newbie adopts trash bound orchids - Orchid Board

Tima · #1 08-12-2009, 10:52 PM

Four months ago, my husband pulled 2 pots of crowded, squished together orchids out of a garage where they had been left to die. Fortunately, he saved the labels. Unfortunately, he didn't put them back with the plants he unpotted. I re-potted them in new orchid bark into 6 pots. They were mostly green when we got them although limp and stressed. They started growing again when separated. But now almost all are turning yellow. They are in a north window on the dining room table, sitting in a pan filled with large clay shards so they are never sitting in water. He sprays them with water almost every day and I drench them in the sink once every couple of weeks. My husband just told me he was putting the orchid fertilizer in the spray water. The leaves are uniformly yellow with some light dark stippling but nothing that looks like fungus or disease. I cut the worst ones off.
The i.d. tags are: Alcra. Pacific Nova 'Butter Buds'; Mtssa. Dark Star 'The Orchidworks'; and Bak. Truth Silver Chalice AM/AOS. Help!

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #2 08-12-2009, 11:00 PM

Ayah!!! Too much water!!!

No need spray everyday.

Water twice a week or three times a week at most during the warmer months. During the cooler months you can water once or twice a week.

Please post pics if you can.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #3 08-12-2009, 11:02 PM

Ayah!!! One more thing!

Where you growing?

Outside? Inside?

Temperature?

WhiteRabbit · #4 08-12-2009, 11:50 PM

or - conversely - maybe not enough water ? If only drenching every two weeks - depends how heavily they are being sprayed. A spritz on the foliage? Or spraying the media heavily?

Doc G · #5 08-13-2009, 12:29 AM

I can only speak to the Miltassia. I've had mine off to the side of a south facing window for a year. It usually gets about an hour of direct light and bright light the rest of the time. I usually water once a week,occasionally twice a week. Never misted, spritzed or sprayed.

Ray · #6 08-13-2009, 09:33 AM

All three fall into the category of Oncidiinae intergenerics, and generally prefer a steadily moist (not soppy), airy potting medium, and temperatures more on the intermediate side than warm.

I would recommend that you stop misting it, especially with fertilizer. Orchids don't take too much nutrition up through the leaves, so all you're doing is "salting" them.

Tima · #7 08-13-2009, 01:06 PM

So, to answer all the questions: my husband clarifies that he is misting only a couple of times a week, drenching the potting medium. When I water, I take them to the sink. Or water so it drains into the pan for humidity but without touching the pots. The window is actually more east than north. The temp is house temp. We are in Alaska so it is usually dry, in the winter we will be down to only a couple of days of light., they are not in direct light ever.
.
I tend toward the too much water theory only because the plants were mostly green when they were found.
To all of you with many plants, how do you manage the watering? Just haul them all to a sink and drench and drain?

I'm including 2 pics: One of our cats, Uther Pendragon, of the frozen ears, must be involved at all costs.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #8 08-13-2009, 03:10 PM

How big are the pots? My hunch is that they're over potted.

It doesn't matter if you're misting or using a faucet or whatever to wet the potting media. If the potting media is wet all the way through it's the equivalent of watering them.

Room temperature is not always the same everywhere btw (even during different seasons). It won't always be a drastic difference between houses from two different states or regions, but you might be surprised to know how warm or cold your house really is. You can't go by feeling, it's deceptive. Your senses can get accustomed to things over time. That's how living organisms can adapt. We have a certain range we can tolerate and once we get used to it, we function better in that particular environment we adapted to. What was once slightly uncomfortable is now comfortable. I suggest have a thermometer and barometer around, like I said, you might be surprised (or not) by what you find.

Anyways, enough of the science lesson...

They don't look too bad yet. So I think you caught the problem early enough.

Tima · #9 08-13-2009, 06:02 PM

We keep house temp around 65. The 2 big pots originally contained all of the plants and they were repotted with an inch or 2 around the roots..really not overpotted. So it sounds like we will try ceasing the misting except for what evaporates from the tray and cut back on the watering a bit.
One of the bigger plants is putting out aerial roots. What would that suggest?

johnblagg · #10 08-13-2009, 08:07 PM

having kept them alive four months and getting both new growth and areial roots says your doing great to me.Especially having rescued them from a garage left to die in alaska brrrr.