 2 after learning what were were doing wrong to these plants in a book I got from the library.
I did figure out that they're Miltonians. But we don't know which ones. They've never bloomed. Not in the whole time my SIL had them. Not since we've had them. My Significant Other thinks that he remembers that they might be white in color. But his grandmothers yard was a veritable jungle, so he could be thinking of another plant.

Second problem.
I rescued a Golden Elf (cym) from the local garden center. I've given 2 kinds of orchid food. While I was watering it. Ants came out. I think that I got them before they could settle a nest.
The stem where the flower was is as dry as a stick. (That's why I wanted to rescue it.) And 3 or 4 of the roots that are out have a black and dry look to them.

The leaves are dropping off my (Odcdm) Pacific Dragon and I can't figure out why. The flowers are looking a bit droopy now also. I only water them every 10 days since that's what I've read is the best way of taking care of them.

Any suggestions?
Thank you for any help you can give.

Hello...

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:26:53 GMT

I have "rescued" these two orchids from my mother, who had been neglecting them for a while. They came from my grandmother's house when she passed away 2 years ago. Since then, my mother has had them. I never gave much attention to them until I noticed that my mother recently put them in regular potting soil! >.< ! Thankfully, she had done this for only a few days when I saw it. I immediately changed it and put them into smaller pots with fir bark and some moss on the top. I did not over-stuff them, just lightly placed it so the roots can get some air...

Well here is what I have now... Please let me know of any advice...

They are, not directly, in front of a window facing east. The humidity in my room during the day can get down to 40%, and at night can go up to 80%. One of them has badly deformed leaves which are majorly pleated(I am assuming due to underwatering and having very little good roots). The other has a leaf that is starting to yellow, which is worrying me. I do not know if it is because I had to cut back quite a bit of roots, if I am watering too much, if it has some sort of rot, or if it just needs fertilizer. I have not given either one of them any fertilizer, and they have not had any as far as I know. The yellowing is slow moving and certain leaves are having brown tips. None of the bulbs on either plants are squishy. They are quite firm.

Orchid number 1

Here is an overall view of the plant.

A close look at the roots. I was not sure if I should cut the two longer roots since they were not as bad as the other ones I had to get rid of.

One of the newest leaves forming with a brown tip.

A close up of the big leaf yellowing.

This is an even closer shot of the roots.

Orchid number 2

This is the deformed leaves.

The only pseudobulb on this guy

Some markings on the leaves, they were always there and have not gotten any larger. I live in LA, I heared chlorinated water can do this to leaves, so I am using distilled.

The roots of this one.

Thanks in advance.

is my orchid dead?

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:56:19 GMT

My young, little orchid is looking very sad. All the flowers have dropped away. The soil is moist, the leaves green. But all the remains is the stem.

I didn't want to kill my orchid. Sadly none of my fingers are green. :(

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:34:30 GMT

Please help me turn my disaster into a learning experience.

I repotted a newer orchid (phal) that it turns out was in pretty well decomposed moss. Obviously, it had root loss. I trimmed the roots (treated the remaining ends with cinnamon), dusted it with a bit of rooting hormone, and potted it in a commercial mix (coarse bark, charcoal, perlite) with a bit of moss. I put a gallon size bag over it to keep the humidity in (open at the bottom). By the time I got back from work that day, the stem was covered in a white fuzzy mold! Obviously, I lost the bag and tried to clean the plant. It seemed okay for a week, but tonight I got home from work to find both (green, healthy, firm) leaves dropped and the stem yellowed. So, that's a loss. Any advice about how to avoid this in the future?

Potting Mediums

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:08:35 GMT

What do you use for potting mediums, and why? I've recently started picking up more terrestrials--four cymbidiums, a spathoglottis and three bletias (chinese ground orchids--these grow in garden soil!). The basic mix I've been using is 2 parts peat moss, 1 part composted cow manure, 1 part cypress mulch or fir bark and 1 part perlite. None of my plants have died yet so it must be alright.

