New N. Falcata Pink ShowerxLavender dream in spike. Can I kokedama?

[bumbletowne]

I recently received a new Neofinetia falcata "pink shower x Lavender dream" from Seattle Orchids. I purchased at a lower price because it was 'not in spike' according to the website but when it arrived it had a tiny spike just starting.

I want to know if I can still put it in kokedama at this stage.

Pic:

[Shoreguy]

No, it cannot be put into Kokedama at any stage.

Neofinetia are not terrestial, but epiphytes and therefore their roots would be stifled enclosed in soil.

Pot in a ball of sphagnum, or a mixture of seedling bark hopefully mixed with shredded tree fern for additional aeration.

[bumbletowne]

Neofinetia falcata are traditionally mounted in hollow sphagnum balls. The art of putting them in these sphagnum balls is called kokedama. I have 2 in kokedama already... including one that is 7 years old. Im asking if I can traditionally mount when it is putting up a new spike. If i can trim spike and mount, or if it is better to wait until flowering is complete.

[Shoreguy]

Sorry, I thought kokedama had soil in the interior.

Whatever you do, do not cut off the spike. That would encourage the plant to form another spike causing it to expend more energy to initiate the spike. Just let it do what it wants to do. If growing the spike is too much for it to deal with, it will abort it and probably not immediately initiate another.

Since you have succeeded in growing other neos with kokedama, I see no reason why you cannot do so with this new acquisition.

Just make sure the roots touch the interior wall of the kokedama and are not hanging freely.

[Hakumin]

Originally Posted by bumbletowne

Neofinetia falcata are traditionally mounted in hollow sphagnum balls. The art of putting them in these sphagnum balls is called kokedama.

Shoreguy is mostly right, Kokedama, 苔玉, usually have soil in the middle. Kokedama were originally developed to either showcase the live moss or to showcase terrestrial plants.

The potted mounds of sphagnum moss that Neos are usually planted in are perhaps more properly called Kokedai, 苔台, although Japanese growers rarely even use that term, referring to the mound as simply Koke (moss), or Mizugoke (sphagnum). I prefer the term moss mound.

This mistake of using the term Kokedama was started by western neo growers here on the orchid board who noticed a visual similarity between Kokedama and the moss mounds that neos are grown in and just started using the term incorrectly.

The moss mounds that neos are grown in wouldn't be called kokedama in Japanese because the "-dama" 玉, in Kokedama almost always implies a geometric sphere (i.e. the base is round as well as the top). Kokedama are also usually (though not always) made with live moss and usually grown on a plate or suspended without a pot. Any plate or bowl used with a kokedama usually functions simply as a saucer or coaster and rarely will have a hole for drainage.

That said, it is not impossible, or really even all that uncommon to grow a neo or other epiphytic orchids in a true kokedama as long as the center is either hollow, filled with loosely packed sphagnum, or filled with a styrofoam ball rather than soil:

A Phal:



and a Neo: