orchids

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The 2 orchids you own have parental lineages to wild orchids that grow on trees in their natural habitat. They should not be grown in potting material that is too fine or composted.

Composted materials are usually highly organic soil based products and can contain bacteria and fungi that may hurt your orchids. The fine particles also provide an anaerobic environment that the orchids' roots may not be able to handle, therefore choking and killing them.

Since you seem to be lost about what potting materials to use, I will keep it very simple, and just say to continue using CHC. Until you get a good understanding of epiphytical orchids, this piece of advice will be your crutch.

Since I haven't defined the word yet - the word epiphytical is in reference to a plant that grows on the surface of things. Namely, an epiphyte will usually grow on the surface of trees.

The etymology goes as so:

epi - surface/upon

phyte - plant

With that said, here are some links to some photos of wild orchids in their natural environments to give you an idea of what you're dealing with.

Promenaea stapelioides in the wild:

Promenaea stapelioides - in situ | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Promenaea stapelioides | Flickr - Photo Sharing!




Remember...

Beallara consists of the following natural genera:

Brassia
Miltonia
Cochlioda
Odontoglossum

Well, here they are...

Brassia in the wild:

Orquídea Brassia verrucosa in situ | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Miltonia regnelli in the wild:

Miltonia regnelli no habitat - 6 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Odontoglossums in the wild:

odontoglossum epidendroides Peru | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

odontoglossum cruentum Peru | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

odontoglossum species Peru | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Odontoglossum gloriosum 3950 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Cochlioda vulcanica in the wild:

Frank enjoy the Cochlioda vulcanica growing in situ -



As you can see in all these photos, none of the orchids in them grow in what remotely looks like soil or compost.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

To see whether or not the potting media is still wet, one method you may use is that you may prod around the media, trying to avoid the roots of course, with a toothpick, a wooden skewer, or a wooden chopstick.

Dunking the orchids in a bucket is fine. I've done it before without any issues.

Specifically referring to your 2 orchids only, at this point in time...

Watering with a hose is fine.

Watering under the faucet is fine as well.

Using rainwater is fine.

Using tap water is fine.

Using RO/DI water is fine.

Using distilled water is fine.

Using bottled water is fine.

Using well water is fine.


There are special fertilizers for orchids. You may want to consult the OB and make a new post about it.

[Bud]

WOW! Cat...I wish I had Philip to advice me when I was a newbie...but Ill admit I still have a lot to learn...

Thanks Philip for this wide range of knowledge I got from you to help me care for my Promenaeas

[catweazle1962]

thankyou for your helpfull advice can you please explaine what ob is the food we are giving the orchids every 3 weeks is baby bio orchid food thanks

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Fertilizers in general will have 3 sets of numbers listed on their labels that look like so:

20 - 8 - 12

The first thing to understand is that the way the 3 numbers are arranged are actually ratios.

Ratios of what?

N = the chemical symbol for Nitrogen - P = the chemical symbol for Phosphorous - K = the chemical symbol for Potassium

The nitrogen portion of the ratio will usually break down further into 3 different sources for nitrogen. They are:

1.) urea based nitrogen
2.) ammoniacal based nitrogen
3.) nitrate based nitrogen

Of the 3 types of nitrogen sources, 2 are readily taken up by plants in general, and they are:

1.) nitrate nitrogen
2.) ammoniacal nitrogen


Urea based nitrogen usually, not always, requires soil borne microbes to start breaking it down into more bioavailable forms of nitrogen for plants to take up.

An orchid fertilizer that contains ammoniacal and/or nitrate forms of nitrogen is usually preferred over those that also contain urea based nitrogen in the composition.

In order to even make a comment about the fertilizer you own, and intend to use, I would have to know more about the composition of the fertilizer and the N-P-K ratio.

[catweazle1962]

thankyou for your reply we Add 5-10 drops to 1/2 litre (1 pint) of water, and the Active ingredients: NPK: 5.3:2.2:0.8 thanks

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

That N-P-K ratio is rather low for an adult blooming sized epiphytical orchid. It is fine for a small - medium sized seedling, but may not do the job for an adult sized plant.

As far as the concentration of powder to water, I would maybe go a little less than the recommended values on the bottle and fertilize more often, just to be safe. Different people will have different opinions on this matter, but these are just my thoughts.

[catweazle1962]

thankyou for your reply can you please advise on what fertilizer you would use for my plants and what size pots to use when needing re potting thankyou

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I recommend a fertilizer that preferably does not contain urea based nitrogen in it. I also recommend a N-P-K ratio of roughly about 20-20-20. It doesn't have to be exactly 20-20-20. I'm just giving you some guidelines to look for. If you get close, (a little higher in value, or a little lower in value it doesn't really matter).

Again, other people will have differing opinions on this matter. You can open up a different thread to ask about fertilizers specifically.

[catweazle1962]

thankyou for your help and advice