I have a couple of orchids I can't find much info on, and I'd like to repot them. They are:

Dendrochilum cobbianum
Maxillaria tenuiflora (coconut orchid)

Anyone growing these? The dendrochilum looks a lot like some encyclias I've seen. Any advice on which mediums these will like and any special considerations for repotting them?

Thanks!

Another Orchid Newbie

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:15:53 GMT

Hi all! I am new here. I grew up around houseplants and have many of my own these days. I am fairly new to orchids though, having picked up a few post-flower markdowns to begin with. I am hooked!

After killing the first few by soaking them since they were so dry when I got them I have done fairly well with the second round. Most of my orchids are Phalenopsis. but I do have two other types of which I am unsure.

Since the roots don't like to be wet but I often get busy and don't have time to water I have them currently planted in self watering african violet pots in orchid bark. They are doing okay and there is some growth but nothing great. I recently also picked up Orchid specific fertilizer but haven't used it yet. I would really like to commit more time to these guys and give them the conditions they need to flourish.

I had an idea today and luckily found this community to run them by some more experienced keepers :)

I know phalenopsis like moisure but also like good circulation and dislike being wet and they are often 'mounted' for growth and seem to enjoy it. It seems that many use wooden stake baskets as well. Would my phalenopsis do okay in some hanging baskets that I have made for coconut husk liners? These are wire. I could line them with coconut liners or possibly even use sheet moss to hold the growing medium. As far as humidity is concerned... I keep fish tanks and am considering adding a bubble strip to one of my tanks and suspending them above it. Any advice or corrections on my assumptions is welcome :) That's why I joined. Thanks in advance!

First post- sick orchid.

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:34:16 GMT

I'm pretty new to all aspects of horticulture, and an orchid that I received as a gift now appears to be failing. I've looked over the memories, but I'm still not sure what to do for it, or if I can even do anything at all.

It's a Phalaenopsis, according to the tag, and it flowered beautifully for about a month and a half before the buds started wilting and dropping off. The instructions on the tag said to cut the spikes down to the base after it was done flowering, but since I did that it seems to be having problems. First, one of the bottom leaves became yellow and dried out, so I worried that it wasn't getting enough light and moved it to a brighter spot (I live in a basement). Then in this new spot the second bottom leaf started turning yellow and the top leaves began to sag forward a bit, but they were still a nice medium green color. I then read that it's not good to have them too close to bright lamplight so I moved it again to keep it away from my bedside lamp. I noticed when I did this that the base of the leaves was starting to seem loose, wobbling a bit when I moved it. Then today one of the healthy-looking green leaves just plopped off and its base was black near the bottom where it connects to the plant.

Did I kill my orchid? I read in the memories that you should re-pot any orchid as soon as you get it, but I didn't know this at the time and it seemed fine. Although it did smell a little moldy right when I got it, that went away so I thought it was just the moss they had it in. I regret not looking up more about orchid care when I first got it, but hopefully I can still salvage the roots?

Some pictures, before and after:

When it was pretty and flowering:

What it looks like now :(

Excuse the lack of focus on the dropped leaf, but you get the idea. Black on the end. Does this mean it's moldy/diseased in the roots? It honestly makes me really sad to see this photo compared to the first, I don't know where I went wrong.

I'd appreciate any advice that anyone can give me. Mostly I'm just wondering if I should try to salvage it because I don't have any of the supplies and I wouldn't want to go out and buy them to have it die when I try re-potting it.

Thanks!

Back Bulb Propogation

Sun, 25 May 2008 13:06:59 GMT

Back bulbs. Wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Goes like this:

Um.

Okay, so I removed some backbulbs from an oncidium and a cymbidium a couple of months back. The cymbidium took off right away, and I'm seeing a shoot about 2.5" long growing on it now. The oncidiums are still firm and green but there is no activity. I may have damaged the eyes on them when I cut them off. Are they going to make it?

