Question on Den. Loddigesii

[hevnbown]

I just bought one that's fairly small (3 in pot). Do you cut the keiki the same way as the "Gatton Sunray" and pot it the same way? How big does the plant have to be before cutting a keiki? Thanks

[ezil]

This looks like a Catt. to me. Did you post the wrong picture?

[Lorraine]

Hi, I bought a couple 3" Den. loddigessii pots in 2008 and mounted one in a larger sized tree firn pot. Here is what it looked like newly mounted. I attached the longer piece with new roots into another spot and kept doing so as it grew. I am attaching a couple pictures from last year. There is also a picture of the other mount using a grape vine wreath. I tucked spag moss throught out the wreath and tied the other 2 plants onto it with fishing line. The one in the tree firn is happier. Both are still growing and looking good. When I want to do some dividing I wait till the roots are just long enough and cut pieces off and remount for friends. My friends love coming here!
I can't wait till it blooms again this year. Lots more growth going on. Hope this helps. .

[Lana]

Hevnbown, I agree with ezil, your plant looks like that of Cattleya alliance.
Lorraine, your den. looks AMAZING! Wow! That's a great mounting job and a very, very happy and grateful orchid!

[hevnbown]

Originally Posted by Lorraine

Hi, I bought a couple 3" Den. loddigessii pots in 2008 and mounted one in a larger sized tree firn pot. Here is what it looked like newly mounted. I attached the longer piece with new roots into another spot and kept doing so as it grew. I am attaching a couple pictures from last year. There is also a picture of the other mount using a grape vine wreath. I tucked spag moss throughout out the wreath and tied the other 2 plants onto it with fishing line. The one in the tree firn is happier. Both are still growing and looking good. When I want to do some dividing I wait till the roots are just long enough and cut pieces off and remount for friends. My friends love coming here!
I can't wait till it blooms again this year. Lots more growth going on. Hope this helps. .

Wow! That's beautiful! Thanks ya'all for your response. As far as the pic I uploaded, yes, it's a "Beaufort Gold" Cat. I just joined yesterday and have yet to figure out how this program works. I was hoping I was uploading a pic that would be next to my name...(sorry). So Lorraine, you just cut a piece with roots and put some moss around the roots & tie it to whatever you're going to mount it to?...for some reason, that seems to easy to me lol
Where do you find tree fir pots? Yours looks like it really likes it! Do you put yours in direct sunlight? I was thinking about putting mine in a cherry tree I have where it would get dappled sunlight. Also, what's the watering scheme for this type? Mine is rather yellow and was very wet when I got it (just day before yesterday) everything I've been reading about it says they should go through almost a drought in the winter in order to bloom good the next year.

[Lorraine]

I got the tree firn from Green Barn Orchid Supplies. I'm sure other suppliers in your area have then. I don't know where you live. You can always order online and/or check out the Orchid Shows for the suppliers.

As for the growing it is in my screened in pool area with sun all day hanging on a shepard hook and the wind passing through helps dry it out. During the winter it gets watered about 2x a week. Now that it is warmer it'll get it about every other day. When it is hot same. It has some spagnum moss still in there to hold some moisture but the tree firn is dense too. You mentioned that the leaves look yellow...I would not worry..they tend to lose some leaves and usually the bare canes are where you'll have the buds, but it doesn't like being soaking wet too long. Let it dry out then water.

If you mount yours you can use wire pieces ..pushed into the firn to hold in place. Do this at an angle so it does not come loose, I cut smaller pieces for the little attachments. Needle nose pliers really help get it pushed into the spot.

Good Luck let me know if you need more info . I love when this chid blooms!!

[hevnbown]

Hey Lorraine,
I do not like the way my De. Loddigesii is looking. It has very few leaves left and everytime I water it, a few more turn yellow & fall off. Another watering or 2 &it will have no leaves left. I purchased a couple of the 12" tree fern pots and some AAAAA sphagnum moss but haven't been able to find any 3-wire hanging basket supports. I got this gut feeling I need to transplant my Den. Oh ya, I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. My question is 2-fold. How tight do I apply the moss to the roots of the Den and do I soak the moss first? Well, I have another question. Will removing the moss from the roots of the plant harm it. Seems like a redundant question but some have told me just to transplant (other) orchids without messing with the roots. I sure would appreciate your directions. By the way, it does have some new growth on it, but loosing so many of it's leaves has really got me worried about it.

Thanks

[Connie Star]

I like the grape vine wreath idea. Do you have any other orchids mounted that way? If so, how do they do? My humidity might be too low for it, though (indoors in Massachusetts in winter).

[Lorraine]

I would not worry too much about loosing the leaves. It could be just from adjusting to the new conditions. Mine stays on the dryer side anyway and as long as you eventually see new leaves you should be fine. Mine is still dropping leaves and growing new ones. Half of my chid even now has no leaves...but thats where the buds form. and kiekis too.

How are you planning to use the hanger?? On mine I just took 1 piece of wire bent it in half and pushed both ends through the side of the tree firn so the pot was facing me and the side was now the top, turned the ends back up and out so it caught back onto the inside as a hook and you can't see it.

As far as using a 3 wire hanger I just take a 4 wire and cut 1 off. Then use the extra piece cut into some smaller pieces to bend in half and use as the attachments to the tree firn. I usually wet the moss squeeze out the excess water and put some loosely around the cleaned off plant roots and then set the plant unto the mount. Depending on how big the whole thing is you might need 4/5 clips. They really look like a piece of wire in a U shape. I sometimes use needle nose pliers to get each side of the wire pushed in tightly so make sure you have enough length. I'll look through my pictures for a close up of what I mean. So check back. Also once you have the moss thing going on you won't have to water it as often only when it's dry.

I only have the one grapevine wreath. It dries out faster than the tree firn pot. It still looks pretty cool. I'll look up the original picture of that one and take a new one.

BTW both of these guys have buds on them. I may have flowers sooner. Last year it was the end of April.

Picture of tree firn is the original mounting of Den, the one on the coconut piece shows how I use the clips on anything other than wood. Depending on the mount you can also use monofilament line aka fishing line used on the grapevine. Here is the original grapevine wreath mount.

[hevnbown]

Hey Lorraine,
thanks for your post. : I went ahead & repotted my Den. Everytime I watered it, it smelled real strong of dirt, so I figured I might as well do it now. Plus it had some new growth so I figured it's now or never. Anyhow, it was like styrofoam...the medium that is. It split right in half and looked like someone had put the 2 parts together. So I soaked a piece of it & removed as much as I could of the old medium. Ended up with about 10-20 pieces of the plant that I held encircled between my thumb & fore-finger. I soaked some moss, squeezed the water out best I could & wrapped it around the roots. Took a piece of wire, bent it into a U-shape & pressed it around the roots/moss into the tree fern pot. Did that twice being there were 2-halves. Took some of the keikis & put them in moss & in a plastic pot which the original came in after I washed the pot. Some other ones I spread around in one of the tree fern pots along with the bigger plant bunch. I guess it's a "wait-n-see" thing now.
As far as the hanger, I used the old hanger for one pot & made up another from some wire I had since I couldn't find any around the area in which I live (the boonies/redneck country). It actually worked pretty good...ain't pretty but works well. I did the pots flat. I didn't think of doing them like a tire (on it's side) but that was a good idea you had...different...out of the box thinking- Kudos! I'm curious...does your plant get any direct sunlight or just reflected?