What media dries the most evenly?

[bil]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Angraecum sesquipedale should be very fragrant at night. Unfortunately, Angraecums have begun getting attention from people who like to show orchids which means that they are being hybridized for the appearance and size of the flowers. When that happens, fragrance often falls by the wayside. I actually had a Brassavola nodosa that had beautiful flowers but no fragrance (I took it through a few blooming cycles to be certain).

What a crock.

When I used to have some pigeons, I discovered there was a strain of pigeons called Beauty Homers. They were the absolute image of what a homer should look like, but couldn't home for toast.

As an amusing note, there is a strainn of pigeons that are HUGE. Their name? Runts.

[Leafmite]

Life can be pretty amusing at times. We get so caught up with the appearance of pigeons or flowers that we forget the other characteristics that made them special in the first place!

I would give this one a couple of blooming cycles. But...no fragrance? Now I am worried about mine. :|

[Pinkeed]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

What on earth is the point of growing B. nodosa WITHOUT its divine fragrance?

I didn't realize these are supposed to be fragrant!?!!?! I just liked the look of the flower... The one I have has flowered at least once in the past I can tell from the left over spike, but never for me.

bil Sphagnum moss does seem like a good idea to keep it moist, my concern would be that it wouldn't get enough airflow though. Do you wait for yours to completely dry out?

Leafmite Thanks for the links! I might try the lava rock, though I don't have any at the moment. Do you just get yours from home depot or lowes???

Thoughts....
I know pot within a pot method will work. I need to determine how often watering would take place though.

Lava rock if I can get it locally I can start doing some experiments on retention. I have a Dove Orchid that needs to be repotted too, so I might that after checking out the media.

Ecoweb I would have to order. I think I might have a harder time figuring out how to use this correctly. It doesn't seem to hold much water. Is it more for stabilization and then you water more often?

Orchidtop seems to be the only place that sells the larger seramis. I'm not getting the tiny stuff again because it just ends up all over the place and it's driving me nuts! Maybe I'll try the tiny stuff that I have on the really tiny orchids the next time they need repotting.

Rather than make another post I just decided to edit this one:
Ok, so according to the links on Darwin's Orchid the roots are supposed to be a greenish gray. But mine have always been brown and are still alive!???!! Which is why I thought they didn't photosynthesize, but it appears that they are actually supposed to? And I am sure they are alive because I had to cut some during the mold/fungus episode. I even double checked the tag just to assure myself I wasn't crazy, but nope still Angraecum sesquipedale. Do suffocated roots turn brown and maybe they were that way since the beginning? This one is not a new acquisition, but one I have had for 2 or 3 years.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Pinkeed

bil Sphagnum moss does seem like a good idea to keep it moist, my concern would be that it wouldn't get enough airflow though. Do you wait for yours to completely dry out?


Ok, so according to the links on Darwin's Orchid the roots are supposed to be a greenish gray. But mine have always been brown and are still alive!???!! Which is why I thought they didn't photosynthesize, but it appears that they are actually supposed to? And I am sure they are alive because I had to cut some during the mold/fungus episode. I even double checked the tag just to assure myself I wasn't crazy, but nope still Angraecum sesquipedale. Do suffocated roots turn brown and maybe they were that way since the beginning? This one is not a new acquisition, but one I have had for 2 or 3 years.

No, it necer dries out because it really seems to prefer to be wet all the time.

As for the roots, they are dry and brown, and you would be forgiven for thinking they are dead. However, water them and they throw out new roots very quickly.

Don't cut off dark brown roots thinking they are dead!

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

What on earth is the point of growing B. nodosa WITHOUT its divine fragrance?

It is due to judging. Judges are just interested in the appearance of the flowers and do not care whether the orchid has retained the fragrance. Many of your fragrant species are often found, now, with no fragrance at all for it has been lost through breeding. The nodosa did have lovely flowers, was a vigorous grower and bloomed often. It simply had absolutely no fragrance. It was happily taken off of my hands by someone at my OS.

