Not totally enamoured with big blooms...

[Nemesisthewarlock]

Hi All!

Very new to orchids here, and have a question...

Everyone seems to be after the biggest blooms and as often as they can get them.

I want to grow my orchids 'hard', with little to no babying, and I'm not upset if I don't get blooms - to tell you the truth, I like the foliage and even just the root forms on my 2x phalaenopsis and 1x Vanilla planifolia...

Is this wrong? Should I grow them with more food?

I think it looks very Zen before the blooms come, and whilst the flowers are gorgeous, I won't be heartbroken if they don't flower, or have much smaller blooms as a consequence.

I seem to be going against the current, though, and don't quite know what to take on board. I know zilch.

My instinct is to use 1/16th strength or less fertilizer/trace elements on my mounted, (all 3), orchids each time, to mimic the very little nutrient they'd have from rainfalls 'in the wild' as it were, rather than bigger doses at lesser intervals. Is this a no-no for any reason?

I only recently acquired the phalaenopsis, however have been doing just this for more than 12 months with the vanilla, which is Happy as Larry, so far, though slower growing than if fed with more largesse. The Vanilla will be transferred to a terrarium to try and increase humidity, and we'll see what happens.

Seeing as the NoID supermarket phals are bred up a little more, am I just retarding the plants to their detriment?

The biggest, super perfect blooms always look a little fake to me, and I'd rather achieve a somewhat more natural effect - I don't want perfection, just a nice natural looking, healthy plant, and if it flowers, that's a bonus.

I hope that's not a wrong thing?

I do that with my cymbidiums in the shade house - just remembered I had them,
And I do almost nothing for them except repot every few years and occasional weak food - they're healthy with many flower spikes every year. To be honest, I don't really think of them as orchids - so easy to grow, here. Throw them in the garden under the shade and you're done except for summer watering with the rest. I sink the pots into the ground with the bromeliad pots...

Does any of that make sense? lol
Should I be more finicky with the phals?

[DirtyCoconuts]

Welcome aboard


Your instinct about frequent and very diluted feedings is correct as long as you have adequate drainage and air movement around the roots. It seems you are dealing with mounts so that is not a factor unless you keep them in plastic bags

The only factor you have not described is your light. Indoors or out? Artificial lights or window?

That has the most to do with the flowering aspect (if one element of four can be more important)

All orchids have to be babied in the sense that you have to care for them but once they are established and set up properly they can be very independent plants

[camille1585]

A lot of us on this forum also follow the weakly weekly mantra, choosing to fertilize more frequently with a low concentration of fertilizer, so don't worry about doing things wrong! Though what feeding at 1/16th strength is really depends on the concentration of the fertilizer in question....

As to big blooms, luckily the orchid alliance is huge, with so many species and hybrids to chose from, so everyone can find plants which suit their tastes. :-)

[WaterWitchin]

I "try" to fertilize weakly weekly. Doesn't happen often more than two consecutive weeks. Summer I don't fertilize at all, other than using the water from my koi and water plants pond. And have in some years maybe only fertilized a few times. Life gets in the way at times.

There are many ways to do this dance with orchids. Unless you get into some of the hard/tricky ones to satisfy, you'll likely not see much problem in that area.

And you have cymbidiums and didn't remember. For shame, for shame on you. Another of my favorite orchids. But I sure don't grow them for the foliage!

[rbarata]

Welcome!

...I'm not upset if I don't get blooms

I have the feeling this is a short living statement.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Welcome!



I have the feeling this is a short living statement.

HA!!! Right? The dude has cymbidiums that all spike.

[DirtyCoconuts]

i get the sentiment- the flowers are great but they are not the end of the show for me either.

Roots and leaves are great....ill confess i enjoy a nice stem too, both woody and deciduous

[Nemesisthewarlock]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

HA!!! Right? The dude has cymbidiums that all spike.

Hahalol... Some Cymbidiums are native to Australia, and they all grow like weeds here - a common garden plant, and hard as nails if given the right watering...
I could point to at least six neighbours on my street that have them, and none of them orchid fanciers as such - they're just too easy in most capital cities here.

Hence my forgetfulness... are they difficult elsewhere? I forgot to water a bunch of them one year, and although sad, they lived to fight another day quite easily...

[Bulbopedilum]

Welcome.

You could try growing native orchids if you want to absolutely not care for them, if you can find them. Just plop them outside and do nothing, the seasons will care for them.

The only thing I do to my orchids is water them and repot them, and since most of my orchids are mounted, I dont repot a lot. That also means I never fertilize. They grow fine, for me at least.

If you like foliage you could also try jewel orchids. Maybe check out this thread:
Favorite Orchid Foliage

And if you like roots you could grow ghost orchids (Chiloschista, Taeniophyllum, etc.)

It's not wrong to not have flowers as the main priority. I like the pseudobulbs of various deciduous bulbophyllums (check out Bulbophyllum polliculosum) and... tubers, especially nervilia tubers.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Nemesisthewarlock

Everyone seems to be after the biggest blooms and as often as they can get them.

Welcome N.T.W.

When you mention biggest blooms - does that mean biggest flower, or biggest array of flowers?

In the orchid communities around the world, there are various degrees of interest or likes for each person involved with orchids. Some people love them all - flowers, roots, stems, behaviour and all - regardless.

In Australia, and other parts of the world - there certainly are lots of good natural growing conditions for orchids in the wild. We have it good - sometimes spoiling us, in that we probably don't have to put in anywhere near as much effort - as maybe people having say snow climates - in keeping orchids healthy and growing nicely.

But that's a nice thing in many parts of Australia and some parts of the world. Very good orchid growing conditions.

I've never grown a Cymbidium before - ever. I recently bought my first phalaenopsis. Growing very well in scoria. A new little leaf is coming out from the top, where the previous big leaf is, which is fantastic.

I will definitely acquire a Cymbidium though sometime in the future.

My fertiliser plan is easy --- first day of each month (or there-abouts) - weak Yates liquid orchid fertiliser. Then at the middle of the month - weak cal-mag application.

I use fertiliser and cal-mag separately - at different times - to avoid some possibility that I heard about in the past - about calcium and magnesium precipitating out of solution (and becoming unavailable to the plant for absorbing into the roots).

I really love looking at orchid flowers very much, which - like a lot of people here - grow the orchids in order to see the flowers hahaha. But also - orchids come obviously with other very interesting features and behaviours etc. All part of the fantastic package and experience.