Some advanced tips for "newer" orchids
Since delivery services upped their game during covid, ordering orchids (or plants in general) had become very feasable on the island i am on. Before, they would visit once a week; now it is 3 to 4 days. So i went a little bit nuts and got some stuff i wanted without thinking about care and needs. Most are actually doing fine, producing roots, leafs, shoots and even flowers.
That said, i am not looking for a full on guide, just some tips that could change the conditions from fine to at least above average, such as a need for rest, dryer/wetter conditions ect. Some also have issues i have not found a solution to yet online.
I will be splitting them in two - potted and vivarium orchids (the later are all together, most mounted with a bit of moss to the wall).
Thank you in advance.
Potted
Vanilla planifora - got it around february, two pots with 5 plants total; unsure if they used to be two plants or not. Managed to kill one with humidity (no watering, just humidity). One was put outside (balcony - 3 open sides and a roof that stretches 30cm to 2 m further to the sides) and while slow it did produce a shoot. One two were left in a smaller pot with a small trelis; one has two new small shoots and the other one had produced only roots. The same is with the last two in the largest pot with a 2m bamboo v shaped ladder i made. One made only a bunch of roots and the bit at the bottom died off while the other had grew some 30 to 40 cm since february.
Bulbophyllum eberhardtii - Read it was reclassified, but irrelevant; just copying the tag it came with. Dated to 19.09.2022. but i have no idea if that's it's "birthday" or last repotting. Doing swell since i one upped the pot, tons of roots and shoots. Got it at the same time as vanilla.
Phal. samera var blue x sib - came looking sickly and greyihs, two of the four leafs fell out almost immediatly but it had a flower. Produced two tiny leafs since and two roots, with a third leaf emerging a couple of days ago. Should i treat is as 'normal' phals?
An odontoglossum hybrid with zygopetalum-esk flowers - had a slug problem upon arival; damaged growth resumed growing once i cleared them out. Produced an additional growth in the meantime and for a while they grew well (a narrow leafed plant, leafs far more numerous than say an oncidium). The older begun to wilt not long before the pseudobulb should of formed. The second produced one, but it is small and odd, with leafs already dropping. Three new shoots have emerged in the last month, but i'd prefer it not to repeat. One seemed to die from water, the other as if suffering a drought. It is planted in moss with a top layer of bark with plentiful healthy roots; it is a good producer.
Terrarium/vivarium
Temperature ranges from 20-22°c in the winter to 28-29°c in the summer.
There is a fake bottom for excess water and the wall is mostly covered in grout and coco fiber, with patches of moss. Most orchids are mounted in a small clump of moss, but some are in potted in a more container-like way.
There are mesh patches at the bottom and at the top, with 3 small fans effectively doing air exchange.
20 to 25 cm above the top soil level is a hidden container with water and a mister and so far it seems to be more than sufficient for keeping an african orchid and some ferns quenched. Some of the mist also flows into a squarish container filled with bark and moss (repurposed bearded dragon fake cave). All the mounted orchids are misted every 2-3 days, usually i wait until humidity drops to about 55% at least.
The vivarium itself is 80cmx80xm50cm(depth)
NOTE: All of these arrived and were potted 30th April/1st of May.
Bulb. zootropium atropurpurium - mounted sideways in moss, in what used to be the door to the fake cave. Has produced something, but no idea if it's a bud or a leaf, as well as one leaf that had already budded before arrival.
Platystele misasiana - mounted on the wall, a clump. There are obvious new leafs sporuting.
Nanodes aff. ivanportillae - I have no idea if it has moved or not. It doesn't seem to be dying? Planted in a hallowed out half-log filled with moss and bark and stems secured against the wall behind. I don't particulary water it as my hydrometar shows it is comfortably moist, 6-7 at all times, so i guess the "runoff" from spraying the walls is enough.
Restrepia purpurea 'Vino Tinto' - clustered plant growing upwards; in some moss squeezed between a branch and a wall. Watered entirely by mist. Has produced one healty looking flower about one month and one week after arriving, as well as two new leafs recently.
Restrepia trichoglossa - oh boy. They came as one bush, but when i unpotted it, it was like, 6 or 7 plants. The first one bloomed a few days less than a month since arrival, and most had produced at least one flower; two had bloomed twice, with one producing two flowers on the same leaf at once the second time. Most have either roots or leafs growing. Watered with spraying as they are mounted higher on the wall.
Tolumnia Jairak Firm 'Pink Lady' KS 782 - Planted in the half-log with nanodes, just to the front. Got it earlier than the rest, i belive in december for my birthday. Was in a pot till end of april and produced a new fan that put out a new leaf 2 days after entering the vivarium.
|