Dealing with orchid heartbreak

[vegetalmatter]

Have to ramble a bit here, but how do you make yourself feel better when things just keep going wrong?!

I'm very new at growing and acquired almost all of my collection just this year. I like to believe that it's a beginner thing and that experienced growers learn to not be so emotional about downfalls the more they grow, but I just can't imagine not feeling so heartbroken over sick plants or blasted spikes

Long story short, today my bulbo meen garuda who has been growing her spike for weeks now, decided to suddenly turn soft and brown and will probably wither away by the morning. I almost cried. It seems to be the latest in my pattern of misfortunes in which a few of my other plants growing spikes and buds have partially or completely blast.

I try my best to make these situations into learning moments but most times I am just speculating and don't have a clear answer as to what really went wrong.

sigh

Hoping to turn this around into more productive talk

Here is what my spike looked like tonight after weeks of it looking very green and rigid



Here's the whole plant. It's a pretty small division of no more than 4 pseudobulbs



Here's the second spike it is currently growing.



Could it be that the plant is just so small and it made a spike that it didn't have the energy to support? Does that happen?

Nothing has really changed in growing conditions. It's growing indoors under lights. Day temps are 77-80, and 75 at night. Relative humidity around 50%. And from what I see, root growth has been good with many growing straight into the water reservoir. Peeking inside the sphagnum moss, the pseudobulbs also appear to be pretty plump and healthy.

A few days ago I made another post about my brassavola nodosa blasting its buds as well and speculated that it might've been a thrip problem. I've since then bought an insecticide containing spinosad (Bonide Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew) and have proactively treated this bulbo's spike as it was growing. Wondering if that had any part in this. I read in the Sue Bottom guide on Thrips that spinosad was safe to spray directly on buds and flowers.

Thanks for listening and hoping to get some insights

[SouthPark]

One way is to set the bar high for the level that meets 'heartbreak' level. Eg. when an orchid dies ----- that's heart-break level.

So events like buds falling off, or a spike becoming out of action ------ don't even worry about that kind of thing. The main thing is the orchid is ok, and will live to form spikes and buds again another day.

The fun and interesting part of orchid and plant growing etc will be to apply the information we've learned and gathered from orchid books (growing guides), forums, internet etc. And to find out what conditions can harm orchids ----- or cause certain set-backs (like spikes aborting etc).

Sometimes, it's hard to say what is the caues of a particular observation ------- and the answer could probably be found faster with lots of 'data' (as in monitoring systems of all sorts (and logging all that information into a computer). Eg..... temperature data (inside pot and outside pot) every 5 minutes, air-flow measurements - just to see if there is any air-flow at all (in any direction), light levels, humidity etc.

Plots of the data might allow some patterns to be seen ------ eg. abrupt changes in conditions, or anything that could raise chances of issues.

And then considerations should also be made about whether the orchid pot stays in one particular spot all the time - and never being moved, or re-located (at any time). And considerations about how long the orchid had been growing in a particular spot (since potting or re-potting).

Also considerations about fertiliser application and/or mag-cal applications. And even any other things that might give clues ---- eg. insect activity, snail activity, fungal activity etc.

Also - your orchid pot is a glass container with no drainage holes. Some orchids can adapt to conditions seen with that sort of set-up ..... as in roots can adapt.

But - maybe, before trying techniques like that ----- could possibly go for some classical method that has a high chance of working nicely, like potting the orchid in a regular opaque plastic pot, with lots of drainage holes underneath that allows water to flow out of it - even when the pot is sitting on a flat surface. And could use airy media (eg. a mix of coarse-enough bark and perlite).

On the other hand ----- if the orchid has been growing nicely for a relatively long time with that particular set-up, then it might be ok to leave as-is ..... and the usual thing will be to just keep a close eye on the orchid (which we will do anyway hehe).

One main rule-of-thumb to know is that orchid roots require enough oxygen to stay alive. And if the water in the pot for some reason doesn't move a great deal, and is relatively wet (and not moving much), then orchid roots --- or parts of orchid roots --- can become oxygen starved, and die, which could then lead to other issues.

The orchid still looks great right now ---- which is nice. And it is producing another spike ----- also good signs! But also keep in mind that some growers also mention that producing of spikes in some cases can mean that the orchid could be doing something like trying to reproduce before it becomes out of action (due to growing conditions not working nicely for its growing system).

It's great VM that you posted pics of your setup ----- as pics can often convey a heap of information.

In any case ------ looking forward to see this new spike keep going, and we see some nice flowers!!!

[Mr.Fakename]

A wise person once said, "We're not experts until we have killed our own weight of orchids".
Which means it's easier to be a Vanda expert than a Lepanthopsis expert I guess.

We have all lost various plants; sometimes because of personal mistakes, sometimes because the plant was bad, sometimes simply because life happens.

