Hello From NorCal! - Orchid Board

ampaud · #1 12-05-2016, 08:02 PM

Hello all!

I'm Amber, I live in Northern California, and this year I have become positively obsessed with orchids. I have several in my collection (almost embarrassed by the number) and in a few varieties.

One of my favorites is a lovely Brassia I named "Beetlejuice," a gorgeous Miltonia named "Milly," a few Phals, and an oncidium with a white/pink bloom. I love my Paphs as well, and they do best sitting on my piano in low light.

The hardest problem I have right now is knowing what to do in the dormancy period - about half my plants do not currently have blooms. The Phals are easy to check for health because their roots are green and firm, but I have a harder time diagnosing the Brassia in particular - it has a new growth (pictured) but it hasn't changed in size in a while, and I don't know enough yet about what the roots are supposed to look like to know if it's still growing.

Any advice is needed and appreciated! Happy to be part of the group!

Amber in Santa Rosa

Leafmite · #2 12-05-2016, 08:08 PM

I do not think most of your orchids have a dormancy period (I am not sure about the Paph as I do not grow them). Dormancy is when a plant stops growing and 'rests.' When they are growing new leaves and putting out new pseudobulbs, they are definitely not dormant.

ampaud · #3 12-05-2016, 08:14 PM

You're right, I misspoke - I don't necessarily mean dormancy, but as the general temperature is dropping, is it customary that the growth would slow a bit?

Leafmite · #4 12-05-2016, 08:33 PM

How cool are your temperatures?

ampaud · #5 12-05-2016, 08:36 PM

In the apartment I would say it can get down to 60. I certainly hope it isn't getting cooler than that. Normally I expect the inner temperature to be around 65-70. This summer was an odd one and I think my Brassia got blasted by the fan, which caused it to have some spots and lose some leaves. But the new growth had me hopeful - it isn't cold enough to be causing bud blast on my other plants (knock wood for those not bloomed yet) but the new growth spike is now sitting at 3.5 inches and doesn't seem to be budging.

Any advice for how the roots should look, other than not mushy?

AJW · #6 12-05-2016, 10:14 PM

Welcome don't be embarrassed by the number,most of us get embarrassed by the space or lack there of.
Enjoy I am sure your collection will grow even further and you will be amazed at the short space of time it takes.

ampaud · #7 12-05-2016, 10:15 PM

Indeed - I never thought Trader Joes would be a place that I wouldn't be allowed unsupervised!

estación seca · #8 12-06-2016, 02:03 AM

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You can be embarrassed by your family, but never by your orchids.

You don't mention it, but your orchids need to have drainage holes in their pots. I suspect (hope?) they do.

The general rule is to continue watering a plant in active growth. Many hybrids in the Oncidium group (including Brassia) make new growths throughout the year without regard to the calendar. Many species grow only once per year. Growths develop much faster in warmer temperatures.

Hybrid Phals can be tricky for some people in sphagnum moss. Overwatering is easy and the roots rot. Be sure to let the moss dry throughout the pot before watering, especially during the cooler winter. It may take a very long time for a pot full of wet sphagnum to dry in temperatures around 60-70 F / 15-21C so many moss growers don't fully saturate the moss when watering. There are two excellent threads here on Phals:

Using skewers to determine when to water

The Phal abuse ends here.

Paphs should not dry completely at any time. They also don't want to be soggy wet. Water them when the skewer is almost dry. Paphs don't do well with water containing lots of dissolved minerals. If your water leaves lots of spots on your windows when you spray them, you probably have too-salty water for Paphs. Try and use collected rain, or reverse osmosis water instead. And don't use softened water on orchids; the machines take calcium out of the water and replace it with sodium. This isn't good for plants. A few types of water softeners use potassium instead of sodium; this may be OK for plants.

Tindomul · #9 12-06-2016, 02:22 PM

Welcome to the Orchid Board, you do have a nice collection.

ampaud · #10 12-07-2016, 02:37 AM

Thank you so much for the wonderful tips, everyone!

I do have ventilated pots, thank goodness. I learned the hard way how easy it was to "suffocate" a Phal with overwatering and not enough air flow. In fact, most of the ones I have picked up recently have been positively PACKED in sphagnum moss - one of which, a mini, had virtually no roots left. I certainly hope I can revive it.

I love using the moss for my Paphs because they like to be wet, as for the Miltonia. But I use a moss/bark mix for the rest. I don't like using only bark because I feel it doesn't hold moisture at all - not having moisture can be just as bad as too much. I even had my husband soak some bark first before I used it, and it still seemed to make no difference. I might warm up to it if I have to, but thus far I like to mix them.

I really appreciate all your help! So great to be part of this community (and avert my eyes from the judgy stares of my husband as he peruses my menagerie) Hey, he can have his carnivorous plants, I can have my orchids!!