Help! Holc wangii dying!

[crazymonkie]

Hrm. Well, I'd been keeping them outdoors, in straight bark, in a 2.5" plastic pot, outside. I put it out in direct sunlight for probably five or six hours, temperatures around 70-75 degrees F, humidity somewhere around 65 percent or so. So that's what it's been growing in.

AFAIK, it hasn't been in agar for months, maybe even over a year. Again, I got it from Oak Hill as part of the seedling special. I think it was originally given to me in coco husk fiber sitting in a pot, but I don't really remember for sure.

I also mentioned in the first post that I had it as of this moment in a glass bowl. That's the bowl. It's in nothing whatsoever. Just the roots, the plant, and the air.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Ok...

That's 70 F - 75 F during the day, right? What about night? Does it drop below 50 F?

If it drops below 50 F at any given point during the year, growing outdoors all year round is not an ideal solution.

The humidity is adequate.

I've never grown one potted, but that doesn't mean they can't be grown potted.

Although, I will say that a 2.5" pot is rather large for plants with such seemingly small root systems. If it were me, I'd have grown both seedlings in a 2" pot and maybe put a few small pieces of styrofoam in there for good measure.

The large grade bark is fine. I would've opted for medium grade. But it isn't an issue.

Holcoglossums shouldn't be grown under direct sunlight. They should be grown much, much shadier than this. They like moderate indirect lighting. If you're able to grow an Onc in that area, you're able to grow Holcoglossums too under the same intensity of light.

So bears the question...

What is the seedling in right now? What's in that bowl? It looks like agar. Am I right or am I wrong?

[crazymonkie]

Actually, it's more like 60-65 ish at night. Same humidity.

The bark is medium grade... The only coarse grade bark I have is in the three slatted baskets I got. I ordered a hobby bag of Vanda mix, though I THOUGHT it was going to be a full sized bag! In any case, I've got a little bit of the medium bark left, some "special orchid mix" (quite a bit, actually), which is really just bark, some medium perlite, a little bit of coco husk chunks, and even less sphagnum. My Cymb LOVES it.

I've got two Oncidiums.... I've actually got to move them, they're starting to get a bit of sunburn (they get about 2 hours of direct sunlight on a few of their leaves each day). So at least I do know what sort of rubric I can use for making sure this particular Holc makes a comeback.

The agar-like coloration is due to the visual distortions from looking through the glass. There is no agar, there has never been any agar, and there will never be any agar for this particular plant.

It's just one plant, keep that in mind.

Should I keep it inside? I'm still worried about insects and about the root system making a comeback. At least there are two unharmed roots... very small ones... you can't see them in those pictures; they look like they're a part of the bigger roots, but they're actually just below the bigger roots.

So... repot? mount up? I've got a small piece of driftwood.... I'll have to clean it like crazy, but it could work, probably.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You could try this and see if this'll help your plant out...

Since many epiphytical orchids have roots that photosynthesize, and I know that Holcoglossums fall under this category, try finding a water bottle and modifying it to an appropriate height and put drainage holes/slots on it.

Pot the remaining seedling you have up in it using the special mix, and if you can remove the sphagnum, I'd do so. You may add styrofoam in the center if the makeshift pot is still too big.

I wouldn't mount it. It's too much of a hassle. It should make for a stronger recovery grown potted, just make sure there are lots of holes and/or slots.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you have vitamin B6 or B12 or whatever B vitamins you have, that should help make it recover.

Sometimes, I use multi-vitamins in my water. And the damaged plants appreciate it.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Oh yeah, keep it inside. Potential insect problems - bad!

