Brand new to neos - Orchid Board

rangiku · #1 11-10-2010, 12:38 PM

Hi everyone. Dr. Glen Lehr was the featured speaker at last night's Massachusetts Orchid Society meeting. Somehow 4 neos and 1 den followed me home. I have no idea how this happened. Really. I mean it.

I have a couple of questions. First, how many Biogold pellets per gallon do you use to fertilize? I read in Tracy's remounding thread that she uses 8 per gallon but I wasn't sure if that was just for soaking the roots before remounding.

Second, all of the plants are in 2 1/2" seedling pots - none are mounded. Should I wait until the spring to do this (after watching Tracy's video 20 times)? Can the den be mounded as well?

TIA
Adrienne

jrodpad · #2 11-10-2010, 02:33 PM

Second Tuesday of the month! Shoot - I completely forgot... urgh.

See you at the next meeting - assuming I can remember!

Doh,

- J

rangiku · #3 11-10-2010, 04:38 PM

Next meeting is the Christmas Party and starts at 7pm. There will be a show table. See you then. if not then the meeting in January.

LinhT · #4 11-10-2010, 05:42 PM

Hi Adrienne

So Glen was the one who gave the presentation at your OS this month??

I'm just kinda surprised because somebody else PM'ed me several months ago on OB to ask for my permission to use my remounding videos for a presentation this month at the Massachusetts OS meeting. Perhaps he did not end up giving the talk.

In regards to your questions...

I still use about 6 - 8 pellets per gallon of water when I fertilize them every 3 - 4 weeks during the growing season as well as for soaking the roots before remounding. I grind up the pellets and mix it into the water and just use a watering can to water over the plants.

If your plants are seedlings, I would not mess with putting them in a moss mound at this point. Seems like neo plants with at least 1 mature fan do ok when adjusting from greenhouse to a home environment. However, seedlings, on the other hand, can be finicky during adjustment. Later on, when your plants have a more established root system, you can probably try to mound them in moss if you choose to. Keep in mind, mounding in moss is not the only one way to grow them. There are people on OB who have been growing neos in S/H for a few years very successfully. So jthey're not all that picky. Just experiment and go with what works best for you and your conditions. Don't worry, most varieties (just don't get any expensive ones yet) are pretty hardy and will put up with quite a bit of neglect as long as the light and temps are not too high and RH is decent.

The dend mon you can mound in moss if you like but not necessary. I mound mine just for giggles. If you grow the dend mons in moss, be careful about fertilizer. I was told by another grower to never fertilize them if grown in moss but I think Glen does use Biogold on them.

Congrats on your new babies and good luck!

Brotherly Monkey · #5 11-10-2010, 10:16 PM

Sorry to ask a noobish question, but are you guys referring to the fish food? And if so, why are you using it to fertilize, as opposed to a basic plant fertilizer?

rangiku · #6 11-10-2010, 11:32 PM

Thanks for your advice, Tracy. Yes, Glen did give the talk. Your video wasn't shown, but I will give the newsletter editor the link to both videos as well as the thread on OB so people will know how to remound. Fortunately we have a married couple who are experts on neos - they won an AOS award this past weekend for their display of variegated neos- who can help if needed.

I will admit do have my eye on a variegated Sedirea japonica - so you think I should wait a bit before I get one?

Brotherly Monkey, Biogold is a Japanese fertilizer that was recommended by Glen Lehr of New World Orchids: Welcome to Biogold Web!! organic fertilizer ::: What is Biogold? :::

LinhT · #7 11-11-2010, 07:05 AM

Oh that's fine, no big deal. I was just trying to figure out who that guy was who PM'ed me. There aren't many people in the U.S. who give Neo talks at OS meetings and I didn't know who he was. The videos are not very professional looking so I'm perfectly fine with them NOT being shown at an OS meeting

but he asked politely and I couldn't say no.

As for the Sedirea, I think as long as you're willing to do some research and read about how neos/ sedireas grow in their native habitat, then it should be fine to spend money on that 1st expensive plant. The Baker sheets give excellent information on temps, rainfall and humidity for each month of the year for each species. Take time to read through that and try your best to mimic those conditions in your grow area and they should do fine.
Neofinetia falcata Culture
If you don't have time to read up on how they grow in their native habitat, then I'd say, hold off on those expensive purchases.

New World Orchids and Orchidweb both give detailed info on growing conditions also.

I wouldn't worry too much about fertilizer or mounding in moss. The hardest thing is probably finding a way to give them the cool, dry winter rest, especially if you don't have a greenhouse or the correct outdoor conditions.

RC@MA · #8 11-11-2010, 09:07 AM

Hi Tracy
Just a clarification regarding the use of your excellent video. I am the guy who asked to use it. I had been asked to do a workshop at the Massachusetts Orchid Society's annual show (Nov 5-7) on mounding Neofinetias or Japanese orchids. Your video was, I thought, a good lead-in or visual representation to show a group of people at the event. And I thought it went very well.
It had nothing to do with nor was it intended to be part of Dr Lehr's presentation as a guest speaker the following Tuesday at our monthly meeting of the Mass OS. They just happened in the same month.
Sorry if there was a misunderstanding on the event, but it had been intended as a part of a workshop/repotting thing during the show.
Glenn Lehr is a long time friend and we enjoyed his visit and presentation.
Thanks Again

LinhT · #9 11-11-2010, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RC@MA

Hi Tracy
Just a clarification regarding the use of your excellent video. I am the guy who asked to use it. I had been asked to do a workshop at the Massachusetts Orchid Society's annual show (Nov 5-7) on mounding Neofinetias or Japanese orchids. Your video was, I thought, a good lead-in or visual representation to show a group of people at the event. And I thought it went very well.
It had nothing to do with nor was it intended to be part of Dr Lehr's presentation as a guest speaker the following Tuesday at our monthly meeting of the Mass OS. They just happened in the same month.
Sorry if there was a misunderstanding on the event, but it had been intended as a part of a workshop/repotting thing during the show.
Glenn Lehr is a long time friend and we enjoyed his visit and presentation.
Thanks Again

You're very welcome, Ralph. I'm glad it turned out well and was useful for your purposes.

rangiku · #10 11-11-2010, 11:30 AM

OMG, Ralph is here? He is part of the husband and wife team (I'll let you guess which one he is) who won the AOS award last weekend for their spectacular display of variegated neos. I was unable to attend their workshop on neo mounting techniques on Sunday

Perhaps you run the workshop at one of our future meetings.

It is their display that got me interested in neos and Ralph's wife helped me pick out the plants I bought from Glen and I learned about Sedirea japonica from her. Domo arigatou gozaimasu.