phabenopsis and dendrobium problems - Orchid Board

Gytana · #1 06-12-2007, 10:35 AM

Hi,

I just got introduced to the orchid world and I’m very intrigue with them. I just bought on line 2 orchid plants very very small (looked like they may be seedling). When they came to me they were bare root so I followed the instructions and re-potted. The hung lin dendrobium is potted in a clay pot and the Phabenopsis is potted in a plastic clear pot in a clay pot. When they came to me they did not have many roots. I have had them for about two weeks and I have been noticing that the dendrobium has a leaf that is stating to tune yellow and the other leaf is stating to wrinkle at the tip of the leaf. The phabenopsis has a new leaf and the leaf underneath the new leaf turned yellow and fell off. The leaf on the other side of the new growth I noticed is getting wrinkle but it is firm. I do have them by the window were the sun does not come directly in and where they nice air movement. Is this normal ?

About a week ago I got two new ( p. wedding prom and p. hsin sunflower) 4 inch pot Orchids with spikes from Lowes ( looked like it bloom), they looked healthy so, I bought them and took them home. When I got them home and got them out of the old pot and looked at the roots it looked like some root rot stated to develop. So, I trimmed the roots and used physan 20 on the roots. Any way my question is one or the orchid still has it spike in fact two spikes. Should I remove them or not in hope that it will re-bloom again?

puddin · #2 06-12-2007, 01:09 PM

On your first question about the orchids with little roots, the den. is showing that it's getting too little water, because of the root loss. On one of my phals., it had almost no roots and would grow a new leaf and get rid of an old one. It won't grow any roots, just leaves. I have no idea why, so I made it grow roots by giving it a hormone that made it grow roots.
As for the spike on the one plant, I would leave it. When you go to Lowes, or at lease this is my experience, look at the roots and plant very carefully. Our's like kills them in 2 weeks, so you have to be careful, and time your visits so you see their new shipments.

quiltergal · #3 06-12-2007, 02:14 PM

The phal will kill off it's own spike in the interest of survival. If the spike doesn't die, then I would assume it's doing fine. If it starts showing signs of distress (drops flowers, leaves droop) I'd go ahead and cut the spike off.

Ross · #4 06-12-2007, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quiltergal

The phal will kill off it's own spike in the interest of survival. If the spike doesn't die, then I would assume it's doing fine. If it starts showing signs of distress (drops flowers, leaves droop) I'd go ahead and cut the spike off.

This may be generally true, but I once had a Phal that continued to bloom and rebloom while dropping leaves and eventually dying. Since spikes come quite liberally from Phals (at least in my experience) I would cut the spike to strengthen the plant. I also like the idea of watering with something like KLN until the plant pops out multiple roots.

Gytana · #5 06-12-2007, 10:23 PM

Hi ,
Thank you for the info. I have already used root hormone on all of them. I felt that because they really did have much roots it would help them grow more roots. So, with the den how often should I water her? I was given her water every 4th day same for the phal. As for the plants I bought at Lowes the one with the spike the plant does look droopy looking that how I got her from Lowes. So, should I remove the spike?

Gytana · #6 06-12-2007, 11:02 PM

Hi ross,

This is a stupid question, but was is KLN??

cb977 · #7 06-12-2007, 11:08 PM

Gytana, there are no stupid questions! Asking questions is how we've all learned...
here's a link with some info on KLN:
K-L-N Liquid Rooting Concentrate

Gytana · #8 06-12-2007, 11:13 PM

susanne, thank you the rooting hormone I used was a powder will it still work???

puddin · #9 06-12-2007, 11:15 PM

If the den has more root loss, water it every day if you have to. I don't know what the roots look like, so I'm kinda guessing. The phal and the den don't have to be on the same water schedule. I have some plants I have to water every other day, then some that only need it once a week. It also depends on the media it's in. Some media holds more water that others.

Gytana · #10 06-12-2007, 11:23 PM

the media I used is the same with all of my plants ( a medium mix). As far as the roots for the den and the phal do not have much about 2 roots each plant. Should i put some moss in the pot on the den???