brassavola in coir?

[greggnkay]

Mine are in wooden baskets with wine corks and a little sphag on top. Growing like weeds! Got this tip from a Senior Member here. Best Brassavola tip ever!

[Ross]

I realize you are getting lots of conflicting advice. I personally think the way you water and grow B. nodosa (and varieties) is up to your abilities, growing conditions, time you want to spend, etc. Mine (including Mickey Mouse that Dorothy noted) are all mounted and on sunny days go outside where they can sunbath under a slight screening (not direct sun). They all get daily soakings in fertilizer water. They all have exposed roots, many of which appear to have dried out. Yours looked typical and also blooming size, depending on the variety. Lots of the old dead-looking roots will surprize you with new roots springing out. Sometimes one side of the mount will respond but not the other. Next season it may be the reverse. I agree, though that mounting is the easiest way to grow these as long as you have the capabilities to soak them (even in a kitchen sink), then let them dry out overnight. If grown indoors under lower humidity (say 30-50%) then daily soaking is called for. They need to be dry by night fall however. And really bright light is called for. Don't worry if the leaves turn purple. They'll slowly go back to light green as they become accustomed to the higher light.

[missann]

THanks you guys, no one would help me on this other site. They just posted links and then yelled at me for not doing research, but I have 4 orchid books in my house that do not tell you how to grow these things, and lots of times info on the web is wrong, so if you can talk to someone who grows them well, they can tell you how they grow theirs. See-the link I got says to keep them moist-so I was thinking like phal moist, but all of you say to let them dry out between waterings.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

THis plant already has crappy roots, and I would hate to rot the rest of them.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by missann

THis plant already has crappy roots, and I would hate to rot the rest of them.

One of my points was that "crappy" is a relative thing. You understand root structure, right? The part you see isn't the actual root, it's called velamin and serves to grab water from frequent and short rainstorms in nature then slowly feed it to the roots (a fine strand inside the covering). So unless they are mushy, brown, dried out, etc. all are normal. As long as there is even one new root with a green tip, your plant is totally normal. I still vote for keeping it mounted. Just as a frame of reference, here is one of mine: The sphagnum gets real wet when I soak it in the early morning, then crispy dry by evening. Another thought: Why not soak it in KLN or Superthrive for a few minutes, once (don't get carried away and do this daily )

[quiltergal]

Glad you found OB! Ya know I think there are quite a few ways to grow these successfully. You just have to understand your conditions and your watering habits. I work full time so don't have the time to give my 50+ chids a daily morning soak. My B. nodosa is potted in CHC/charc/perlite. I do let it go pretty dry before watering again. I throw as much light at it as possible short of direct sunlight. My plant has 4 new growths this year and so far 2 have matured with sheaths. It also bloomed for me last year. The pot I'm using is clear plastic with slits on the sides and an inverted slotted cone in the bottom. This helps the pot drain quickly and dry out faster. If you have the time for mounts go for it! I think cork looks very nice as a mount.

[isurus79]

If you do decide to re-mount it (which I think you should!), definitely get a new mount of untreated wood. The old piece of wood that is in your pics looks like it is finished with some....finishing substance. Sorry, I have no idea what that stuff is called because Im no carpenter! lol Either get a peice of cork from a local plant store, find a piece of hardwood from your local forest or buy a untreated hardwood from you local harware store. Good luck!

[unhappykat]

Originally Posted by D&S Mabel

I have my B. Nodosa in a pot and it's never exactly excelled in growth or blooming. Healthy plant but I didn't buy it for the green growth. I think I'll try mounting it to a fir slab (as I don't have any cork handy)and see what I get.

Unhappycat, when you say "other semi pendulous species" perfer to be mounted, would that include hybrids like Brassocattleya or Brassolaelia?

Thanks

If the pod parent was Brassavola Nodosa, or it contains 25% or more of Brassavola in general, and the plant exhibits the long creeping rhizome which can very easily, and quickly, get out of control for pot culture, then yes I mean them. Some of the Bc's and Bl's can exhibit this, usually the Bc's because many cattleyas also have a very long rhizome, for these I would not mount unless they are really vigorous instead I would use wooden or wire baskets so they can hang with age but still have the media to hold water, unless you can water mounts everyday or so. Remember that some of the hybrids are very large so you will need an equally large mount.

[unhappykat]

Originally Posted by Ray

For one, I don't consider a B. nodosa to be pendulous. I have several mounted, and they tend to grow upward, like the one shown in this thread. Even the more pendulous species, like B. cucullata, when crossed with catts, tend to be upright.

In any case, B. nodosa, having thick, fleshy, terete leaves, can dry out between waterings with no issue, making it a great candidate for mounting.

Once they have reached the limits of their mounts they will sent out horizontal growth with aerial roots emerging at all points from the stem, which will bend under the added weight of new growth eventually resembling something like a weeping willow, except not as nice. Here are some links to a few pictures on the web, I dont have one of mine right now.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/4...f0ec94.jpg?v=0

http://merklesorchids.com/1Images/10...ola_nodosa.jpg

I will try to get a pic of either mine or a freind who has several of these. One of my freinds plants is six years old and growing only on a 3x5 piece of fern, it really shows the weeping habit. The pic links show plants that just begin to develop weeping growth but its not easy to find examples of this as many plants are broken, divided, or repotted before they show this wonderful habit.

[Ray]

I won't argue with you at all on the large, overgrown specimens! They grow in any direction that they can.

Of course, we must also realize that phals are somewhat pendulous in nature, but almost none of us grow them that way!

[unhappykat]

Originally Posted by Ray

I won't argue with you at all on the large, overgrown specimens! They grow in any direction that they can.

Of course, we must also realize that phals are somewhat pendulous in nature, but almost none of us grow them that way!

I think more of us should grow phals in a pendulous or near pendulous nature, it really helps with the crown rot. even just laying their pots on the side and allowing the leaves to hang out really helps. By the way B. nodosa and many of its hybrids become specimens very fast, which means lots of great flowers on a still somewhat compact plant in far less time than one would expect for an orchid. I would reccomend it for most beginners who are looking to experiment with mounts.