bloom & root questions from a noob

[hvlckvtnr]

Hi everyone,

Noob here, first post, so pardon the ignorance, and the bursting with questions on my part.

Over the past 5 years I have been getting orchids as gifts, here and there, and I have come to realize I really enjoy them.

However, I have a history of killing them. What's worse, after perusing these great forums, I have come to the realization that I have gotten things very wrong, and I have been throwing away perfectly healthy plants, ones that just happened to stop blooming, and/or a spike just needed trimming. Now that I know a bit more, from reading here, the plants' prospects are that much better, but I still had a few more questions.

First, and biggest question: what to do to always have an orchid in bloom in the house? I guess I am all about the flowers; without them, the plant is almost devoid of interest to me. Is it a matter of having multiple orchids that have their flowering cycles staggered? Or are there tricks to getting blooms to hang around longer (e.g., I note that at my parents', the kitchen orchid has been in bloom for 6 months or more now; mine never make it that long)?

How long is a typical flowering cycle? I almost always end up with a common Phalaenopsis (probably hybrid), from a corner store or Home Depot...

Are there any recommended books that might help me in my quest? What's the best orchid resource in dead-wood format for aspiring orchid growers?

Maybe I've been overfeeding; does one mix in fertilizer at each watering (i.e., every 7-10 days)?

Having read quite a few interesting posts here, I pulled out my 2 current Phalaenopsis orchids and inspected them, including roots. Looks like I have some work, as they are not super healthy. Some questions here:

Obviously I should cut rotting root, but what about dried out? There are sections which are like dry wood, even after watering...

What about unsightly aerial roots? Is it ill advised to cut them if they are healthy? One of the plants has one sticking out all over, very unbalanced, and I was thinking of just trimming it for aesthetics, provided the rootball shows to have sufficient other healthy roots to sustain the plant.

[My Green Pets]

Hello, welcome!

I'll take a stab at your questions.

1. To always have an orchid in bloom, you can:
a. have different varieties that bloom naturally at different times throughout the year
b. stick with phals and learn how to force them to bloom (can be done by lowering temps)

2. Flowering cycle: I've had phalaenopsis blooms last 5 months. Other flowers have shorter lifespans. This oncidium alliance hybrid I have is starting to fade after only a few weeks. Depends on the family of orchids, but I think Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum hybrids are the champions.

3. Can't really recommend any books in particular but the orchid board has got soooo much info. Check the Stop Phal Abuse sticky for mind-blowing amounts of info about phals and common mistakes.

4. Fertilizing - many recommend 1/4 to 1/2 strength orchid fertilizer with every watering, less in fall/winter.

5. Only dead roots should be removed. If you snap one of these brown roots and it's green inside, it's not dead (well, now that you've snapped it, it might be). I don't think many growers would condone snipping off aerial roots for aesthetic purposes. The plant grows them because it needs them.

Hope this has been some help!

[dendro king]

I strongly agree with what CambriaWhat just said!
Couldn't of explained it any better myself!

[Ghosthunt64]

I too concur with Cambria, and going along those lines:

Most Phalaenopsis tend to tip in their pot, so as to avoid getting water in the crown. Even if planted straight up and down, it will eventually tip over in its pot. Point being there are very few orchids that grow nice and neat like we would want, and for good reason.

On the subject of perpetually having something in flower, the short answer is: get enough. There are also a few plants that either hold for a ridiculously long time, such as most Phalaenopsis, but there are also things like Paphiopedilum Pinocchio which are quite easy to grow but also produce a new flower every month. The main cultural difference is that they should be watered twice as much.

Just my 2 cents.

[james mickelso]

Very good explanation Cambria. You can have orchids that flower year round if you have enough types and learn how to force them into flowering. You can have aesthetically pleasing looking plants if you learn how to force them into growing in the direction you want them to grow. But you must read and experiment. Or just buy something in bloom year round from the big box stores. I go with the former and I know some who go with the latter. If you stick with us we can get you where you want to be. Welcome to the OrchidAddicts.....er.....Orchidboard. ....er.....

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

...

