Current state of my plants...critiques welcome and guidance needed

[jesscorine]

Pics 1 & 2: Anacheilium Cochleatum - opposite sides/pbulbs throwing out spikes
Pics 3 & 4: Onc. macalatum 'Snyder' x Odom. hallii 'Alaskan Sunset' - 2 separate plants with active growth
Pics 5 & 6: bare-root Phal with secondary spike...2 of the buds are starting to turn red, are they drying up?
Pic 7: other 2 bare-root phals...questionable prognosis. They get a water-dip every day.
Pic 8: Waianae Appeal "Aloha" Cattleya - new leaf opening on the left and new growth on the lower right. A handful of green-tipped roots also. Is the yellowing at the base on the left worrisome?
Pic 9 & 10: rescue Phal with fat and green roots, but the medium has never dried out...I've only watered once in a month (and done a mist with fertilizer spray on the roots) Should I repot in something looser?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I think the ones that are in pots are in pots that are too big for their britches. I think you may want to go down 2 or 3 pot sizes.

I suggest matching the pot size with the size of the root mass.

I don't know what the humidity is like in New Jersey right now, but unless the humidity is around 80% - 90%, I suggest using another method of growing those rescues back to health other than hanging them on a clothes rack. On one of the Phal rescues, I'd remove the spike completely, there could be a chance the portion of the spike you left behind will re-spike. Re-spiking a struggling Phal will take away energy it needs to recover.

The Phal you have potted in the last 2 pics, like I said prior, appears over potted, but it also seems as if the moss is pretty old and crusty looking.

Now, I don't know how well versed you are in growing Phals in moss, but if you are having trouble with growing Phals in moss, then I'd suggest foregoing the use of moss as a potting medium for Phals altogether. Try LECA, Hydroton, or fir bark.

As far as I know, these are my thoughts and my recommendations.

[jesscorine]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I think the ones that are in pots are in pots that are too big for their britches. I think you may want to go down 2 or 3 pot sizes.

I suggest matching the pot size with the size of the root mass.

I agree, I am moving soon and I will repot once we're established...I will be near Parkside Orchids, so hopefully they have more options than Lowe's LOL (I'd rather not buy online if I can help it)

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I don't know what the humidity is like in New Jersey right now, but unless the humidity is around 80% - 90%, I suggest using another method of growing those rescues back to health other than hanging them on a clothes rack. On one of the Phal rescues, I'd remove the spike completely, there could be a chance the portion of the spike you left behind will re-spike. Re-spiking a struggling Phal will take away energy it needs to recover.

Ok! I was considering putting them back in pots anyways Will chop that spike too!

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

The Phal you have potted in the last 2 pics, like I said prior, appears over potted, but it also seems as if the moss is pretty old and crusty looking.

Now, I don't know how well versed you are in growing Phals in moss, but if you are having trouble with growing Phals in moss, then I'd suggest foregoing the use of moss as a potting medium for Phals altogether. Try LECA, Hydroton, or fir bark.

This is how it came from the store, so I was trying my hand at "hands-off" for once. I will repot soon in bark.

Thank you for your suggestions! Truly appreciated

---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 AM ----------

@King_of_orchid_growing - on the Anacheilium Cochleatum and Onc x Odom, they are basically just perched on top of the loose bark...is that acceptable? or should they be potted a different way? (this is how they travelled from Ohio, but I can repot differently as they aren't attached to anything)

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by jesscorine

This is how it came from the store, so I was trying my hand at "hands-off" for once. I will repot soon in bark.

Here's the thing about the "hands-off" approach...

It works only after everything is in order. Your plants are not in order from the get-go. It will not work in your current state.

So, after you fix the initial problems, then you can "hands-off" all you want until the next problem shows up.

Now, if your plants were good to go from the start, you can "hands-off" from the start. But you'll get to know if your plants are good from the start with some experience.