Also, is it a bad idea to remove backbulbs from established plants? If not, how should I go about it? I want to give a backbulb from a new heat-tolerant cymbidium hybrid I got recently with someone.

orchid ID help

Sat, 17 May 2008 04:26:49 GMT

I got this little guy without any identifying tags. Does anyone here happen to know of similar looking orchids? The grower listed on a sticker doesn't have a web site at all, so there's not really any way of looking through their stock to narrow its possible identity.

mystery orchid
Originally uploaded by jcipa

Obviously this is a Phalaenopsis or Doritaenopsis. I think it could be Phalaenopsis "Baldan's Kaleidoscope" but instead of a creamy to medium yellow background, it's decidedly white behind the reddish-purple veining. The color is closer to a Phalaenopsis "Hausermann's Candy" (a parent of Baldan's Kaleidoscope, I know), but the petals are smaller and sepals more pronounced on this one than the pictures I've seen. I know that it doesn't make a lick of difference in its culture, but I am curious about what exactly it may be.

Spot on leaf!

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:22:57 GMT

Hi guys,

So I ended up repotting. Thank you all for helping me out w/ that decision. Poor Phal barely had any roots left. (I had to repot it due to it being over watered at Lowe's to the point where the moss stunk of rot/musty.)

It's been on the shelf in a SW facing window in my office. It seems to be doing okay a week later, except - there is a spot on the leaf.

Top of the leaf

Underside of leaf

It had a spot when I got it but now it's grown. It's not so much a surface spot but kinda looks like the whole leaf has been worn away..like it's an indent. It's grown the 2 weeks I've had the plant too.

Any suggestions on what I can do or what it is? I tried finding pictures on the 'net but no luck finding something quite like this... but then again, I'm new and don't know what I"m looking for.

Sat, 10 May 2008 21:19:51 GMT

Just curious...does anyone have any scrap 80% shade cloth they'd like to sell to me?
The smallest/cheapest I can find is here, and even then that's wayyy too much for what I need.

Photos from Orchid Show

Mon, 05 May 2008 02:38:19 GMT

I went to the orchid show at the Penn State Ag Arena today and took a bunch of pictures. I'm going to try to put them behind a cut tag, hopefully it will work.

<lj-cut text="Pictures here">

Newbie question

Mon, 05 May 2008 02:18:05 GMT

Hi there! I'm new to the whole orchid thing. I got two today at Lowe's after reading a little online about which varieties were easiest for newbies. I got a moth orchid & a sherry baby (I really wanted one that smelled amazing). The sherry baby came in a plastic pot with a circle of holes on the bottom, but the moth orchid is in a ceramic pot with no holes.

I know you're not supposed to re-pot during blooming, but should I be concerned?? I've read so many different tidbits regarding re-potting after you get them from a box store like Lowe's that I don't know what to do.

They're so lovely and I'm so excited to have them in my home. :D

Wanted to share

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:51:56 GMT

Maxillaria picta

Paphiopedilum hirsutissimum

AOS for growing tips

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:08:57 GMT

I have been seeing a number of posts regarding books, but I wanted to mention the AOS site is a fantastic (free) resource.

http://www.aos.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Orchid_Information&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3690
is the top of the "How to grow Orchids" site

I wasn't really aware of it until my club linked to all the care sheets
http://www.aos.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Culture_Sheets&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=2&ContentID=3342

and I have to agree they are really solid.

This page will take you to a listing to help you find the name of your local orchid club:
http://www.aos.org/source/AffiliatedSocieties/Index.cfm?Section=Affiliated_Societies_

as some have Hawaiian names (for example the second closest to my home. And where they meet is closer than the member they list for contact)

and I have to say I like the links page for the group I just joined:
http://www.santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org/links.htm

I was really surprised at how friendly and fun my local group is. It's not all judges and professional growers. They have fantastic speakers, as well as amazing orchids at GREAT prices.

