New Renanthera - what do i pot it in??

[kkdcalgary]

Hi All!

I bought an AWESOME Renanthera Kalsom "Red Dragon" from Kawamoto Orchid (highly recommend this nursery!) in hawaii over christmas. I've been lusting after this plant since I first saw it many years ago in the Kawamoto parking lot in pots blooming huge sprays of blood red flowers. Now I am back in Idaho with my little plant and I want to make sure I treat it right. It was potted in bark chips which I find unusual but they're the experts! I gently shook out the medium and the roots look pretty good to me but out of three fat happy new roots one of them grew down into the medium, hit another root and the green growing tip disappeared. I'm worried the mix is staying too wet in the middle while the surface roots are getting too dry. The surface roots are flaking like they have dandruff! I've had success growing several orchids in S/H including Den. aggregatum which I know is not a vanda but does like high humidity, air flow and light like a vanda. What i'm wondering are:

pot: should i switch to a terra cotta pot instead of a plastic one to improve air flow? I don't think this plant will be very happy in a basket in my conditions but I'm willing to consider a complex set up for this delicious orchid.

medium: Has anyone tried S/H with Renanthera or similar? I've seen vandas grown succesfully in S/H when i searched not specifically renanthera. I am sorely tempted to do it but I don't think I'm gonna get back to Hawai'i anytime soon if this one goes to orchid heaven... Any other suggestions other than putting some LECA in and maybe some sphag on top??
- does anyone have any thoughts about Ren culture in vase?

For now i'm throwing it in a vase with some sphag and let it air out for it a bit until I decide to do something different.

THANK YOU
Karen.

[BradGC]

Generally the thicker the root, the coarser the medium. It also really depends largely on your watering habits. If you like to water very frequently you can use Styrofoam and perlite mix. Watering an average amount I'd use LECA and bark or very little watering I'd use sphag and CHC.

For my vandas I use stones, growstones, bark and sphag but I've taken out most of the sphag over the rainy season as it's stayed wet for over a day and I'm worried about root rot.

I'm not sure if I was much help sorry, but basically every medium would depend on your climate and watering habits

[rastafouni]

Nice plants !

[Bud]

Idaho grow zone, but how is your humidity indoors? What position window is it in?
S/H will do good with your seedling since it is young and can be trained to get acustomed to your home environment. I have a Renanthera in S/H and I also put it outdoors in warmer months= Manhattan has high humidity in the summer and the tall buildings shade my area by 11am....

[CR7cristiano]

Well there u go...Bud is here no need to add. lol

[Hawaiian Sunshine]

Hi Karen. Congratulations on your purchase. You made a good choice. In my opinion, Ren. Kalsom 'Red Dragon' is one of the best red Renantheras around. I obtained a plant from Kawamoto Orchid Nursery a few years back. The plant blooms regularly each year (sometimes twice) and seems to always bring home a trophy when it is entered in a Show. I have my plant growing in a wooden basket with large chucks of orchid bark as the media. Here is a picture of the plant in bloom last year.


Ren. Kalsom 'Red Dragon' by hawaiiansunshine, on Flickr

[Stray59]

Hawaiian Sunshine:
Beautiful plant - I really like the color and can see why it ribbons at the shows. And good advice from someone who obviously should know!
Very nice - thanks for posting the pics,
Also kkdcalgary:
Really nice Den. aggregatum - good healthy sprays and good healthy looking plants! Best of luck with the Renanthera -
Steve

[rosebudforglory]

Originally Posted by Hawaiian Sunshine

Hi Karen. Congratulations on your purchase. You made a good choice. In my opinion, Ren. Kalsom 'Red Dragon' is one of the best red Renantheras around. I obtained a plant from Kawamoto Orchid Nursery a few years back. The plant blooms regularly each year (sometimes twice) and seems to always bring home a trophy when it is entered in a Show. I have my plant growing in a wooden basket with large chucks of orchid bark as the media. Here is a picture of the plant in bloom last year.

Ren. Kalsom 'Red Dragon' by hawaiiansunshine, on Flickr

You said it only blooms 1-2x a year — I had read in several places — they almost stay in bloom year round constantly coming back in bud like it blooms almost constantly. I’m getting ready to order one, same nursery said they are already about 2’+ tall and will get larger, said it was almost blooming size. I hope mine will bloom a lot. I just love the color but I’m not sure if I can handle a plant 2-4’ tall, then another 2’+ root length and then 2’ of bloom spike. But oh my gosh what a fire engine red! I have seen others similar But different name but their red was different. You just don’t see that red very often. For me, I’m thinking it would really need a greenhouse and to be hung. If I get it, I hope it’s as nice as all the pictures. Seeing yours is putting me over the edge. When it gets too big, could always top and have more to be a big basket specimen display. Reed said when topped, the bottom will keiki and give me even more to specimen out and keep height down too. YEA.

Beautiful, thanks for sharing yours.

[Fairorchids]

I bought a NBS plant from Kawamoto at one of the last GNYOS shows. It took me 2-3 years to grow it to blooming size, but on the 2nd or 3rd blooming, I took it to judging and it got an HCC/AOS.

It does grow large though. Mine reached 7' twice, and then I cut it down.

I grew it in a spaghnum/bark mix (3:1) in Vanda baskets.

[estación seca]

At the Tamiami Orchid Festival in Florida a few Januarys ago, a vendor was selling 3' long loose rooted sections. He told me the two most important things for flowering are at least 6 hours of direct sun per day, and huge amounts of water. He said people in Florida could just plant the bottom of the plant in the ground, and keep moist. He said they were also easy to grow bare-root if you water at least once a day. Established plants tolerate Florida direct sun. I put my piece where it was getting direct sun through a window. Most orchids would have cooked in that spot, but this did not. It was eaten by a pack rat.