I recently purchased and recieved Iwanagara Apple Blossom 'Fantastic' from Hausermann's Orchids. It is in a 6 in pot and very healthy. My question is would this orchid be a good candidate for the s/h medium?
Hi Sheridan! I have an Iwanagara Apple Blossom that has been in s/h for about a year....it took a long time for it to adjust....it bloomed for me this year after it put out a new growth, I was very surprised! It now has two new growths on it....the roots don't look that wonderful even after a year....but I am just going to leave it and let it do it's thing. I think you should go for it!
Becca, I went and did it I put the Iwanagara Apple Blossom in s/h today. It had tons of roots and the bark medium was breaking down. What a job getting all the bark out of the root system but its done and in s/h. It had a couple of new growths so I am hopeful I will get a flower or two.
I put an Apple Blossom into S/H about a month ago. I made sure that it had a new growth coming and that the new growth had new root growth. I expect the old roots to all die. Over the month the 3 backbulbs first shriveled up some and now they seem to be fuller. The new growth has increased in size. I think it is recovering. After about 6 months experimenting with all of my plants in s/h I mostly expect old roots to die and know that I will be patient until the new roots have taken over and then I will be fine for the long term. S/H is not an immediate, miracle cure. For at least some plants I think it is major surgery that pays off in the long term but you have to put up with some short term pain.
Terryos, I am a big fan of s/h medium as all of my orchids are in s/h and they are doing great. All of my rescue orchids from the big box stores were in really bad condition and now they are growing like crazy...