Brassavola nodosa- how to "treat" :)

[mrs.TF]

Hello,
I have 2 brassavolas..one is smaller (with only 5-6 leaves), the other one is huge and beautiful..
I recently repotted it, the vase wasn't appropriate, I was told in this forums that it's too high..
The photos below are before changing vases.
I know it is a stress for the plant when repotting, so I don't expect her to bloom soon..But I want to see and smell her madly (after almost 3 years)

What I do:

- shower in the sink for 1 minute every sunday, every other one I fertilize it..
-mist/vaporizer every day
-window is facing south-east, so it has plenty of light
-water is filtered, and not cold

I have cut a lot of dead roots when I did the change, but now I see fresh green roots all over the place, and small little leafs, so it seems she is fine..

How often does brassavola n. flower?
Is it ok with her if I put it out on the balcony under direct sun (balcony is south-east too)?

I would like very much to mount it, but I think it's a little bit too big..
If I decide to do it, I guess I need to partition it, right?
How do i do this operation? I am so scared of not killing it..

Am I on the right path here?

Thank you very much, any advice will count

TF

[Royal]

My guess is that it doesn't receive enough light. The balcony might help. These orchids get ample amounts of light in nature and withstand long periods of drought. Grow it in high light with plenty of water while growing leaves, but then reduce watering to almost none in the fall through the winter. This should do the trick.

[mrs.TF]

Thanks RoyalOrchids..The thing is that I was told on the other thread that leaves might have sunburn..
Here the pictures again..Or maybe is something else, I really don't know, but the plant seems healthy..I cut them, they didn't fell.

Thanks.

[isurus79]

Royal is right about the light. Your leaves should be getting enough light to be a reddish/purplish color. The sunburn in your second set of pics means that it got too much sun too quickly. You could probably place this guy in direct sun all day long at your latitude (mine is in direct sun for most of the day in Hawaii!) but it needs to be adapted to high sun levels slowly. Your plant is like a pale person that needs to slowly adapt to being at the beach after being indoors all winter. Another thing though, your plant has a lot of very short growth, almost like a compot or community pot (pot of seedlings all bunched together after they come out of flask). I dont know if you have short growths due to lack of light or if you purchased a compot without knowing it. My guess is that since your leaves tend to be larger around the outside, you have a compot. You might not have gotten blooms yet simply because your plant(s) is(are) not mature! Give it plenty of light this summer and you should be rewarded with blooms this fall or next year.

[SP2340]

Yeah, I give mine about 3-4 hours of direct sun from the afternoon to evening.

[mrs.TF]

The whole history:
The plant was given to me in 2003, much smaller, with less leaves (about 10-20), and it had blooms each january until jan.2007..
The place where is sitting now (by the south east window, more south than east) was always the same, the same window, and it has been blooming in that same place until 2 years ago..The place where we were living before was north oriented, so not too much light either..It bloomed..
Then in 2007 (after I saw it didn't bloom) I thought the reason it's too big for the pot.
I have cut it in 2, the other part's leaves are longer, but it didn't bloom either..
I know it is an easy to care plant and not pretentious at all, then I am thinking that I am doing something very wrong..
Should I cut it again in smaller parts? Take it outside every sunny day little by little?

Thank you.

[snow]

more light and easy on the fertilizer is my guess

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by mrs.TF

Should I cut it again in smaller parts?

No! If you must, just pot it up one size (ie. take it out of its pot and put in a large pot and fill in the gaps with new media) but if you have the room, dont cut. Cutting the plant will only put it back a bit in terms of blooming.

Originally Posted by mrs.TF

Take it outside every sunny day little by little?

Yes! Take it outside everyday, sunny or not. Put it under a tree to allow morning and/or afternoon sun to shine on it but make sure the tree block most of the light for midday. Slowly move the plant so that it gets more and more sun each week (or let the natural movement of the sun do it) and watch the color of the leaves. Red/purple is good, yellow and black is bad. Touch the leaves too. If they feel warm to the touch, your plant is getting too much light and might soon burn (it can happen really quickly). Good air movement around the plant can help prevent burns too. If your temps are warm enough at night, just leave it outside. This is one of the toughest orchids that people regularly grow and when I was in Panama I saw these things covering the trees in very bright conditions and getting sea spray from the ocean!! Just watch that your plant is getting enough water as you ramp up the light levels. They get thirstier as the temps/light increases.

[learning2letgo]

Hmm... I've never grown these before, but this thread is helping you while helping me, too! I'm desperately trying to expand into other species of orchids and this could very well be one for me!

Best wishes in your venture with your 'chid!

[Bird Song Farm]

So glad to find this thread. My B. nodosa is a non-bloomer too.

Al