Brassavola care?

[Chris147]

I recently purchased a brassocattleya kosh wallis at lowes. It looks great. It even has 2 sheaths. The sheaths are sort of green, but don't see anything in them. It has 3 new leads that were bent due to the fact that it was a bag baby. The medium doesn't look that good, there is some sort of white stuff on top of it. Should i repot it? Will it hurt the sheaths?

This is the whole plant. There are over 20 pseudobulbs


This is one of the sheaths


This is the sick looking potting medium.

[jenmonkey]

I'm not in any way an expert; quite the opposite actually. But the white stuff looks like mineral deposits from tap water, and the green stuff on the bark looks like good old-fashioned mold. If I don't filter my water before watering my 'chids, I get a lot of that too. I think you should flush it thoroughly to get rid of the buildup, replace the bark with fresh bark, and then go about your regular watering schedule.

I was told I should use filtered water most of the time because I live in an area with very alkaline, hard water. This is something to consider if you also live in an area with high mineral content in the water.

I'm sure the more expert people will chime in here too. But if there's one thing I know, it's hard water buildup!

-Jen

[Izzie]

It's in the cattleya alliance- give it cattleya care.

It's good practice to repot any plant that you buy so that you can check out the roots.
Repotting won't hurt the sheaths at all, now will be a great time to do it before it's blooming and you risk damaging the blooms.

[orchidsamore]

Bc. Kosh Wallis (B. Little Stars x C. Caudebec) should bloom around January February. It has green petals and septals with spotting. The parent of Little Stars, which is white, is B. nodosa which is also white but with a regressive gene for green which shows in many of its offspring.

There is a photo of one at
http://orchidsamore.com/photo_galler...Sep%202009.htm
This photo was saved because the color was unique with striping on the petals and septals. Usually they are random spotting rather than clear lines.

It is hard to tell from a photo about the white medium.

My first thought was snow mold which indicates that the medium has gone bad and needs to be changed.

Since you bought it at Lowe's I know the grower and have seen thousands of his plants. This plant is not so old as to be having mold problems, but it is still possible.

The other answer is that it is sponge rock crush in potting.

Sponge rock is a white soft product that crushes to a powder when pressed.

It is used in many potting mixes and I use it as 20% of all my mixes. Especially with smaller plants when the potting mix is pressed hard it crushes some of the sponge rock and this helps hold the plant in place.

The un-crushed portion creates air space and holds some moisture. It is a desirable product.

Feel the large amount on the left of your photo and if it is dry and powdery then it is sponge rock. If it almost disappears without any texture it is probably snow mold. With experience it is very easy to tell the difference by looking at it, but hard from a photo. If it is sponge rock I would not re-pot. The roots are very thin on this as is on many Bassovola. They can dry out easily and cause you to miss flowering this year.

By the way as large as that plant is, it is probably only 12-18 months out of the flask. It is a fast growing plant. Of the 200 one inch plugs I bought in September, I have about 50 that are as large as yours in only 9 months. A few were flowering in 2 inch pots in September. I still expect this to be a Jan-Feb bloomer like its parents. We are expecting a lot from this plant.

[Chris147]

Thanks for all of the information you guys. I just have one more question. I bought better gro phal mix, but I repot all of my orchids in it. The only thing is is that when I water my orchids the bark doesn't look like it is getting or staying wet. Should I soak it in water overnight?

[Izzie]

Soak it in boiling water for a few days, or even a week. Opens the pores and helps it retain more water.

[Chris147]

Well orchidsamore how do u suggest I repot it because I have bad luck with repotting. I repot just to find out that most of the roots die. That is what happened with my phal keiki mount. What should I do with the plant while I am getting the new pot ready?

[Chris147]

?

[got ants]

Chris, there is a local grower who is famous for their nodosa crosses (Mickey's orchids) and most of hers are mounted. Usually on tree fern. I have two and you just can't water them enough.

That being said, they bloom multiple flowers year round.

[stefpix]

Today I went to Lowes and went got a Brassocattleya Kosh Wallace [or is it Wallis? tag and label have different spellings]. I wanted to get the Bl Yellow Bird [which being almost like a primary hybrid, I prefer to get species], but then I decided for the Bc KW, which seems to be a very complex hybrid. But the one I got had buds and seems to be a lot more vigorous and fast growing than the Bl. Yellow Bird. I wanted to get both but i need to watch my spending and my space available. I thought that maybe the Bc Kosh Wallace needs less light and blooms smaller than the Bc. Yellow Bird.

Anyway I was looking up Cattleya Caudebec to find out the full genealogy but I stop at some hybrids. I found out what C Penny Kuroda is but then I can not go further.

Anyway I am amazed by the compact and vigorous growth of the Bc Kosh Wallace, all the plants at Lowes had almost 20 growth and many had sheaths compared to the 7/12 growths of the Bl Yellow Bird (wonder if anyone grows both hybrids and can compare). Any updates from someone that is growing it?