New Orchids Temperature & Potting ?s

[aliceinwl]

I just got some new plants and I’m curious if anyone has input into temperature tolerance or lack there of and what minimum and maximum lighting tolerance would be. I’m also interested in substrate recommendations.

Enc. cochleata x Epi. MiVa Etoil: this is a plant I really wanted (purple octopi). Currently in coarse bark. I’m inclined to leave it as is or maybe repot into my Cattleya mix (it had a fair amount of substrate shake loose during shipping so I don’t think a repot would be at all traumatic). Does anyone know if temp and lighting requirements would tend to mirror Enc. cochleata?

Lc. Morning Glory (L. purpurata var carnea ‘Jumbo’ x B. nodosa ‘Susan Fuchs’: This one is in moss, but the roots look great. I’m think it would do better in a Cattleya type mix long term? Can it take some sun like L. pururata? Can it take low temperatures like L. pururata?

Neost. Lou Sneary ‘Blue Moon’ (Neof. falcata x Rhy. coelestis var coerulea): This one is in something that looks like decomposing pine needles. The roots look good, but I’m thinking it’s going to need to be repotted sooner rather than later. Any media recommendations? How cold can this one go? How does it compare to a Vanda in terms of light requirements? What kind of pots do these do best in?

Enc. radiata: Potted in moss, but is busting out of its pot with lots of new root growth. Any recommendations as to media and pot type? It’s looking like this one is not going to want to get below 50F? How much light does it need at a minimum? This one is a lot bigger than I was expecting it to be so I’m no longer sure where I should put it.

Unless recommendations are to the contrary, I’m thing of moving all but the Neo. to clay pots with a coarse Cattleya mix. I’ll wait for root growth on the Morning Glory to repot unless it starts to decline in moss.

The Neo. was a bit of an impulse buy. I have Renanthera doing well in coarse bark and a Vanda in granite stones and three barefoot Vandas and a bazillion Phalaenopsis. Are the needs of any of these similar to Neo.s?

Thanks!

[Ray]

Just a general comment to start- you are "dancing around it" a bit, but "the plant" alone does not determine what's the best medium. Select your media based upon the needs of the plant and how well your growing conditions and watering habits/capabilities work together to provide those requirements.

I have always grown encyclias and that warm and quite bright, typical of cattleyas. I never let them go below 50 F. "Lou" is treated like a vanda. I have one on my "epiphyte tree" grown in fill sun with no medium.

[Roberta]

With regard to temperature, I tend to be really cautious about putting new, small plants outside this time of year.. For instance, I'd treat Neost. Lou Sneary like a Neo (outside, no problem even down to frost) but a young plant from a nursery in a warmer area or where I'm pretty sure it has been greenhouse-grown, I would rather wait for spring. Then they have a full spring/summer/fall cycle to acclimate.

I have found E. radiata to be very cold-tolerant, and vigorous. Again, where was it in its former life? It is probably rooting activily, so should be quite repot-able. But if you repot, again maybe protect for the winter. I use medium bark, also have several pieces mounted. (A couple of those were from our September show... I needed something to use for mounting demonstrations, they were climbing out of the pot so I grabbed a couple of front leads... starting to establish, candidates for society auction in the spring if they still look good. Another I have had for years.) The Lc Morning Glory and the Ency x Epi should be very cold tolerant, but again would lean toward protecting from the winter unless they came from someplace where they were acclimated to cold. (A reason I love to shop at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate... they grow most things outside so they're already acclimated)

[aliceinwl]

I guess I should have lead with that I know it’s late and these guys are going to have to winter inside. They’re from Norman’s so I think they’re from California but I don’t think they’d be up to the cold by me. That’s my driving concern about light. I need to know which windowsills I can safely plop them on. Cattleya/Vanda windows or Phal/Paph windows (it sounds like the sunny windows are a go). I was thinking these guys would be babies but they’re good sized plants so it’s going to be a bit more tricky stashing them. It sounds like outside will work for everyone come spring. I had delusions of keeping some as house plants for a few years until they’re bigger, but they arrived bigger.

Lou is my first Neo. I don’t think there’s a one size fits all media or watering regime. I have a bunch of plants I water daily and a bunch I water weekly. I’ve got them in all different sized pots and substrates to keep them happy. I don’t have a greenhouse so it’s either inside or outside, but that still gives me quite a range of conditions I can provide.

Could the Lou take sun eventually like a Vanda? I have a Santa Barbara Fizz Vanda that gets several hours of morning sun outside. It’s in a granite chip substrate in a plastic pot inside another plastic pot and I water it daily. Would this work for the Neo? Alternatively, I have a Sedirea japonica in a Vanda basket in loosely packed sphagnum that’s really happy that I water when dry. Would this be better?

The Lou is dark green so any sun exposure would require gradual acclimation. Given it’s in a very water retentive substrate now, bare root or a switch to rock might be a shock? This is the only one of the gang that I think is in a substrate that will kill it in short order if I don’t make a change. But, it’s a good sized healthy well established plant so I’d hate to set it back by making too many changes too fast.

[Roberta]

Neos need less light than standard Vandas. (Calling it a "Vanda"... I hate that... loses the information that it has a cold-tolerant, lower light parent. ) I grow them in what I'd call "bright shade". I have found that loosely packed sphag in a basket gives the air and wet-dry cycle that works well for me. But that's with my watering. I have also used bark, but am getting away from it. Like a Vanda, I don't think it will be very picky about transition to new medium. Sounds like the Sedirea environment is a better match. Yeah, while Norman is in California, he grows nearly everything in greenhouses.

[aliceinwl]

Sounds like now I have to go to the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate’s fall open house next weekend to pick up a basket for the Neo

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

Sounds like now I have to go to the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate’s fall open house next weekend to pick up a basket for the Neo

And maybe a plant or two (or three or four)... Don't forget all those $7.50 specials.

[aliceinwl]

I’ve bought so many of those $7.50 specials that I put a list on my phone so that I don’t accidentally buy duplicates