Please help with a Neofinetia Falcata.

[Kelo]

Google it and you should be able to find it all over the place.

[Shandra]

Originally Posted by LinhT

Remounding can be done with just the regular New Zealand 4A. However, the nicer moss, that IMHO is so much better to work with and dries out faster than the 4A or 3A, is the 5A moss. The strands are much longer, thinner and does not break as easily as the 4A or 3A. If you have a good number of neos to remound, I think the 5A is worth the money. If it's just one, maybe just use the 4A for now.

Sounds like this hybrid was made from varieties that are regular bloomers. So I think it could definitely bloom if it has enough roots to endure a cool, bright, dry winter. It looks like blooming size to me. Also, the leaves look a very nice dark green color so perhaps with more light, it could eventually spike. I have some varieties that only bloom if given high light. You just have to ease it into the higher light levels. Otherwise they can get stressed.

I will be repotting my dads Neos as well, so 5 plants total. I am getting the 5A New Zealand Sphagnum moss, any idea how much I should need?

[LinhT]

Originally Posted by Shandra

I will be repotting my dads Neos as well, so 5 plants total. I am getting the 5A New Zealand Sphagnum moss, any idea how much I should need?

I'm not sure how the New Zealand 5A comes. I've never used that before but I've seen it listed at some online sources.

I've only used either the New Zealand 4A or the Japanese imported 5A moss. When you buy the Japanese 5A, it's best to get it from a vendor who has it in the individual sealed cases. If they get it in mass bulk and break off chunks to sell you, you end up getting more breakage and less of the long strands.

A case of 250 grams covers around 40 neos for me. So if all your neos fit in the K35 pots or smaller, then I think the smallest package size of moss would be enough.

[Becca]

Originally Posted by LinhT

I'm not sure how the New Zealand 5A comes. I've never used that before but I've seen it listed at some online sources.

I've only used either the New Zealand 4A or the Japanese imported 5A moss. When you buy the Japanese 5A, it's best to get it from a vendor who has it in the individual sealed cases. If they get it in mass bulk and break off chunks to sell you, you end up getting more breakage and less of the long strands.

A case of 250 grams covers around 40 neos for me. So if all your neos fit in the K35 pots or smaller, then I think the smallest package size of moss would be enough.

Hi Tracy,

So I didn't realize there was a difference between 5A sphagnum moss available on the market. I bought 5A New Zealand Sphagnum moss from Calwest last year and still had some left over this year. When I was remounding I was thinking there is no way this could be 5A moss? So I looked at what New World Orchids and Orchids Limited is selling online. New World doesn't state it is Japanese imported but Orchids Limited does, however, Orchids Limited Japanese imported moss is still listed as New Zealand moss. Whatever it is, there is a difference! I can't find hardly any long strands for the life of me with what I have now! Oh well....guess I should stop complaining and start repotting, no more orchids for me until I can get around to repotting what I have now! That is my new rule!

Also, I thought it wasn't good for Neo's to dry out completely in between waterings unless it is during the cool winter rest period, is this not correct? I thought letting them get completely dry during the growth and flowering season stresses them out?

[Leafmite]

I feel like a rebel. I have my neo in lava rock and plastic net pot like my other orchids. It blooms faithfully every year, has nice roots, and grows new fans.

[Becca]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I feel like a rebel. I have my neo in lava rock and plastic net pot like my other orchids. It blooms faithfully every year, has nice roots, and grows new fans.

If it works for you and your Neo, by all means don't change anything!

[Shandra]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I feel like a rebel. I have my neo in lava rock and plastic net pot like my other orchids. It blooms faithfully every year, has nice roots, and grows new fans.

That is great. I though about doing mine in a lava rock as well but knew nothing about it really so didn't want to try it with my first orchid. Could you put add a picture? I wass wondering how they look.

