My first Neos

[Ranchnanny]

Marissa, Congrats on your new Neo. Was it already potted when you bought it? I got one on Wed. from Asiatic Orchids and I potted mine in a similar manner. It was very hard and I still have the inverted pot inside. I am waiting for the moss to really dry so I can remove the pot. If that doesn't work I am going to make a ball out of chicken wire then cover it with moss to help keeps its shape.

What is the name of your new Neo?

Sheridan

[Marissa]

Photos shows how it was when I got it from the nursery for $23. I unpotted it but I only have 2 neo pots so I had to mount the rest on a grapewood.

Originally Posted by gmdiaz

Love your new Neos in their pretty pots!!

What kind are they, do you know?

Unfortunately I don't, the nursery owner could not tell me or did not want to tell me . As far as I can remember, the flowers were white and did not have the long thingy hanging down.

Originally Posted by Ranchnanny

Marissa, Congrats on your new Neo. Was it already potted when you bought it? I got one on Wed. from Asiatic Orchids and I potted mine in a similar manner. It was very hard and I still have the inverted pot inside. I am waiting for the moss to really dry so I can remove the pot. If that doesn't work I am going to make a ball out of chicken wire then cover it with moss to help keeps its shape.

What is the name of your new Neo?

Sheridan

I potted them myself, I had to re-do it because the sphag was collapsing after a few weeks so this time I put some Hydroton inside the pot 2/3 full and put the inverted clay pot wrapped with sphag on top of the Hydroton. I left the clay pot inside to prevent the Sphag from collapsing.

[Ranchnanny]

Marissa you did a great job. I like your idea of using Hydroton in the bottom of the pot and leaving the inverted clay pot inside the moss. I finally took the plastic pot out from under my moss. It was kind of flimsy maybe there is not enough moss. I would hate to loose my Neo cause it was a spendy little thing.

So if I have this right we let the moss completly dry then water? I am using a spray bottle to moisten the moss I am afraid to use to much water force cause it would demolish my moss mound .

My Neo has varigated leaves Neofinetia Falcata 'Higashi De Miyako' can't wait to see it bloom.

Good Luck with your Neo's

Sheridan

[Ranchnanny]

By the way Marissa I really like the Neo's mounted on the grapewood.

Sheridan

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Ranchnanny

So if I have this right we let the moss completly dry then water? I am using a spray bottle to moisten the moss I am afraid to use to much water force cause it would demolish my moss mound .
Sheridan

What kind of sphag moss are you using? The long stranded NZ moss works like a charm. When I got my Neos I also got a few very long strands of moss. The mound is absolutely perfect and doesn't fall apart. I tried to do my other neo and my sedirea japonica with short strand sphag, and it just didn't want to stay in place. So no mounds for them. When Glenn come to the UK next year, I'm ordering moss!

For the watering, I'm new to Neos, but I mostly spray them. Before I would water when it was dry, but I started having root rot problems. Now I give a slight watering once in a while, and spray as soon as the moss is crunchy. I don't know if it is the right way to go about it!

[Ranchnanny]

Camille, I am using NZ Spagum moss. Here is a photo of my Neo.

Sheridan

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Ranchnanny

Camille, I am using NZ Spagum moss. Here is a photo of my Neo.

Sheridan

What I was trying to say was that there are different grades of NZ moss, which have different strand lengths. The strands I had were close to a foot long, so once I had wrapped then around the roots, I tucked in the end to keep it from unraveling.
Nice Neo by the way!

[LinhT]

Originally Posted by Marissa

I do Lin, and want more of them especially the bean leaf kind. I don't post much because I have to crop the photos each time I post. Do you know any place or site that specializes in these little guys which have a reasonable price? I can sacrifice my lunch allowance to start my collection.

Marissa, it all depends on what kind of neo you are looking for. The more common varieties are pretty affordable for the most part. The main vendors to check out (if you're looking for more variety to choose from) are Seed Engei (seller name "Japaneseorchids" on ebay, they go out to CA for shows often too), newworldorchids.com and orchidweb.com. Glenn at NWO has a more complete listing of his inventory so maybe you can start by checking his list. I bet if you emailed Glenn and gave him a description of your heart's desire, he could hook you up with something nice. Jason (orchidweb.com) only has 1/3 to 1/2 of his listed so it's hard to tell what he has unless you email him or go to the nursery. He has pretty much everything from really nice and cheapy to "out of this world" expensive. He sold a neo (Houmeiden, I think) last year for $3500. I am one of his neo "crazies" but I was NOT the one who bought that. If you're looking for suggestions on specific ones, I'm sure gmdiaz, shakkai and I would be happy to help you shop

[LinhT]

I don't know about the rest of you. I believe I'm ready to put down the 5A moss, step away from the black plastic pot and join Neos Anonymous.

Yeah, right.

[Ranchnanny]

Camille I wasn't aware there were different types of Spagum. Mine just says AAA Grade. It doesn't have really long fibers although some are long. Where did you get yours? Do you have to specify the type?

Sheridan