Stanhopea tigrina in wowen coconut

[Kittyfrex]

So, it was an impulse buy and...i forgot to get one of them baskets. And it's VERY unlikely for me to find them within...oh...probably 200-400km radius.

My fiance had woven me a lose-ish basket from coconut rope. Considering i am slow, it just hit me now that i do not know if filling it with moss and putting the plant inside was good. There are two nodes growing, and i can see some roots, but i am talking long-term. Should i change to a basket asap, or will this do until the plant grows some more? The basket is 100% coconut according to label.

When i say lose-ish, i mean it is a tight weave, but any amount of force, even miniscule, can quite handily push trough.

[isurus79]

Photos would help!

[Roberta]

I think no rush to repot. As long as spikes have a place to "escape" they will. I have a Stanhopea in a big wire basket with holes too big to support the sphagnum medium, so I lined the basket with newspaper. When the paper is wet, it is soft, the spikes had no problem punching through.

So if your woven basket is soft, the spikes will be able to escape... they are quite persistent. I have my smaller Stanhopeas in plastic baskets. When I eee a spike developing that looks like it is having trouble escaping, i just cut out the offending section of basket. I repot when there is not enough basket remaining to hold the hanger.

[estación seca]

A fiancee who supports your orchid habit is a keeper.

[Kittyfrex]

As it's raining, a cropped out part of a pic is all i got (for now). But it's hard to tell how flexible it actually is.

SO the bottom should be openy ONLY for flowers? I tough it had to do with ventilation or what not. The plant itself was labeled young, but that, i think, is up for interpretation.

[Kittyfrex]

Originally Posted by estación seca

A fiancee who supports your orchid habit is a keeper.

He also did me a custom greenhouse in a very awkward place (a passage between a wall and a house). So yes. He mine.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Kittyfrex

As it's raining, a cropped out part of a pic is all i got (for now). But it's hard to tell how flexible it actually is.

SO the bottom should be openy ONLY for flowers? I tough it had to do with ventilation or what not. The plant itself was labeled young, but that, i think, is up for interpretation.

That is a beautiful plant! And definitely blooming size. (Don't plan a vacation next July... that's approximately when it blooms and it is soooo disappointing to see the spike before you leave, and spent, droopy flowers or dried up spike when you return)

The openness is for the flowers... they grow downward, do watch carefully, you might have to make some cuts if the weave is too tight. Or just get a basket in the next few months (wire with BIG holes) or plastic. and repot. (Just scoop up the whole thing and drop into its new basket) There is no rush. These do like to stay pretty wet, I like sphagnum a lot. Bark is hard to keep wet enough - you would need small bark to hold moisture, but with big holes it falls out. Sphagnum holds together.

[Kittyfrex]

Originally Posted by Roberta

That is a beautiful plant! And definitely blooming size. (Don't plan a vacation next July... that's approximately when it blooms and it is soooo disappointing to see the spike before you leave, and spent, droopy flowers or dried up spike when you return)

The openness is for the flowers... they grow downward, do watch carefully, you might have to make some cuts if the weave is too tight. Or just get a basket in the next few months (wire with BIG holes) or plastic. and repot. (Just scoop up the whole thing and drop into its new basket) There is no rush. These do like to stay pretty wet, I like sphagnum a lot. Bark is hard to keep wet enough - you would need small bark to hold moisture, but with big holes it falls out. Sphagnum holds together.

My mom is gonna love that news, she was big on it when i was making choices.
You can think of the weave something like sphagnum moss in terms of elasticity. It really is not hard or stiff material, even more so when wet. If it really comes to that, i think just inserting something to keep an eye open for the spike should do the trick

Now you made me question how my of those orchids i got labeled as young are actually flowering size (all from Wichmans orchids - might of butchered it).

Besdes being wet, anything else i should know about S. tigrina?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Kittyfrex

My mom is gonna love that news, she was big on it when i was making choices.
You can think of the weave something like sphagnum moss in terms of elasticity. It really is not hard or stiff material, even more so when wet. If it really comes to that, i think just inserting something to keep an eye open for the spike should do the trick

Now you made me question how my of those orchids i got labeled as young are actually flowering size (all from Wichmans orchids - might of butchered it).

Besdes being wet, anything else i should know about S. tigrina?

I can't really think of anything special. Those spikes are really strong, so it it is flexible, it should be able to poke its own hole. (Which it will... if you don't want holes in that lovely basket, put it into something else)

Just so you know what you can look forward to, here is mine that bloomed in that newspaper-lined wire basket. You can see that the newspaper is largely disintegrated, but it lasted long enough for the roots to establish to hold the sphagnum in place It bloomed on 18 July. I had others of the same species that bloomed a little earlier in the month.

[Kittyfrex]

I don't actually mind it, as i am clueless as to what else put in there and i'd feel bad not using the basket, considering he actually went out of his wave to learn how to weave them. I have another one, the same principle and radius, just 3 times as deep.
Now that i know you have some, do you ovewinter them outside or inside? My initial idea was to bring it in the greenhouse soon-ish (temps 15-18C night time currently outside, without any indication of dropping bellow 12 any time soon). But as with everything, i've read conflicting reports, some saying down to 40F is still fine for tigrina at least.