With so many of the species Angraecums becoming extinct, I cringe when I see that some now have names. It has begun....

The same is happening to roses. My father's hobby has been roses and he cannot believe how many tea and and floribunda roses have no fragrance now.

---------- Post added 03-18-2017 at 12:11 AM ---------- Previous post was 03-17-2017 at 11:06 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Pinkeed

Leafmite Thanks for the links! I might try the lava rock, though I don't have any at the moment. Do you just get yours from home depot or lowes???

I bought the last bag of lava rock at Lowes. I like to rinse it in a bucket to get the dust out and then dump the water outside (so that the dust doesn't clog the drain).

I don't have a dove orchid so I am not sure what medium is best for them. Depending on the orchid, I either grow in NZ sphagnum moss (Bulbos, Dracs, Masdies, Cyncnoches), mounted or in red lava rock.

Good luck with your sesquipedale. People seem to grow them in almost everything.

[Pinkeed]

Originally Posted by bil

No, it necer dries out because it really seems to prefer to be wet all the time.

As for the roots, they are dry and brown, and you would be forgiven for thinking they are dead. However, water them and they throw out new roots very quickly.

Don't cut off dark brown roots thinking they are dead!

bil No worries. I only cut the ones that were hollow with the outside coming off. I just have had the plant for a while and roots have been brown since day 1. So I just thought they were brown like slipper roots. But after looking at pictures noticed they should have come in greenish gray. So quite possibly I have never had a new root. It was growing a new leaf though before the cat broke the pot. It did have some kind of infection (mold/fungal) when I got it, but I fixed it after 2-3 weeks (and that was years ago). So the lower leaves in particular have never been that healthy.

Leafmite Thanks! I will have to stop by Lowes over the weekend and check out the lava rock. It sounds like it might work out better than bark, but who knows?

As for dove orchids they are pretty fast growing (during their growing season) and vigorous. Just can't overwater in dormancy (I have messed that up before, but I guess we all learn from our mistakes). As they have a tendency to do this one has overtaken it's pot and is putting out more and more roots. It's currently in moss, but I'm not sure if I want to keep it in this media because of the dormant period. It's also super unstable so I have it in a second pot to stabilize it. It's terrestrial and likes a lot of water while it's growing.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Pinkeed

bil No worries. I only cut the ones that were hollow with the outside coming off. I just have had the plant for a while and roots have been brown since day 1. So I just thought they were brown like slipper roots. But after looking at pictures noticed they should have come in greenish gray. So quite possibly I have never had a new root.

The roots start out green, and then turn greenish grey, and finally end up brown and dead looking.

[Leafmite]

When I bought my sesquipedale, two years ago, I suspected that it had no good roots and, certainly, it did not. I encouraged root growth by using a seaweed product I bought off of Amazon just for it. If yours hasn't grown roots, that might be worth a try. Just look for a product that has a high rating.

[estación seca]

A lot of people write that Angraecum sesquipedale doesn't do well with root disturbance, and breaking roots really sets it back. It does extremely well for me in semi-hydroponics with clay balls (LECA.) It likes frequent watering and warm temperatures all year. My seedling is constantly making new growth.

What do you mean by dove orchid - Peristeria elata? This is a terrestrial orchid that prefers to stay quite moist during the warm season. A potting medium similar to that for Cymbidiums suits it well. It gets a very dry winter in habitat. If you want it to grow and grow and grow, keep watering and fertilizing it all year. If you want it to bloom, it needs the dry winter rest. There are a fair number of threads here dealing with Peristeria elata. Realize it is a large plant, with leaves easily over 3 feet / 1 meter tall when it is happy.

[AnonYMouse]

You're all still talking about this or have you gone off on a tangent? Here's some stuff I've accumulated (not pictured: regular LECA, Orchiata, various forms of tree fern, CHC). Bonsai mix, Akadama and Kanuma are for terrestrials I've recently got into.