Neofinetia and other Neo-influenced Orchids

[Red Orchid]

Nice really nice collection of healthy Neos. It's eye candy for me I am salivating! Great photography as well.

[Pilot]

Thank guys,

Adrienne, I've been eying up the long strand moss at orchids limited...with strands up to 18" that would work perfectly for this. I'm not above getting another sedirea either. Lol.

So I'm headed off on a trip for a few days and now I'm tasked with finding a way to keep these guys from drying out completely whilst gone.

Here's my idea...



I have the top to it as well and a Dow that fits across the top so that the air doesn't stagnate.

Is gone into testing now as I have a few days before I go.

[s.kallima]

It depends how long you are away, but in general up to 10 days is fine for those guys, the moss take a while to dry up all the way inside the mound. Too moist too long is worst than dry a bit... From what I read in you post you have good humidity in your setup, this should be enough, but you should lower the lights as well when you're gone to reduce evaporation and heat.
At least it is my experience growing my Neos in a dry apartment on windowsill

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by s.kallima

It depends how long you are away, but in general up to 10 days is fine for those guys, the moss take a while to dry up all the way inside the mound. Too moist too long is worst than dry a bit... From what I read in you post you have good humidity in your setup, this should be enough, but you should lower the lights as well when you're gone to reduce evaporation and heat.
At least it is my experience growing my Neos in a dry apartment on windowsill

What do you mean lower the lights? And should I to put the glass top on? Ill be gone five days. These dry out in about two to three days.

[jeremiah.chua]

Both of your minmaru-shima look beautiful. I can't even tell which one is the damaged one.

I think by "lower the light" he/she meant, to lower the light intensity so the heat produced doesn't evaporate the water away as fast as the normal rate. Although for 5 days, I don't think it's necessary to do anything different. Leaving them dry for a few days is fine.

What's your set-up like for them? Drying out in three days is rather fast for such a humid and almost-closed environment. I keep my neos on my window sill here in northern CA (Bay Area) with the window open. It takes about 5-7 days for the top layer to get crispy and the inner portion to be near-dry.

[s.kallima]

Yes this is what I meant, decrease light intensity
I typically unplug one of my T5 on the ramp out of 4.
5 Days is fine I would not put them in the glass jar either because o the more stagnant air you may get some rot unless you have a fan above

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by jeremiah.chua

Both of your minmaru-shima look beautiful. I can't even tell which one is the damaged one.

I think by "lower the light" he/she meant, to lower the light intensity so the heat produced doesn't evaporate the water away as fast as the normal rate. Although for 5 days, I don't think it's necessary to do anything different. Leaving them dry for a few days is fine.

What's your set-up like for them? Drying out in three days is rather fast for such a humid and almost-closed environment. I keep my neos on my window sill here in northern CA (Bay Area) with the window open. It takes about 5-7 days for the top layer to get crispy and the inner portion to be near-dry.

It's hard to explain my environment. The atmospheric pressure where I live is much thinner than at sea level and while I can measure relative humidity as that is a function of temperature, I cannot measure how much the air will actually hold in terms of water. With the pressure being so much less than even 1000' mean sea level, at 6500', even with a robust humidifier, things still dry out fast.

When you water your plants do you drench them???

The damage sedirea is the one in the blue pot. It's not noticeable in the pic but obvious in real life. However it's recovered well which is why I have offered to pay the vendor for having sent a replacement.

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by s.kallima

Yes this is what I meant, decrease light intensity
I typically unplug one of my T5 on the ramp out of 4.
5 Days is fine I would not put them in the glass jar either because o the more stagnant air you may get some rot unless you have a fan above

My enclosure has pretty decent air circulation because I don't want dead air pockets in my grow space. I'm leaving them in the glass jar for now minus the top because the hydroton beneath it gives a nice local humidity.

They are growing under t8 lamps for now. I haven't the ability to lessen the light but I have just installed a humidistat that shuts the fan for the humidifier off at 80%. Turns on when it drops to 70 and remains on until 80 is achieved again.

Ok any other tips is helpful. Let me have them as anything I can adapt to my conditions I will in the next few days.

[s.kallima]

Originally Posted by Pilot

When you water your plants do you drench them???

I put mine a few minutes in a bucket so the sphagnum soaks a lot!

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by s.kallima

I put mine a few minutes in a bucket so the sphagnum soaks a lot!

Ok that's good to know because mine are not drenched like that. It would take a few days to dry out even for me in this case. The mounds are hollow and don't really have that much moss to them so I imagine even if I drench it they wouldn't stay dripping we for long.