Moving Angreacum and others to SH

[Rothrock42]

I have an Angreacum magdalenae, Angreacum sesquipedale, Aeranthes Hsinying Ramosa, and Trichopilia marginata which are not thriving like my other orchids -- cattleya, dendrobium, neofenitia, catisetum, phal, phrag, paph, y'know a lot of different genera.

So three angrecoids and an oncidiinae.

I've had these for about 8 months to a little over a year and none of them have grown anything and a few have lost a couple of leaves. Additionally I sunburned the magdalenae, so the situation is pretty close to dire.

I think what they have in common is they don't want as much of a wet dry cycle as my other orchids. Given my setup and situation, I'm thinking that I need to move them out of bark and into SH to provide a more consistent level of moisture.

I've read that I need to encourage root growth before I move them. I've given them soaks in Super Thrive, but haven't noticed anything.

Any suggestions on how to save them and how to move them to SH?

[Ray]

You're on the right track in waiting for new roots to emerge.

After treatment, it can take anywhere from two- to six weeks for the hormones to take effect. However, with a synthetic product like Superthrive, its age since manufacturing, and how it has been shipped and stored, will place a huge role in its efficacy.

[Rothrock42]

Thanks for the encouragement Ray. So here is my plan.

Try and keep the bark medium moister than I have, but not too wet.

Order some kelpmax and give the plants a good soak in their current medium with that once I get it.

Wait until I see roots or I can't stand it any more.

Rinse and soak the pellets in Epson salt water. Rinse and soak again in kelpmax.

Transfer.

[DeaC]

Angraecums... Estacion Seca informed me of this site since I have a scottianum on a stick that was being unproductive for me but looks much better now. Very good reading...good luck.

[Rothrock42]

DeaC -- I've seen that site in the past and will take another look. I notice that not too far down the page is an Angcm. magdalenae in LECA. It is a clay pot, so I'm not sure if it is semi-hydro or something else.

Ray -- I'm wondering about using clay pot with a saucer instead of the reserve? Would that be effective?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Rothrock42

Ray -- I'm wondering about using clay pot with a saucer instead of the reserve? Would that be effective?

S/H with a clay pot, sitting in a tray of liquid as the reservoir, is a very good method - if you are growing cool-growing plants in an environment that is too warm.

Using LECA as a medium in any kind of pot without a reservoir is also viable, but it's not semi-hydroponics.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Rothrock42

I have an Angreacum magdalenae, Angreacum sesquipedale, Aeranthes Hsinying Ramosa, and Trichopilia marginata which are not thriving like my other orchids -- cattleya, dendrobium, neofenitia, catisetum, phal, phrag, paph, y'know a lot of different genera.

So three angrecoids and an oncidiinae.

I've had these for about 8 months to a little over a year and none of them have grown anything and a few have lost a couple of leaves. Additionally I sunburned the magdalenae, so the situation is pretty close to dire.

I think what they have in common is they don't want as much of a wet dry cycle as my other orchids. Given my setup and situation, I'm thinking that I need to move them out of bark and into SH to provide a more consistent level of moisture.

I've read that I need to encourage root growth before I move them. I've given them soaks in Super Thrive, but haven't noticed anything.

Any suggestions on how to save them and how to move them to SH?

Your four struggling orchids are known to prefer very high humidity. Only the sesquipedale will likely grow well in a lower humidity range. I think that is most of your problem.

In addition the four have different temperature preferences. Ang. magdalenae in habitat rarely sees temperatures over 70 F / 21C. It grows in Madagascar in high-elevation, wet, cloudy, cool, drizzly forest that resembles Portland or Bend in a rainy fall, when humans outside need to wear heavy jackets.

Ang. sesquipedale is a lowland to intermediate elevation, hot to warm grower from the wet east side of Madagascar. Imagine Honolulu or Singapore weather all year.

I am not familiar with that Aeranthes nor its parents, but they are mostly intermediate growers from high-humidity, wet forests.

I am also not familiar with that Trichopilia, but IOSPE says it is a cool to hot grower from different elevations in wet rain forest. Trichopilias are known to like high humidity.

Switching to semi-hydroponics only works if you can give the plants the rest of the ambience they want.

Ang. sesquipedale makes roots all year if it's happy, the way Phals do. If they roots stay dry for too long, they stop growing. Vandas are the same way. My sesquipedale didn't turn a hair when I moved it to S/H in January, shortly after arrival. My growing area has warm winter days. This is likely to be your plant of those four that adapts most rapidly.

[Rothrock42]

Thanks for the tips ES. I'm going to put the magdalenea in a clay pot with a saucer which will help bring its ambient temp down and hopefully raise the humidity. I'm also going to move it into my bedroom which is a bit cooler than the living room.

That is the only one that I think the problem is both humidity and temperature.

I have a different sesquipedale that is doing well and has been putting out roots, so I think this will be a good experiment to see if the languishing one was just a bit out of its comfort zone.

I'm hoping that the semi-hydro can keep a more even humidity and moistness than the bark.