Stalled phrag besseae in S/H?

[Bill U.]

Hi everyone,

So I am wondering what is going on with my phrag besseae (besseae 'Big Bob' x besseae 'Colossal'). I have had it for about 6 months now and gone through a few changes.

When I first received it (mail ordered from Dean @ Paphiness Orchids- had it cheap, but now wondering about the quality...?) I had 2 small fans and an inflorescence. The inflorescence seemed like it put out 3 flowers. I saw only 1 flower bloom (lasted about a week) and then the spike died back. I also was cautious about the original leaves because they were very dry feeling and accordion-like. (Picture with bloom)

So after having it for about a month, I decided to put it in S/H with Hydroton LECA with a dish for a reservoir for more constant moisture. Then the bloomed fan died back.

So now I have the one "little" fan that has grown to a size of 3 leaves (4.5", 6.5", and 4.25" respectively from oldest to youngest). It receives 14 hours of 6500K full-spectrum artificial light at a strength of about 16000 lux (~1600 fc.?). Watered with de-chlorinated tap water about every 3 days and is fertilized with .25 teaspoons of 30-10-10 every other watering. Temperatures have been about 75 during the day and 70 at night (dorms haven't turned the A/C on).

Can anyone shed any light in what's going on? Am I just being impatient?

[escualida]

I had a similar situation with my Phrag. Don Wimber which is Eric Young 4N x besseae. I switched it to S/H when it had a flower spike and it stalled for a bit and then the spike died without ever having bloomed, it also had the beginnings of a new fan like the ones in your picture and that stayed the same size without changing for at least 5 months. I was worried because nothing seemed to be happening even though it was clearly very much alive. Then suddenly about a month ago the little fan started to grow again. I think part of it was that I was overfertilizing it because I started to only flush it out with regular water for a few weeks and that was when it started up again, or maybe it was that it just needed time to adjust to the S/H. I think maybe give it time and see what happens

[quiltergal]

I think all of Dean's Phrags come from Orchid Zone. They don't get any better than that. OZ is one of the premier Phrag breeders and they only sell wholesale. Since these are seed grown and you got it cheap I'm guessing it is still a relatively immature plant.

Moving it to S/H was probably a big adjustment for it. Could be why the original fan died. Can you see any new root growth? Phrags aren't heavy feeders and I find LECA tends to latch onto the salts in fertilizer. I would fertilize it once a month at the most.

[Bill U.]

Thank you both for your responses! I always love getting information from other members!

Escualida, I think we have had some of the same things going on- my little nubbins of fans weren't there for the longest time, appeared, and then it seems that they are taking a break again.

Terri, I believe Dean did indeed say that he got his phrags from OZ. I didn't mean to imply that Dean tried to swindle me or sell me an inferior plant, it was more a question of did my particular plant happen to be a weak one (not by any fault of anyone in the growing process other than myself). I too am thinking that I received a pretty young plant due to its low price.

I think you're right that the change to S/H may have been the demise of the original fan. I have attached pictures of the roots that I just took. The creamy root is new since I have gotten it, and the tip of my forceps are pointing to a new little shoot of a root as well.

I am trying to figure out the fertilization regime for this plant still. I was reading the following on Firstrays.com:

"We recommend feeding a somewhat dilute nutrient solution at every watering, and all of our plants get either Dyna-Gro "Grow" (5-9-7) solution or the MSU-type fertilizer at a nitrogen dosage of about 100-150 ppm."

I figured that Ray would be a good resource as the pioneer into the world of S/H. But I was hesitant to give that much, which is why I was applying fertilizer at every other watering. *I don't know if it makes any difference, but I also will spray the top of the LECA pellets until they are wet. As I was unpotting to look at the roots, I did not really see any white fertilizer salt buildup on the pellets.

Any thoughts?

[quiltergal]

If that is all the root system it has it probably isn't going to do much until it builds that root system up. It may look like it is just sitting there doing nothing for a long time. It's really busy growing new roots that you can't see. You know things are good when you can see lots of new root growth pushing against the side of the pot, which is why clear or semi transparent pots are so nice.

I tried the S/H route for a few of my plants and they did OK, not great. In my environment I had to water them nearly every day, and I just didn't/don't have time for that. The fertilizer instructions are for all orchids. That said there are exceptions for every rule. Bessea is more sensitive than other Phrags to water quality and fertilizer burn. It is just more touchy in general than some of it's hybrids.

[Bill U.]

Thinking about the lack of roots, it kinda makes sense now why it hasn't been doing horribly much in terms of visual things above the potting media. I haven't gotten around to getting clear/transparent pot yet, but it's definitely going on my list of things to do.

Thanks for the advice about the fertilizer- definitely a good thing to think about so I don't burn the roots. I'm hoping that my phrag was just "hungry" with the lack of roots because I haven't had any leaf tip burn *yet*. But, I will definitely cut back on the fertilizing and wait and see!

Thanks again for all of your help!

[escualida]

I believe Ray has changed his recommendations to 50ppm of fert every watering...

[Bill U.]

Adriana, when did this change occur? I have still been reading the 100-150ppm from his websites (unless they haven't been updated).

[escualida]

Yup, I guess he hasn't updated his website yet but he said it in this thread not so long ago: Phalaenopsis in SH picture and questions

[Bill U.]

Thanks! I guess changing it to 50ppm every watering without having to flush would be pretty nice- eliminates having to keep track of when I last did the flush!