Newbie orchid question

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:12:35 GMT

Hello,
My mother in law bought me an orchid a few months ago and I am fairly clueless about what to do with it. At the moment it sits in a pot on stones with water in there. I did have it on my dining table but it promptly lost a flower and one of its leaves turned brown and dropped off. I moved it to a shelf where it seemed to recover slightly before its flowers turned green and yet another one dropped off!
Now I've put it in a position with more light and warmth as I live in a fairly draughty house, am I doing the right thing? My mother in law is great at keeping them and I've already asked her for help - all she could suggest was a lack of light.
Any ideas?

Intro to me!

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:24:38 GMT

I'm hoping I can learn a few things from other orchids growers. I came to be a fanatic after My boyfriend purchased one for me through a fundraiser. My Phalaenopsis just started the second spike since I've had it, the flowers are white with pick/purple tones in the collumn. My cattleya was an impulse buy. I was at Lowes and for the poor thing shriveled up on the ground mixed in with other planting supplies. Since I brought it home it has thrived! It is supposed to be a vibrant red color, but I'm not sure as to the age when i'll expect a spike from this plant. I'm currently looking to get an Oncidium, yellow preferrably, to add to my little indoor garden. I recently repotted them with an orchid mix. They are in smaller slotted plastic pots with the orchid mix and then rest in the larger pot surrounded by Diatomite. I've enjoyed this set up as the "rocks" provide perfect humidity for the plants.

I'd like to use some fertilizers but I'm nervous as to what is best. My friend's mother is an avid collector and swears by a mixture of water and egg whites to fertilize her plants. I can't seem to find back up for this anywhere online... any of you heard of this, or practice it? What do you recommend is best stuff to use? I'm still consider myself pretty new to orchid care and I want them to continue to thrive! Also, is Miracle Gro even good for orchids? I use it on the other house plants, but have not tried it for the Orchids.

Based on the image I posted behind the cut, how old to you think the Cattleya is? When should I expect to see a spike?

Thanks in advanced for any info you might have, I did go through your memories to find some of my questions ;-)

Heat-Tolerant Terrestrials

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:26:25 GMT

I live in Houston. During much of the summer here, temperatures hover in the upper 90s with humidity levels that border on tropical conditions. So does anyone here live in a similar climate and grow terrestrials? I've done some research on Everglades / New Horizon cymbidiums but I haven't had much success in locating plants. So any recommendations on finding terrestrials that will flower under such conditions?

Cymbidium Repotting 4-1-1

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:24:46 GMT

So I was at the grocery store last night and they were selling terra cotta pots. They had a few that were very deep and narrow--18" high by 9" across, I think. They're pretty rough but look like they'd be perfect for terrestrials that like to develop deep root systems.

So what sort of treatment will these pots need? Won't the roots of the plant 'stick' to the pot, requiring me to break it when I repot the plant? I'm probably not going to find a plastic pot that will fit inside it, although I could probably line the sides of the pot with plastic. What sort of medium do people use? Should I soak the pot in physan or something?

Terrestrials

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:26:13 GMT

Has anyone here had success in putting terrestrials right in the ground? I'm in zone 9b (Houston), and I have a fairly damp, area in my back yard that gets morning sun and plenty of shade from a large pecan tree. Gingers seem to like this spot quite a bit.

So I'm thinking of bletillas, and I just got a yellow spathoglottis that I'm considering this with as well. Any advice?

What about cymbidiums? Phiaus? My poor nun's cap isn't happy in an azalea pot!

Plant Trades?

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:58:13 GMT

So does anyone on this list do plant trades? I have a few dendrobiums that aren't looking all that happy and could use better care than I seem to be able to give. I'm interested in getting my hands on more terrestrial type orchids--cymbidium, spathoglottis, phaius, things like that.

Dendrobium Help

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:49:08 GMT

I have what appears to be a dead dendrobium, but the largest stem is still firm and has some green on it. Is there any way I can coax it back to life?