Orchid diary

[rbarata]

What medium are you using?

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by rbarata

What medium are you using?

Do you mean what it's potted in right now or what I plan on potting it in?

Right now it's in whatever the vendor/reseller/nursery/whatever put it in, which is a very decomposed fine bark-mix with some kind of pumice (not sure if the pumice only is on top or if it's present in the entire pot). I've no idea what the roots look like as it's in an opaque plastic pot with only a few holes in the bottom.

I plan on repotting it into a mix of fine bark and perlite and put it in a transparent pot with more holes in to allow for better aeration of the substrate. I want it to be transparent so I can keep an eye on the roots.

I think it's a combination of the decomposed substrate staying too wet, not warm enough and not enough air movement around the roots that's causing the mold.

[rbarata]

From the photos it seems to be potted in large size bark. If that's the case, with those large holes on the side of the pot, you just need to water it less. But of it's in small size bark, then I believe you should repot...but all the sugestions must be followed (or not) depending on your conditions...temp, humidity...do you know what they are?

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by rbarata

From the photos it seems to be potted in large size bark. If that's the case, with those large holes on the side of the pot, you just need to water it less. But of it's in small size bark, then I believe you should repot...but all the sugestions must be followed (or not) depending on your conditions...temp, humidity...do you know what they are?

I think you might be confusing my Oncidopsis Nelly Isler with one of my Phals as there are no holes in the sides of the pot. This is the plant with the mold issue:



The substrate is very decomposed and is more like dirt rather than something an orchid would enjoy. The top layer looked okay, but underneath it, it was a different story (I think the vendor put a fresh layer on top before shipping the plant to the store).

My temps are between 20°C - 25°C right now and the humidity around the plant is around 60%.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by The Mutant

The substrate is very decomposed and is more like dirt rather than something an orchid would enjoy. The top layer looked okay, but underneath it, it was a different story (I think the vendor put a fresh layer on top before shipping the plant to the store).

My temps are between 20°C - 25°C right now and the humidity around the plant is around 60%.

Remember, orchids of the Oncidium group (which includes Nelly Isler) want to be a lot wetter than a Phalanopsis. So it may be OK. That stuff that looks like dirt could actually be a peat mix that commercial growers use, holds moisture but is quite airy. If the plant seems to be staying too wet you could just reduce your watering frequency. A useful approach is to weigh the pot on a kitchen scale or postal scale, then weigh the next day and the next... when the rate of weight loss slows down (not much more water to evaporate) it's time to water again. Likely much more accurate than the skewer method, especially for orchids that like to stay damp.

[rbarata]

I think you might be confusing my Oncidopsis Nelly Isler with one of my Phals as there are no holes in the sides of the pot. This is the plant with the mold issue:

Yes, I was talking about the Phals, not this one. Like Roberta said, Oncidiums like to be always moist.

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Remember, orchids of the Oncidium group (which includes Nelly Isler) want to be a lot wetter than a Phalanopsis. So it may be OK. That stuff that looks like dirt could actually be a peat mix that commercial growers use, holds moisture but is quite airy. If the plant seems to be staying too wet you could just reduce your watering frequency. A useful approach is to weigh the pot on a kitchen scale or postal scale, then weigh the next day and the next... when the rate of weight loss slows down (not much more water to evaporate) it's time to water again. Likely much more accurate than the skewer method, especially for orchids that like to stay damp.

I know they like to stay wetter compared to Phals (thanks to eminent posts on this board). I figured I'd try to keep it as moist as I did with my Paphs when I had them (always used the skewer method). It's the white and green mold I don't like.

I've watered it once since I got it last Sunday and it's time today I think, so maybe it doesn't stay too wet for too long anyway? While I'd prefer that it dried up faster so I could water it more often, I guess this means it's not as much of a panic as I thought.

Alright, I'll hold off once again. You talked me out of it. I think it's the fact that I can't see the roots that's throwing me off. I'm so used to transparent pots and/or repotting as soon as I get a new orchid home. Whatever media the plants come in is usually severely decomposed and/or never a good fit for my conditions. I tend to end up with root rot if I let them stay in it as I'm a wee bit too heavy handed with the watering.

It's losing an old leaf on one of the mature pseudobulbs, but that's perfectly normal I assume?

EDIT: Had a closer look at the plant now and one of the mature pseudobulbs is showing signs of slight wrinkling. So either I'm not watering enough or something's going on with the roots (or maybe both). See, this is what's driving me nuts. The fact that I can't check the roots!


EDIT2: And now I found a snail...

[The Mutant]

Well... Well, well, well, wellwell... The thing you discover when you unpot some orchids.

The snail I discovered when watering the Nelly Isler made me lose all sense of reason and go ahead with the repotting despite wise and good advice of why I shouldn't (you guys are awesome btw).

What I learned is that it's not weird that the mature psudobulbs have started wrinkling since I didn't have one Oncidopsis Nellys Isler, but two! They fell apart when I gently tilted them out of the pot and the substrate fell off of the small root systems.

Baically, they had been grossly overpotted and both me and probably the garden center where I bought them have been tricked. I thought I paid for a well established orchid with two mature pseudobulbs, two growing ones and two spikes, and the garden center most likely thought that that's what they were selling. In reality, I payed for two small plants with one spike each.

I am so angry! I'm going to go to the garden center and complain later today and inform them what the seller has done. They've most likely also paid for more mature plants and instead gotten smaller ones stuffed into one pot.

Here are my Nellys:


You can even see the two peat plugs they were planted in.

Now I'll pot them up in their own, much smaller pots and hope they make it.

[WaterWitchin]

Why not repot them both back into the same pot? Curious...

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Why not repot them both back into the same pot? Curious...

One of them seems weaker so I didn't want it to have to compete with the other one anymore. They're both repotted so all that's left to do is to wait and see what happens.