18 orchids and I need help!

[Jubilee]

Hi,

Obviously, I'm new to the board. I've had several NoID Phals for a while now and suddenly I've managed to get 11 more orchids I know nothing about. I've been lurking about the boards and decided to register and see if I could sweet talk some information/advice out of everyone.

As to how I managed to have the extra orchids, I've got some very tolerant Phal plants and my SO decided that I should have more orchids since he likes them and apparently I grow plants well... heh... I'm not so certain he was right. And he took the shotgun approach to ordering them.

So... I have several of the new 11 that are doing ok and several I'm certain are putting out their last gasps of life right at this moment. I'm surprised the whole lot of them hasn't gathered up their roots and set off for greener pastures. I had started them all out in Miracle Grow orchid dirt, which I now know is a mistake. (Though my Phals do really well in it as far as I can tell)

The list:

E. tampensis
-this guy is one of the unhappy ones. He's got a purple tinge on the edges of his leaves and I don't think his roots are happy at all. And the pseudobulbs (at least I think that's what they are) are shrivelly.

Dendrobium chalmerii
-I've got this guy in the wrong dirt, I know now. He's in some of the Miracle Grow orchid dirt. He was also a freebie from the company he was ordered from. Apparently if you got 10 there was a sickly looking 11th thrown in free. He actually looks nice and glossy with a new leaf starting now. Though he will be repotted soon.

Ascf. Twinkle x Neof. falcata 'White Flamingo' AM/AOS
-This one came with buds and actually bloomed! Beautiful, little white flowers that lasted about two weeks and turned brown. I've since taken it out of the dirt and have it with a 'Special Orchid Mix' by Better-Gro. I think it's doing ok, no brown spots and it seems to be gripping the new media.

Inobulbon munificum
-This guy has the hairy pseudobulbs and they're definitely shrivelly. He's also made the transfer to the new media, but hasn't plumped back up at all. I don't see signs of wilting or browning.

Schom. grandiflora
-Another one still in the Miracle Grow, soon to be transferred, but I think it looks good for the most part.

Laelia Icarus 'Valley Isle'
-This one has very dark, dull leaves with a purple tinge on the edges. I have no idea if this is normal. Another that needs repotted...

Oeoniella polystachys
-This one also has glossy leaves with new growth, but it lost an root that was above the media level. (also still in the wrong dirt).

Bepi. Phoenix 'Kona'
-This guy seems unhappy. I need to find a source for potting accessories because he's way too loose in the pot with the new media. But he seems to have semi-decent roots and a couple that I see have the purple/green tips.

Phal. bellina
-I know this one is similar to the big box Phals (at least it has the same genus), but I don't know if it needs special treatment. I was reading the Phal abuse ends here thread and saw sometimes they need special considerations.

E. parviflora
-This one came with damaged leaves, but seems ok. He's got glossy pseudobulbs with new growth and green roots. He's still in the bad dirt and I'll get him transferred soon.

Prosthechea lancifolia
-This guy is actually blooming! He came with buds and seems to be doing ok. He's got new growth, but a set of the leaves have come out wrinkled (they started that soon after I received him). He's also the biggest of the bunch. The leaves have stopped wrinkling, but are still growing, so I'm taking it as a good sign.


If you're still with me, thank you. I've got a book, Understanding Orchids by William Cullina and I think I've learned something from it, but there's an awful lot of info to process and it doesn't list many of the orchids I have. Any help/advice/anything that can be offered, I will gladly take. I did know enough, at least, to keep the names of the plants with the right one, even if I did get the potting medium horribly wrong....

I've got pictures in the member gallery if anyone wants to take a look there, or I can post a link. I'm not sure what the etiquette is on that. Thanks again for any advice!

