I am starting to give up on orchids

[orkie]

King, I'm curious about what you think I may be doing that allows me to ignore humidity concerns for the most part? Just to give you more info, I have a max-min thermometer/hygrometer right in with my plants. For awhile I was looking at the humidty all the time and so know how much it can vary, but let's say on average it's about 30-45%. All my Vandas and one Phal are bareroot in baskets, and I have several stick mounted plants. I water these every 2 days or so by soaking for 10-30 minutes. What do you think?

And Aries, to anwer your question, I have used cocohusk from the pet store, I've soaked it for a day in a bucket first and rinsed it very well afterwards.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by orkie

I water these every 2 days or so by soaking for 10-30 minutes.

This is what I think your answer is.

[Pilot]

I have to make a comment on the humidity issue--

I live in Colorado-- 6500 feet in elevation-- and here we can see humidity for days in the single digits. But this humidity we all talk about is call relative humidity and is directly dependent on temperature. Thus, huge variances occur.

Here's a quick lesson...

Say the temp is 50F. The dew point is 40F. Dew point is the water-holding potential of the air. As the dew point rises towards 50F or, the ambient temp lowers to 40F, the spread decreases and the "feel" of the air becomes more and more humid. When the two meet, fog, rain, snow etc.

Today in Denver, Colorado, it is currently 90F and the dew point is 37F. This means our temp would have to drop to 37F in order for humidity to be 100%. And though this is possible for Colorado, it is unlikely as we have a high pressure system in place. However, because the temp-dew point spread is 53 degrees, our current humidity is at 16%. Nose-bleeds are possible for those not accustomed to Colorado in this weather! Does this mean our air is made of 16% water? No. It just means that between no water and 100% water (fog etc), our air is only capable of holding 16%. It could in fact be dryer than that, because the temp allows for up to 16%.

Relative humidity become important to orchids in terms of drying. A higher RH means the air is near its max holding capacity-- so the plant will dry more slowly. If the RH is very low, there is loads of room for the water and roots to dry up because the capacity is not met.

This is why weather is never exacting and why any weather event is referred to as an phenomenon-- because at the end of the day, its mostly a guess and we don't know why Nature does what she does.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by aries23

" I am very excited!!! for the first time in one year I have seen root nubs on my Dens I have sort of mounted outside hanging upside down. In fact to be exact this is what I did. T-Rex Crab Island Climbing Background and rolled it up but left the inside big enough to put the dens in. At the time when i did this all roots were just white not any green ones after having the plant indoors. I placed spanish moss on the roots. I hung it upside down for two weeks. I was afraid to water it but i did about two or three times in that time frame. It got alot of sun (direct sun) in the evening and in the morning. And to my surprise I look today and bam new green root nubs , the cutest little things I have ever seen , and one of them had a keikel I think too. I am so happy my hard work and commiment and ...some most of them dying on me.. Finally I get a huge reward..... yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy. But with this being said this means my dens do need direct sunlight, but i dont know what I will do come the winter time because I will have to bring them inside , where they will probably die..The dens are phal type ones.

Now on another subject, I have my phal that was just doing fine, hasnt died but hasnt grown new roots, the roots are still green. only part that is brownish or black is a little tip on some of the roots thats it.
well i go to give its weekly or more then a week soaking with fertilizer and maybe not sure I think i might have left it for too long. So yesterday I put it by the patio door inside so it can reciev more light. When i look at it today it has fuzzy mold on two roots . Not alot but I was so depressed So now that one is outside where it can recieve nore light as well!

I have not mentioned I have a phal that is in isolation because it has those bugs that make the whitish substance and they are white as well. I dont know how i can possibly get rid of them I thought I did when I first saw it but now dont know what to do! there is alot of them!! on that one it has 6 leaves. It was spanish moss as well but the moss is so dry that the roots are dead. two areial roots but not sure if those are dead too!!

Please help me with some of my questions. Also can I use coconut bark from the pet store on the phals instead of sprmoss? Or anything else from the pet store??

your bugs sound like mealy bugs. use the remedy from from this site. First Rays' Home Remedies
you might also want to go and get some pesticide. i used this ORTHO 0344010 14OZ ROSE PRIDE INSECT DISEASE MITE SPRAY - eBay (item 360142610700 end time Jul-20-10 07:35:05 PDT)

you should be able to get it at any garden center. my den was in spike at the time, and no harm done to it what so ever

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Mealies can be gotten rid of using isopropyl alcohol as well.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Isoprpyl alchohol is on the remedy list