[LinhT]

Originally Posted by Becca

Hi Tracy,

So I didn't realize there was a difference between 5A sphagnum moss available on the market. I bought 5A New Zealand Sphagnum moss from Calwest last year and still had some left over this year. When I was remounding I was thinking there is no way this could be 5A moss? So I looked at what New World Orchids and Orchids Limited is selling online. New World doesn't state it is Japanese imported but Orchids Limited does, however, Orchids Limited Japanese imported moss is still listed as New Zealand moss. Whatever it is, there is a difference! I can't find hardly any long strands for the life of me with what I have now! Oh well....guess I should stop complaining and start repotting, no more orchids for me until I can get around to repotting what I have now! That is my new rule!

Also, I thought it wasn't good for Neo's to dry out completely in between waterings unless it is during the cool winter rest period, is this not correct? I thought letting them get completely dry during the growth and flowering season stresses them out?

Becca, I think you're right! Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember Jason saying they had trouble importing the Japanese 5A a couple years ago so they had to get the New Zealand kind. I think I purchased Japanese 5A from Glenn at NWO 3 yrs ago and that was very nice moss. Perhaps the New Zealand 5A is variable?? Not sure. All I know is....I got 2 boxes of 5A at Orchids Limited this year. 250 grams each, $40 per box. And it was about 99% long, unbroken, thin strands. This batch was divine! I almost want to get more boxes to stock up in case they run out next year.

As far as watering, maybe it all depends on your growing conditions. If you're light is bright and you have very low humidity AND it's hot, then I don't think I'd let them get bone dry while they're in spike/ growing new leaves, roots. If you're growing in at least 50% shade and the temps are cool- intermediate w/ good humidity. It should be ok to let them dry out. I think the key is...they need enough moisture to deal with heat when they're trying to bloom or actively grow.

[DelawareJim]

Shandra;

Late to chime in here, but yes, the moss it's in needs to be replaced. For the few that I have mounded, I use 5A moss I got from Jason Fischer here:
Orchids and Orchid Supplies

I bought it in a brick a couple of years ago and it works great for wrapping the roots.
Tracy, aka LinhT, has a couple of good videos on re-mounding Neos on YouTube:
Part 1 is here:

Remounding Neofinetia (1st part) - YouTube

Part 2 is here:

Remounding Neofinetia (2nd part) - YouTube

She's a great source and I've learned a lot from her.

I water mine pretty much weekly and let the moss get completely dry before watering again. I lost one of my first ones to root rot due to overwatering, so I've always a little overly cautious in letting them dry thoroughly.

I also grow a lot of my Neos in regular store bought orchid bark. While not as nice looking as the moss mound, they do just as well and spring is a very busy time for me and I don't have a lot of time to spend remounding Neos. Late 2010, I tried 2 in Ray's semi-hydroponic and they have done very well for me too.

As far as the amount of sun, WhiteRabbit is spot on. In the wild, they grow in the branches of deciduous trees and get almost full sun in the winter and the shade increases as the sun gets stronger and the trees leaf out. For plants that have been under lights, I would start them in full shade for a couple of days and gradually acclimate them to more sun over a couple of weeks like you would do if you were hardening off plants started from seed.

I grow most of mine on east windowsills and move them out to a fairly shady deck when temps get up into the upper 60's to 70's. Full sun on an east windowsill is okay because the glass actually filters out the UV rays that burn the plants. On the deck, they get about 50% shade which means if you lay out a sheet a paper, about half the paper should have random sun spots on it and half should have random shady spots on it. It should stay like that all day or as much of the day as possible. More shade is better than more sun as too much sun will burn the leaves. You may find you need to water more often when outside too.

I fertilise weakly/weekly using MSU fertiliser I got from First Rays at 125 ppm as directed, and kick it up a little to 150 ppm for about a month when roots are starting to grow.

Your plant is old enough to flower and with repotting, more light, and fertiliser, it should flower very nicely. Post pictures when it does, because your cross sounds like it should give some beautiful pink/red flowers.

Cheers.
Jim

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I feel like a rebel. I have my neo in lava rock and plastic net pot like my other orchids. It blooms faithfully every year, has nice roots, and grows new fans.

hehe - I have one mounted, and one in bark mix in a plastic pot. The other is in sphag, but not mounded, and actually in a very small clay pot, styro, and just some sphag tucked in around that.