[stonedragonfarms]

Welcome to the orchid board, it's good to see you here. I'm afraid that I don't grow any of the plants that you currently own, but I am sure that the others will chime in with advice.
If you could, please tell us what sort of conditions you are growing in: under lights, windowsill, in a greenhouse, etc.
Pictures are encouraged (right in the body of the post or attached to it) as they help us see what you are seeing; they will help with diagnostics et al.
I'm not familiar with the orchid book that you've mentioned, but it's not too surprising that it doesn't go into specifics for most of the plant sin your collection. If you think that you are going to accumulate a fair number of species, you might look for a copy of The Manual of Cultivated Orchids or one of the Orchid Encyclopedias...alternatively, try going to Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia for general culture notes.
I hope that this is of some use to you, I'll zip over and look at your pictures in a moment,
Adam

[Jubilee]

Right now I've got them on the ground under a metal mesh table. The book that I had mentioned that it is good to put orchids outside, but with shade. I am meaning to make a shade table (the outdoor gardening section is awesome for ideas), but there are only so many hours in a day. I live in a small condo (in NW Ohio) with a south facing patio. There are several trees off the patio, but I don't get too much shade from them in the middle morning hours. The spot where I've got the orchids located gets mostly morning sun with some middle day and is shaded by a fence by 1:30-2 pm. Most of this is an 'I think'. I work more than I don't and rarely get a chance to check where the sun hits on the patio.

Alternatively, my back window has a big baker's rack that I keep them in when it's too cold, or we have a storm coming. It doesn't get much light, but the Phal. plants seem to do well there. I do have 4 Phals in bloom. One of them even started as a spontaneous keiki off of a live, blooming plant!

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

Welcome to the orchid board, it's good to see you here. I'm afraid that I don't grow any of the plants that you currently own, but I am sure that the others will chime in with advice.
If you could, please tell us what sort of conditions you are growing in: under lights, windowsill, in a greenhouse, etc.
Pictures are encouraged (right in the body of the post or attached to it) as they help us see what you are seeing; they will help with diagnostics et al.
I'm not familiar with the orchid book that you've mentioned, but it's not too surprising that it doesn't go into specifics for most of the plant sin your collection. If you think that you are going to accumulate a fair number of species, you might look for a copy of The Manual of Cultivated Orchids or one of the Orchid Encyclopedias...alternatively, try going to Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia for general culture notes.
I hope that this is of some use to you, I'll zip over and look at your pictures in a moment,
Adam

Nice job uploading the pictures.
The bark mix that you have your plants in looks fine to me; it might be a little bit too coarse for some of the plants in your collection, particularly those with finer roots, but it will allow for great air flow at the roots, which is desirable. I would recommend that you stick with this sort of mix until you get a feel for growing orchids; the other mix that your plants are in is probably too "heavy" for your plants; remember many of the orchids that are in your collection are epiphytes (tree or branch growing) or lithophytes (rock growing)--they need plenty of air movement around their roots and a very free draining media...otherwise the roots will senesce. The other concern that I have is many of your plants appear to be over-potted; many orchids prefer to be potbound, often the pot is merely something to which to affix their roots and hold steady as opposed to a container within which to grow. Too much room around the root zone can keep roots too moist (encouraging rot), a good rule of thumb is to scale the size of the pot in direct proportion to the roots that the plant has, not in proportion to the top growth of the plant.
Good luck & keep us posted,
Adam

[Jubilee]

Thanks. I do plan on repotting the ones with the more soil type media in there. The only local source I have for new stuff is Lowes and they don't seem to have a great variety. But I have found a couple nice looking websites that ship, so eventually I should be able to find the right stuff.

They all did come in tiny, tiny pots (maybe 1x1). I'll see what I can do about finding or throwing smaller pots...

Thanks again for the info!

[WhiteRabbit]

Glad you found us!

I'm afraid I don't grow any of those - sounds like you are having success already with a few, so anything that has bloomed for you, just keep doing what you've been doing

I'm sure others will be able to help more. IOSPE is a great resource for the species orchids. And you can do web searches by name followed by 'culture'.

Good luck!

