Sophronitis cernua (Project 14 - Spring 2012)

[Mira-Claude]

For the Canadian who bought their cernua at Hawaiian Botanical, please check them over properly before introducing them with the others. On the two that arrived yesterday, one had a snail, the other spider mites and another small black bug I did not recognized... Wouldn't want you to infect your whole collection!

[bballr4567]

Wow, that's not good at all!

[Wynn Dee13]

Originally Posted by Mira-Claude

For the Canadian who bought their cernua at Hawaiian Botanical, please check them over properly before introducing them with the others. On the two that arrived yesterday, one had a snail, the other spider mites and another small black bug I did not recognized... Wouldn't want you to infect your whole collection!

Sorry to hear about the bugs. You should complain to the vendor at least about the spider mites! Those nasty things are hard to get rid of!

[Bud]

WOW! and I thought algae problem with my first cernua was gross...but snail, spidermites and black bugs is unacceptable. Vendors MUST disenfect the plants before they ship them.

[camille1585]

A snail I can accept/understand, they can hide very well. But spider mites???? Not good. They are fairly easy to eradicate, but still. Sorry about that, I was under the impression that this was a good reputable grower....

[Bud]

Its not your fault Camille, caretakers from farms have no idea what the plants have: they just pick up one plant in the tray and pack them...Vendors must teach their staff that good quality control must always be enforced.
The vendor must be emailed and know about this.

[pasojanice]

Hi Bud,
I agree with you. The responsibility lies with the vendor. He should educate the people he has working with him. I would report it though.
Janice who spend the entire afternoon playing with her orchids!

[Rowangreen]

I've been thinking... it's not really fair on new orchids to come into a household full of plants who've been here a month or two or more. Much better if there's a plant that's been here just a few days to bridge the gap between old and new, right?

That's my story anyway... besides there was a plant at the Orchid Society meeting today that was triste. How could I leave a triste plant?

That's Zygopetalum triste to be exact... Young plant with one mature pulb and one big new growth. Seller said they've bloomed for him at this size, though not many flowers at least until next year.

[camille1585]

Great thinking!!!

[kalanchoe]

I got my project plant in the mail from J&L, along with some TCs!

Here's some pics of my Sophronitis cernua, Bulbophyllum sumatranum, Mediocalcar decorata, and Neostylis Pinky 'Starry Night'. I also received an Angraecum didieri in the mail this week from a separate vendor because I couldn't pass it up!

For the cernua, all of the roots near the outside the pot were completely desiccated and hollow. I trimmed those off and placed it in a small clear pot with chunky bark. I may switch it to a net pot with sphagnum, which is what I would have liked to use if I had the supplies on hand. I need some sort of moisture retention in the form of either the regular pot or sphagnum due to my environment and watering habits.

Any opinions on which of those potting choices might make this plant happier- a regular clear pot (with drainage on the bottom but solid sides) with bark, or a net pot with sphagnum? My goal is to have it become dry every few days so I won't need to attend to it daily. I grow on windowsills that have a bit of direct sunlight in the morning followed by bright indirect light the rest of the day. My house is air-conditioned to about 72 degrees day and night, though I'm sure the plants get a couple of degrees warmer during the day since they're in the window. What do you guys think?