Watering Angraecum/Encyclia Seedlings?

[ryfrazier]

I've got two little seedlings I purchased from Olympic Orchids: Angraecum eburneum & Encyclia alata.

My question is this: Do I water these (even though they're in 2" pots) as I would a larger plant (about weekly), or would they require slightly more water? Also: Do I fertilize my seedlings?

Thanks in advance, friends.

-Ry.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Depends on how big your seedlings are.

[ryfrazier]

I'd say they're both about 1" tall. The Encyclia's got two pretty long leaves - about 3-4" long.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Okay, at this stage both need quite a bit of water. They can't take long droughts like the adults can.

But it's also easy to over water them. Especially in those 2" pots.

You'll have an easier time with the Encyclia alata since it's considerably larger and may have started growing small pseudobulbs already.

If it's potted up in small wood chips, what you could do is put a thin layer of New Zealand sphagnum moss on top of it. With this you could water every two days.

The Angraecum is going to be harder. I highly recommend putting this one on a wood mount without moss. Then you can water every two days. Once this one gets about 2" or 2.5" they'll be easier to grow.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

In case you're wondering...

Enc alata is not a terribly large plant. It's more of a medium-small one. You should see this bloom about a couple years from now.

[ryfrazier]

I don't currently have anything that I'd mount to, so I'll be keeping that in mind & probably ordering something shortly. The Angcm's actually just about the same size as the E., though since the E. is gonna be a smaller plant, I figure it's safe to assume the Angcm.'s actually younger?

I put a small amount of sphagnum into the E. alata's pot just a moment ago, tucked it around the tiny little pseudobulbs. Gave both the Angcm. and E. a nice drink (watered just about everything today - they all seemed to need it at once!).

Both look much happier now. Thank you kindly. Any other useful tips for these seedlings?

-Ry.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Well, Angraecums are related to Vandas. Angraecums are slow growing. You could essentially be waiting around anwhere between 5 to 10 yrs before you'll see it bloom for the first time.

When you get a mount, buy a large one. I know it'll look ridiculous to have a tiny plant on such a large mount, but in the end you won't have to deal with wondering how to get the Angraecum off the mount to put it onto a larger one later. You can place the plant in the lower third of the mount.

When Encyclia alata is growing well, you should see the roots grow like crazy and crawl out of the pot at around the 8 month mark. These will start growing larger pseudobulbs with each new shoot. Don't expect the older stuff to fatten up into pseudobulbs, they won't.

As the Enc alata starts growing proper pseudobulbs, you can start cutting back on the watering.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

When things start to change down the line, feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[natasha]

angraecum seedling need 5-10years before blooming???

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by natasha

angraecum seedling need 5-10years before blooming???

It's not impossible.

I have a Vanda coerulea bought as a seedling that was about 2" or 2.5" tall. I've had this plant for about 2 years. It's done nothing but put out leaves and roots.

Vanda luzonica was also bought as a seedling at around 2" tall growing for roughly 2 years as well. I got greedy and set it back a bit with over exposure to the sun, but it's still alive and not quite flowering size.

I also had seedlings of Vanda jennae that were anywhere around 1/2" to 1" that didn't do much growing at all during the first year. Granted they didn't make it past the first year, they weren't close to being flowering sized plants.

I currently own a seedling of Aerides odorata from Vietnam. I got this about a year ago at 1" tall. Right now, due to it having a hard time adjusting, it hasn't grown at all. It's still alive, but it's just sitting there. It used to have three leaves, but now still has two left. Two healthy roots are left. I've just currently moved it outdoors with more light and removed the little bit of moss around the roots that I put to retain moisture (caused a bit of root problems).

Angraecums are no different. Especially, something as large as Angraecum eburneum. Cultural mistakes happen, and so do other unforseen problems. Then throw in the plant's natural growth rate, it's very possible for an Angraecum seedling to start blooming between 5 to 10 yrs.

I'll throw this bit of info in to take a look at plants from different alliances with similar time frames for blooming...

The owner's father from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate once told me how long it took him to see his Laelia superbiens bloom. It took him around 10 or 15 years. I didn't believe him at first. But now I do, because I also happened to have purchased a Laelia superbiens as a seedling that was about 2" tall, and this took 5 or 6 years just to get as large as it is now. The largest growth is about 4" to 5" tall, this is including the pseudobulb and the leaf. This is a gigantic plant when it is mature. Mature blooming sized plants are about a foot tall.

I've also grown a Maxillaria picta as a 1" or 1.5" seedling with about two or three small growths. I've got this plant for about 5 or 6 years as well. Hasn't bloomed yet. This is growing like a weed. It has been pushing out the large mature growths at around 3" to 4" about a year ago. Now there are anywhere between 7 to 10 pseudobulbs total.