Help!

[cupcake]

I received a seedling of encyclia vitellina today. Now I was prepared for it to be small, but this is TINY, and so are the roots!. SO, the question is, what do I pot it up in? It's in damp sphag at the mo. Would vermiculite be any good? Thanks, Judi

[Becca]

Hi Judi! I am surprised that no one else has any suggestions! I personally like sphagnum moss for seedling and for reviving, so if you experienced with using the sphagnum moss, I would leave it in the moss until it's roots got bigger, but then I have never grown encyclia's before, so hopefully someone else will have a recommendation for you soon. Quick question for you, what color are the roots? Are the white, tan? I know roots of different kinds or orchids look different so I was just curious. Thanks!

[Ross]

FYI, this is now reclassified into the Genus Prosthechea IOSPE PHOTOS From what I read it normally grows in treetops in it's native habit. If this were mine, I would try mounting it on a bark slab with a small bit of sphagnum. I'll just bet they wouldn't like being in a big blob of sphagnum as they aren't used to that. Don't worry about size of plant. If you do well with culture it will be big in no time!

[cupcake]

Hi Becca, the roots are white, and on closer view there are 3 tiny seedlings. I posted the question on the UK forum too, and someone said that he'd had some from the same vendor, and were obviosly just out of flask. He's a really experienced grower, and lost his! Heyho! But I shall try my hardest! I won't be gullible again, lucky they were cheap! Judi