[crazymonkie]

It's always just been the one Holc. It was a "grab bag" seedling special (you could tell Oak Hill what types you wanted, but, no guarantees that you got what you wanted.) They misunderstood what I said- I think I mentioned I wanted one or two Vandaceous, but instead, I got:

-Holc wangii (the one we're talking about)
-Vandopsis parishii (deceased; it fell out of two pots a total of four times in about half as many months so it got a LITTLE messed up and couldn't bounce back)
-Vanda tricolor (in a basket with Vanda Mix, slowly but surely growing healthy roots and more leaves)
-Vanda luzonica (thought it was going to die; dropped one leaf, all roots rotted... I just recently rubbed rooting hormone all over it and transplanted it, with the "special" orchid mix, into a plastic net pot, and it's showing signs of growth again!)
-Ren matuatina, one very robust (if young and small) specimen, and one volunteer that was accidentally put in with the bigger one. They're both surviving, the little one is just getting along, but seems to be growing a bit.
-Aerides flabellatum, Aerides quinquevulnera, Dimorphorchis lowii- All three were knocked down in strong wind we had when my Br nodosa (then in the net pot that the luzonica is in now) took them and the Vandopsis down to the ground. At this point, I THINK they have the correct labels, but I'm not totally sure. In any case, the assumed Dimorphorchis has strong roots and leaves, and the quinquevulnera has one stub of a root and sorta okay leaves. They're all making a comeback from the wintery weather.
-Zygopetalum mackayi, the only non-vandaceous orchid in the bunch, doing absurdly well (splitting the pseudos with new roots, new pseudos popping up nearly faster than I can count them)

So, yeah, just the one Holc. They were all seedling size, in 1.5" thumb pots, most in coco husk fiber (so a lot had messed up roots, or their roots rotted during the cooler months when I had to keep them inside, away from the chillier weather.... they sulked inside)

Should I water it only when the roots get dry? Keep the mix damp? One of the roots has a section that's nothing but bare true root, no velamen- should I cut the whole root off? Should I leave it?

[crazymonkie]

Oh, and vitamins? Dang, don't have any. Just rooting hormone. Does that count?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Rooting hormones work too. They're not cheap if you want to get lab grade ones.

Vitamins are easy access for me.

I love Zygopetalums, they are easy to grow in the correct environment. They have a winter dormancy though, so I'd watch how much they're being watered during the cooler months. Generally speaking, they like water.

Wow...

Everything else you mentioned sounded like they went through hell and back!

Vanda luzonica should be ok. I've never found it to be terribly problematic. They are strict intermediate growers though. Nothing below 50 F - 55 F (10 C - 12.8 C).

As far as the Holcoglossum goes, yeah, it should dry between waterings. With what little it has got, I wouldn't remove anymore roots, even if they're dead [roots].

[crazymonkie]

I'm starting to really love Zygos too. They're pretty, and this is pretty much the perfect environment for them (northwest Austin, just so you know). The temps rarely go down to the 30s, and each year they do go up to 110 or so (though I've got a covered porch which lowers the effective temp by about 10 degrees, so it's fine in the summer); the humidity is generally around 65%, sometimes up to 85% or low as 35%. My Catt Love Passion Island Romance LOVES it, as do my Dens and Oncids. I can also keep the humidity pretty high if I put the plants that need it out onto the hot cinder block low wall next door (nobody minds it) and water them twice a day. That's why the Ren. is doing so well!

Thanks for the great advice! I'll wash the heck out of a small pot, transplant, use rooting hormone and hope for the best.

BTW- with the hormone, do I need to replenish it? Do I cover all the roots with the hormone? Just the central bit at the base? I've been trying to figure that out.

Oh, also, I forgot to mention that I've got a Chr vietnamica. It had a couple of roots, but they all rotted. One, the biggest one, hung on for months, but it had been jammed up against the sharp side of a plastic pot, cutting off the velamen's circulation, and eventually it stopped taking in water. I know that I gave it too much sun too.... the entire edge of all the leaves are red, and there are some greyish-light brownish areas that haven't gotten worse in the middle of the leaves. It's covered in rooting hormone, but I'm not sure if it's growing yet. It will, though. It's not dropping leaves, so I think it's okay. Gonna be a while, though.