[silken]

[QUOTE=Jubilee;501079]Hi,

Welcome to OB. I don't grow any of these either, but since no-one has responded who does grow them, I thought I would look a few up on OrchidWiz and give you a start. Those that need an open mix will go downhill fast in fine dirt like mix.

The list:

E. tampensis
-this guy is one of the unhappy ones. He's got a purple tinge on the edges of his leaves and I don't think his roots are happy at all. And the pseudobulbs (at least I think that's what they are) are shrivelly.

This one takes fairly typical cattleya care, but needs good open well draining mix such as medium bark and possibly some moss and charcoal added. They don't like to dry out but need to be watered and then drain and get air quickly. A small shallow pot is recommended. You might want to get some K-L-N rooting hormone or SuperThrive to help this and others to develop more roots.

It takes medium light. The purple tinge could indicate it is getting the upper level of what it can tolerate.

Dendrobium chalmerii
-I've got this guy in the wrong dirt, I know now. He's in some of the Miracle Grow orchid dirt. He was also a freebie from the company he was ordered from. Apparently if you got 10 there was a sickly looking 11th thrown in free. He actually looks nice and glossy with a new leaf starting now. Though he will be repotted soon.

Not much in OW on this except to grow in dappled light and cool to warm conditions.

Ascf. Twinkle x Neof. falcata 'White Flamingo' AM/AOS
-This one came with buds and actually bloomed! Beautiful, little white flowers that lasted about two weeks and turned brown. I've since taken it out of the dirt and have it with a 'Special Orchid Mix' by Better-Gro. I think it's doing ok, no brown spots and it seems to be gripping the new media.

Sounds like you have this one covered. OW says an open fast draining media. I know some people grow these so maybe try posting this or others as individual posts in the categories for each type to get more info on individual orchid types



Inobulbon munificum
-This guy has the hairy pseudobulbs and they're definitely shrivelly. He's also made the transfer to the new media, but hasn't plumped back up at all. I don't see signs of wilting or browning.

This is in the dendrobium family. It takes fairly low light, fairly average temps-80 in summer 60 to 70 in winter and 10 degrees cooler at night. Fairly high humidity and a bit drier conditions in winter. m any open, well draining media. water well, but then allow to dry slightly before watering again.

Schom. grandiflora
-Another one still in the Miracle Grow, soon to be transferred, but I think it looks good for the most part.

Laelia Icarus 'Valley Isle'
-This one has very dark, dull leaves with a purple tinge on the edges. I have no idea if this is normal. Another that needs repotted...
Should take typical cattleya care. Open fast draining media and dry between waterings. Uually the purple tinges can indicate it is getting high light levels. so long as the leaves aren't burning, it should be OK. For most orchids, dark green leaves mean not enough light and pale green and sometimes purple marks mean too much or the upper level of tolerance.

I'll check the others and add another comment. Most will likely not like that 'dirt' they are in and the sooner they are out the better. Googling the individual plants or contacting the grower for info might help too.

[Jubilee]

Thank you! I wasn't sure even where to start, even after googling most of them. Repotting is definitely on the schedule, as soon as possible.

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board

Just reading through your list now and I'll add comments if I come across something I know. One comment I have is to be careful with them on the ground. The only time I left orchids on the ground I ended up with slugs in the medium and even when I picked them up they stayed with the plants. (I got rid of them finally by soaking the medium in coffee for half an hour each).

[RosieC]

OK, the only one I really know is Phal bellina. It likes a bit more light that standard phals (you should notice it's a bit more line green where they are often darker in colour). Still be careful not to burn it, not sure what sun is like in Ohio, here in the UK I keep this one in a west window behind a sheer curtain (the other phals are in an east window) and it gets bright light through a lot longer part of the day.

I also find this one does well slightly damper than standard phals. You still want to be careful not to over-water and make sure the roots get plenty of air, but it where other phals can cope fine if you forget them and leave them dry several days this one likes to be watered as soon as it's dry to do well.