1. To always have an orchid in bloom, you can:
a. have different varieties that bloom naturally at different times throughout the year

This is the preferred way of doing it. I'll explain why next...

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

b. stick with phals and learn how to force them to bloom (can be done by lowering temps)

This is true, but I wouldn't do this continually unless you just don't care whether the Phal eventually declines and dies from exhaustion.

Without getting too graphic, let me explain something about a plant's flowers. They are a plant's reproductive (sex) organ(s). Get what I mean?

The occasional forcing of blooms is fine. Repeatedly doing it to one particular individual is going to cause long term problems.

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

2. Flowering cycle: I've had phalaenopsis blooms last 5 months. Other flowers have shorter lifespans. This oncidium alliance hybrid I have is starting to fade after only a few weeks. Depends on the family of orchids, but I think Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum hybrids are the champions.

Yup.

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

3. Can't really recommend any books in particular but the orchid board has got soooo much info. Check the Stop Phal Abuse sticky for mind-blowing amounts of info about phals and common mistakes.

What is mentioned in this sticky about Phals, far exceeds what you'll find in many orchid books out there.

Make a quick comparison and you'll see the difference.

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

4. Fertilizing - many recommend 1/4 to 1/2 strength orchid fertilizer with every watering, less in fall/winter.

I'd go more for 1/2 strength, once every 2 weeks.

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

5. Only dead roots should be removed. If you snap one of these brown roots and it's green inside, it's not dead (well, now that you've snapped it, it might be). I don't think many growers would condone snipping off aerial roots for aesthetic purposes. The plant grows them because it needs them.

True.

A plant's roots is used in the uptake of nutrients and water as well as for anchoring a plant in place. As you will find out later, many epiphytic orchids have green roots. These green roots aid in the process of photosynthesis. By removing roots, you will have also removed a source of energy other than the leaves. Green pigments in plants are associated with chlorophyll pigments that are used for sucrose, (sucrose = sugar/C12H22O11 = food for plants), production in plants.

Cutting roots is like sewing a person's mouth shut and cutting off their arms to me.

[RosieC]

Good advice above. Just on the fertilizer strength thing though. 1/4 or 1/2 strength is meaningless, because it gives no reference to what strength fertilizer in the first place. This 1/4 or 1/2 strength stuff was based on 1/4 or 1/2 strength of the fertilizers used 50 or so years ago, which were aimed at monthly watering. Then recommendation changed to weekly and using 1/4 strength of what you would have used for the monthly watering... but a lot of fertilizers now are all sorts of different concentrations with all sorts of different recommendations on the packet.

To have something meaningful look at the N-P-K values on the fertilizer and calculate the strength you need from that, most specifically from the N value... it's just then you have to decide which recommendation to follow there are probably many different ones. They key thing is to avoid a fertilizer strength which will burn the roots, and also to use one that does not inhibit blooming (as high nitrogen can).

I've used Ray's advice in the past, but Ray has changed that over the last couple of years based on what he has found works for him and I'm still with the old one just because I've not got round to changing my routine as I'm normally half asleep when I water in the mornings

I use 125ppm N with a monthly flush with plain water. A rough guide for that is about 13/N teaspoons per gallon (so if N is 10 then 13/10 = 1.3 tsp per gallon). This is low enough to use year round without fear of burning roots or inhibiting blooming for most orchids, although I use lower on some phrags and some masdies which like lower.

Ray's current recommendation is 50ppm N with no flush. That works out as roughly 4/N teaspoons per gallon (so if N is 10 then 4/10 = 0.4 tsp per gallon). This is because in nature most orchids get very small amounts of fertilization on a more constant basis.

You can work out concentrations more accurately using the Mixing Calculator on this page. Just adjust the concentration and the N value and your number of times fertilizing and flushing each month to get a mixing rate.

[james mickelso]

That was great Rosie. Easy way to calculate the feed rate. You go girl!!!

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

That was great Rosie. Easy way to calculate the feed rate. You go girl!!!

I've picked it up from Ray, so credit goes to him

[james mickelso]

You go Ray.