I'll admit it, sometimes I do the "hands-off" approach for some of the orchids I newly acquire because I think they'll be ok. Like I said, this is tricky, and sometimes I even bomb at this even with the years of experience I have, so you have to be careful!

If I purchase a plant that I know is not in the best of conditions to start with, I go to work right away.

I want to add one more thing...

Even when you keep your "hands-off" your orchid, it doesn't mean you stop doing your routine maintenance in your orchid care regimen. You still must do the stuff that's routine maintenance. I still do it. And I just had to do it with my Dichaea glauca in order to save an ailing orchid before it went to Orchid Heaven. I originally left it alone, (aka "hands-off" approach), after I received the plant from the seller because I didn't want to disturb the roots on the plant. Dichaeas, in my experience are pretty touchy, (note: I eventually found out that Dichaea glauca withstands root disturbance and repotting really well, unlike many other species in the genus Dichaea). The potting media had gone bad after several months of growing in old potting material, and there were lots of dead plant material that needed to be cleared out. In retrospect, I should've done the cleaning and replacing of the potting material much earlier, just as I'd been contemplating for a while, as part of a maintenance routine rather than a last ditch effort to save a dying orchid before it's too late. Now after I've done the cleaning and replacing of the old potting material, the orchid has bounced back! Get what I mean?

With the "hands-off" approach, you gotta know what you're doing.

Originally Posted by jesscorine

Thank you for your suggestions! Truly appreciated

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by jesscorine

@King_of_orchid_growing - on the Anacheilium Cochleatum and Onc x Odom, they are basically just perched on top of the loose bark...is that acceptable? or should they be potted a different way? (this is how they travelled from Ohio, but I can repot differently as they aren't attached to anything)

Let me take a closer look at them again and I'll respond with my thoughts.

[The Orchid Boy]

I think the Anacheilium Cochleatum and Onc x Odom should be potted. They are orchids with p-bulbs that seem to stay more moist than say catts but drier than phals.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try to keep the roots of the Anacheilium and the Onc in their respective pots as much as you possibly can, just as The Orchid Boy suggested.

Remember, orchids have a certain orientation they grow in. In botany, this phenomena of an orchid orienting itself is called polarization. They polarize themselves, (aka orient themselves), towards the light source.

So on your Anacheilium cochleatum, the side with the smallest leafless pseudobulb is the back end, and the side with the largest pseudobulb along with lead growths is the front end. The front end should be facing the light source. The back end can be placed up against on of the inside edges of the pot.

With the Onc, it clumps, so you can place the orchid in the middle of the pot and let it do its thing.

Please refer back to the previous post I made in this thread again, I added a few things to it.

[jesscorine]

The only problem is that the two newest growths are on exactly opposite sides of the bunch...imagine 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. So it's in the center of the pot Good thing the Onc can be in the center, it was from a massive plant with a clump hanging over the side. I got 3 splits from the side clump so the pbulbs are in all directions...some are even under the bark at this point. We tried to arrange them so the newest growth had some space.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by jesscorine

The only problem is that the two newest growths are on exactly opposite sides of the bunch...imagine 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. So it's in the center of the pot

Yes, I know perfectly well what you mean. The rhizome is branched, so you have one set of growths growing towards one direction and the other set of growths growing towards another direction, much like in a 'Y'-type or a 'V'-type of growth formation.

Just place the back end, the bottom of the 'Y' or 'V', against the inner edge of the pot.

[jesscorine]

Ok. That makes sense

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 2

[Bud]

they all gave you very sound advice....
the first four pictures are of happy growing plants with spikes and new roots; you can just carry on and continue what you are doing....
Philip is right, the hanging Phals must be potted....
yes, put the Cattleya in a smaller pot or you will have problems with root rot....
The rescued Phal has decayed moss that is why it is not drying ....healthy moss dries in a week and they turn green again if the air circulation and drainage is good....in my own observation from looking at your last pictures: the moss have decayed that it turned into soil, which is bad for orchids....that is inviting bacteria and fungi infestation then root rot....use smaller size pots, your orchids love to be potbound.