I was expecting a Phalaenopsis violacea indigo to bloom for the first time this summer. My conditions are nearly ideal for that plant, and it's growing it's 4th leaf this year, tons of roots... Aaand the spike aborted for a reason I do not understand.
But so be it, it is healthy so who cares.

It takes time to understand how orchids work and what they need. If you acquired most of your collection this year, it's realistically not enough time to familiarise yourself with all your plants.
Give them a good year to see their growth or rest patterns, how they react to changes of seasons, tweak your parameters etc.

The plants you've shown all seem perfectly fine, you're doing a great job. Even more so if you're a beginner!
Don't beat yourself too much; a happy orchid will eventually bloom, a dead one won't.

[Ray]

There are a great many things that may have led to the loss of the spike. In a more experienced grower’s hands, that might be obvious.

I think one of the most common beginner grower errors - and one that a huge majority of us have done - is to acquire a number of different plants and try to understand how they are doing by observing their reactions to your applied culture.

The problem is that the individual plants’ needs vary so much, that a change made might help one and hurt another.

If we were smart enough to stick with a single, or even a few plants of the same genus at first, we could gain a better understanding of exactly what they like and don’t like, then branch out to another type and learn about those, adjusting the parameters our reading describes to us.

In the 45+ years I’ve been growing (and killing) orchids, I truthfully cannot say I’ve met any that did it in the way I described above, but I’m quite sure they’d be identifiable by the single horn growing out of their foreheads.

[SouthPark]

VM ----- the orchid that you have got looks like a reasonably hardy type --- so that should be ok. What I typed in my previous post are rule-of-thumb only, and doesn't mean that you haven't read heaps of orchid growing books and other information already. You may have done a heap of reading already - which is great.

I forgot to mention that - a lot of mainstream orchids will grow just fine when given the 'usual' conditions expected for orchids to grow - tropical type that is. There will be those other kinds that require very special care ----- so some looking into the 'special' plant's details/requirements in advance will be beneficial, just to avoid issues with the new orchid. And then there are some orchids that are deciduous etc ------ so some heads-up about their particular behaviours is always nice ...... to avoid getting the wrong idea about them (when they drop their leaves naturally ...... but assuming they have disease or a problem etc).

Ray is right about reaction to applied media. It is often beneficial to look around at the most widely-used potting methods, and perhaps start from one of those ones ------ before branching off and trying/testing some method of potting that is not main-stream (less known) for orchids.

Also forgot to mention that is awesome that you post here and a member of this orchidboard! This is great, as we can all share our knowledge ----- and communicate in this way.

[estación seca]

I echo the above. Start with known easy-to-grow orchids for your particular growing conditions. Once you have some idea of how they grow you can branch out to ones not so perfectly adapted to your surroundings.

I have warm to hot conditions most of the year. There are a lot of cool-growing orchids considered easy, but I would not try them here. They are easy in the appropriate circumstances, not in my house.

My guess would be the spike aborted because of thrips or because of relatively low humidity. Some Bulbos are far more tolerant of lower humidity than others.

[Dollythehun]

I started with Phals. When I joined the OB in 2012, I was just branching out. Stuff happens. If I had a dollar for every spike I've broken, plant that's fallen off a shelf, I'd be rich. This spring I had the windows open, now I'm chasing flower thrips and scale. You'll learn that it's always something. Don't take it personally. I've been growing some kind of orchid for 20 years and after realizing perfection is unachievable, it's a very rewarding hobby.

I don't do well with bulbos but, your plant looks healthy!

[DirtyCoconuts]

There is a lot of great advice on this thread and I will only add one thing and that is that gardening in general is like warfare. Nature is savage and mean and that is not just animals. So don’t be too emotionally invested

[realoldbeachbum]

[QUOTE=vegetalmatter;935309]Have to ramble a bit here, but how do you make yourself feel better when things just keep going wrong?!

Hello vegetalmatter. Hang in there. I sincerely feel your pain.

I have been growing windowsill orchids for three years. Just this week I lost my first one, Miltoniopsis Bert Field 'Crimson Glow' and was heart broken. I bought it on a whim solely because of the crazy beautiful bloom -- that I had seen only in a picture! I NOW understand that it required conditions that I could not provide.

I now TRY to research growing conditions before making a purchase. (I say TRY!)

It is OK to grieve -- especially for us newbies.

[vegetalmatter]

Thank you all for the advice and recalibration on what orchid growing is all about. Feeling tons more optimistic and appropriately humbled. My less than one year of growing is not much compared to the experience and countless heart breaks I imagine most members on this forum have gone through. I just couldn't help but feel entitled to a flower or two, being cooped up inside all year long with a new found obsession. All will come in good time, both knowledge and flowers. Patience is not a virtue my age group is known for