Beginner Orchid Update - Good and Bad
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd post an update. I've asked a few questions, and gotten a bunch of help. I wanted to give you an update on my progress with Orchids.
Orchids I asked questions about:
1) I had a an Oncidium that I had no idea how to take care of. When I got it home I realized there was no tag. I was encouraged to contact the nursery and they identified it as a Marfitch Howard's Dream. As advised I left it alone until it was done blooming. It had one new growth putting out roots, and started a second from the opposite side while in bloom. I re-potted it into semi-hydroponic after the last bloom fell. As I suspected, it turned out to be TWO plants in the same pot. The plant with the more mature growth is doing better than the plant with the smaller growth, but they are both holding up and putting out new roots. I expect them to adjust well.
2) The sick NoID phalaenopsis did no make it. No matter what I did or how I treated it, new roots died. I suspect a combination of fungus/stem rot and newbie-itis (that horrible disease where you just can't leave a plant alone, and it dies from too much love)
Other orchids:
Two Mini-phals are not thriving. Neither was in great shape when they were gifted to me, and I suspect it is a matter of simply giving them what they need and absolutely no more and they will recover. They have a small amount of roots, and plenty of leaves but are dehydrated. They are in semi-hydroponic, and I believe they simply do not have enough roots to carry the amount of leaves they have.
Two NoID Phals in Semi-Hydro purchased from the $5 table at my local Orchid Nursery. I purchased these after more research and was able to assure myself they had no disease, good roots etc. I practiced patience in the transfer to semi-hydroponics, waiting until new roots were poking out. They are thriving. Both have new roots and root tips as well as new leaves. They have relatively little root loss. One may be putting out a spike. I am encouraging the spike growth by taking it off the heating pad at night.
Two NoID phals in sifted Miracle Grow Orchid Bark. One I believe is a type of harlequin. It is just finishing flowering. It was a gift. It's doing well. Bark makes me nervous, I have bamboo skewers in it and am erring on the side of under-watering. The second was a $5 orchid that I have been waiting to transfer to semi-hydro. It doesn't seem to want to go. It started growing root tips, but no new roots. From Rays seminar at the American Orchid Society I learned that is not a good enough growth pattern for transfer. And today I saw, the cut spike has a new growth, which I believe will be a new branch! This will be the first spike I have grown on my own. So despite being uncomfortable with the bark, I guess I'm finally doing it right?
Last Orchid: A new Sharry Baby Sweet Fragrance. I transferred it to Semi-hydroponics while in bloom. It has a new growth putting out roots that is about 6-7" in size. It was about to overgrow the pot and the media was crumbling in my hands. I'm having trouble with balance because the container I chose was too shallow for the height of the flower stem. (I will learn the right terms!) I have the pot inside a larger pot filled with leca that is inside a clay pot just to keep it from tipping. There were two tiny bulbs buried in the pot, I took them off. They had live roots attached, so I put them in a pot of leca (not semi-hydro) and keep it moist. They will either sprout a new growth or dry up. I didn't want them to rot in the pot. So far it's doing fine, blooms are gorgeous, and smell amazing. No bud blast.
Thank you for all your help. It means a lot that you are willing to pass on the knowledge you have.
Elaine
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