My First Rebloom!

[Bud]

Did you try to repot it? I suspect there is a ball of moss under the roots...the leaf is pleating...if you have two plants that is way too cool...a red and a white one!

[quiltergal]

I agree with everyone else. You have two separate plants in the same pot. Who doesn't like a two 'fer? LOL

I also agree that it may need to be watered a bit more frequently. The pleated leaves are the tell-tale sign.

[scy]

Here are pictures of it on day 3. It's opened up all the way. There is a tiny bud behind it, but it's so small that I won't know if it'll open. Will more spikes grow throughout the season? I do not see any other spikes. Then again, I didn't exactly want to bother it by prying apart any leaves to peek.




I have repotted all of my orchids. I repotted this one when I smelled a foul odor. It turned out that it was potted in a sphag bark mix and the medium was moldy in the center. I lost a lot of roots as it adjusted to a bark only mix. I packed it with styrofoam to allow for better aeration, but still had mold spores on the wooden skewer. Based on advice from people on OB, I water by soaking it for 15 minutes (room temp) and just decided to water it less often - which is why there is pleating in the leaves. In the summer, the mix seemed dry in about 2 days but I was afraid of overwatering and killing it, so I decided to just wait and water it once a week.

When I repotted, I cleaned up the roots. I don't think it's two plants, because it's all connected. I do admit that when I saw the bloom, it was drastically different from the avatar. It never occurred to me that it could be a different plant all together, since they were all connected when I repotted. I was just happy to see a bloom!

Kelo: I put the wire around it, because all the leaves fell all over the place. I have them sitting in homemade humidity trays - tupperware filled with PrimeAgra and water (with a tiny bit of physan solution to prevent algae). I have 2 orchids per humidity tray so I didn't want the leaves to fall all over my other orchid.

[Zoi2]

It's a beautiful bloom, congratulations!
How warm has the plant been kept this summer? Growing too warm will distort color, I have a den bigibbum compactum that flowers deep pink/purple in the winter and white/purple in the warm summer.
Joann

[silken]

Well, since it bloomed, it must be happy! You will only get spikes from new growths. so if there are more new growths, then there is a good chance. Milts usually only bloom from spring to fall, but if they are grown in the house where the temps aren't too cool, it may still bloom.

I can't imagine what would cause such a change in looks to that flower if it is the same plant. Using lots of Merit or some chemical could cause some change but still...

It's lovely anyways and I think you should keep us posted on this thread the next time you get blooms!

[Kelo]

Originally Posted by scy

I have repotted all of my orchids. I repotted this one when I smelled a foul odor. It turned out that it was potted in a sphag bark mix and the medium was moldy in the center. I lost a lot of roots as it adjusted to a bark only mix. I packed it with styrofoam to allow for better aeration, but still had mold spores on the wooden skewer. Based on advice from people on OB, I water by soaking it for 15 minutes (room temp) and just decided to water it less often - which is why there is pleating in the leaves. In the summer, the mix seemed dry in about 2 days but I was afraid of overwatering and killing it, so I decided to just wait and water it once a week.

When I repotted, I cleaned up the roots. I don't think it's two plants, because it's all connected. I do admit that when I saw the bloom, it was drastically different from the avatar. It never occurred to me that it could be a different plant all together, since they were all connected when I repotted. I was just happy to see a bloom!

Kelo: I put the wire around it, because all the leaves fell all over the place. I have them sitting in homemade humidity trays - tupperware filled with PrimeAgra and water (with a tiny bit of physan solution to prevent algae). I have 2 orchids per humidity tray so I didn't want the leaves to fall all over my other orchid.

I think that, by the look of the wire, that that may add to rotting problems in the middle of the plant; there wont be enough air circulation. I would suggest that you have separate humidity trays for them as any potential problems would spread to neighbouring plants.

[scy]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful compliments! I was just so happy that it lived! Blooming was just a big bonus for me!

Zoi2: I grow my orchids indoors in an eastern facing window behind a sheer curtain. The temperatures were in the 80s-90s in the summer.

Silken: There were quite a few new growths. It's hard to tell which were from this year as opposed to the previous year, since they are all over the place. Some of them did not get very tall due to the root loss. I haven't used any pesticides or chemicals on this orchid. I will definitely post an update if I see any other blooms.

Kelo: Thanks for the suggestion. I will remove it after it's done blooming. I just tried to remove it a few minutes ago, but it's really wedged in there. Actually now that I think about it, I just tossed a plant that didn't make it. I'll sterilize that clip (it's 1 size up) and use that for this milt. As for the leaves looking that way, I goofed when I repotted and put too many styrofoam pieces at the top. When I watered it, some of the water got into the leaves and it led to some yellowing and browning. I cut off some of those leaves, but couldn't do more without having to unpot it and really get in there. I put the ring to keep the plants in a small area so they would fit on my seedling mat. I keep them on a mat during the winter, since the night temps can get to 45 degrees.