Baby Plant Tips - Orchid Board

Highland Fashionista · #1 02-05-2014, 02:21 PM

Hi there. A friend in Holland sent me some baby plants (seedlings) when she heard of my newfound orchid obsession, much to my surprise and delight. Being a newbie, I have never had a seedling or young plant before, and could use some pointers. Because the weather has been cold, they arrived not in the greatest shape, and with a bit of cold damage, but are all showing signs of hope. Two of the three I am trying to encourage root growth by using an initial Superthrive soak then hanging them over a vase with water and LECA at the bottom. This seems to be working, albeit slowly. They had a lot of rot at their tiny centers when I got them, and I didn't want to risk damaging them further by pyutting them in something overly moist. The third one actually has one really fantastic root that is over 3 inches long and turgid, and one nub that is promising me another root. That one I took a risk and gently put it in some LECA (facing the outside edge of the pot so I could watch it carefully) and set the rest of the plant on top to hopefuly continue its progress. Am I on the right track? Should I have set them in fine bark and put them on my heat mat? They seem moderately happy at the moment, so I'm kind of afraid to change things uip too much and mess up. I don't currently have any sphag moss as it is so wet here in Scotland I never use any for fear of rotting everything away, but perhaps that would be more appropriate for these wee ones?

Your tips, as always, would be most appreciated.

Ray · #2 02-05-2014, 04:28 PM

I can see no problems with your instinct on those, and basically, you are setting them up to grow in Semi-Hydroponic culture!

Keep them good and warm, and they'll thrive for you.

You can read more about S/H Culture HERE.

Highland Fashionista · #3 02-05-2014, 06:12 PM

Hi Ray,
I actually bought the LECA after reading just about every inch of your website. I am only now getting up the courage to start using it. I have repotted one of my rescues into it, but since that plant is stressed, it is probably not a good indicator of how I will fare long term. Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it. I'm off to re-read some of your Semi-hydro info again tonight!

Leafmite · #4 02-05-2014, 07:25 PM

I put my little seedling phals in basket pots with lava rock (in your case, leca) on the bottom and fresh NZ sphagnum moss on the top half. The moss seems to really encourage roots. Good luck!

Highland Fashionista · #5 03-20-2014, 09:20 PM

Hi again everyone!
I'm sad to report that I am not having much luck with these wee babies. One of them is quite wilted, although the roots are still ok looking, and the other two, although not making any progress, are no worse than they were before. Could it be that LECA is too cold and drafty for the Scottish climate (what with all the evaporative cooling and all)?

Do I just need to be patient? Should I add sphag moss to the LECA?

lotis146 · #6 03-21-2014, 08:15 AM

I'm a newbie obsessionista as well! I hope that things improve for you and your baby orchids. I'm commenting just to say that several weeks ago I potted up twin keikis I had on a Phal for over a year (roots were 7+ inches long & momma's still struggling :-( ) in small ceramic Orchid pots. I followed the advice of James here to soak them in a fertilizer solution (well I used fertilizer that says it's for roots & blooms). Then I potted them in a mix of bark/charcoal/lava rock with some Sphagnum moss mixed in. The three leaves on each were kind of limp a little wrinkled and the leaves were wrinkling. One of them has more rigid leaves holding themselves horizontal while the other is still a bit limp but not any worse for the wear. I have no knowledge of S/H so good luck with that. My experience was that the leaves were limp and roots wrinkly because they needed more moisture.

Again, I'm learning too so good luck with these little guys! Oh and the others also suggested to me to keep them away from bright light in the beginning.

Keep us posted!
Lotis

Joyorchid · #7 03-21-2014, 08:38 AM

Especially when starting a phal in s/h bottom heat is helpful in getting them established. A seedling mat is ideal for the first few weeks especially when you live in a cold or arid climate. The evaporation just chills them.

Highland Fashionista · #8 03-21-2014, 08:50 AM

I do have them on a seedling mat. They get indirect light. I think perhaps I just need to keep plugging away. Two of the three are not looking so bad...just not making any new growth either. I was expecting them to explode with growth when I got the seedling mat from everything I read. I think maybe I wasn't keeping them moist enough, so I am working on keeping the moisture more consistent......time will tell...