Over wintering Sedirea?

[jeremiah.chua]

Does anyone know if this plant is a seasonal bloomer like Neos (Spring/Summer)? I've seen their flowers at Seed-Engei's booth at Orchid shows before and even one at a local store, here in SF. But I could never get a good whiff of their smell. I really want mine to bloom so I can experience it myself and smell the perfume.

Googling for info on how to bloom it brings me to dead ends. A lot of photos but no substantial tips on blooming conditions.

I may have to start buying goats to sacrifice...

[AnonYMouse]

I also have the stalling of the roots issue. Beautiful leaves. Would love to put this one and others in S/H.

Maybe take it to the temple, light incense, gong the bell and prostrate.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

That is so strange...

I had absolutely no problems with this plant from the very get go.

The only reason I lost this orchid was because I neglected it too much.

I even had it put out multiple spikes and had no problems with its roots stalling. The roots would often be very long and healthy; growing very quickly during the summer months.

I think the photos of my former Sedirea are still on the OB somewhere.

I grew it outdoors here in Los Angeles County all year round for a few years. The summers here are very warm. The years that I had this plant was during the warmer years here in SoCal, where there were multiple times when the temperatures shot well over 100 F. I can guarantee you it's not a temperature related problem. Sedirea japonica is extremely temperature tolerant.

They grow very much like a temperate Phal.

I grew my Sedirea japonica in medium to large grade bark at one point; had no problems whatsoever.

These are really not difficult to grow at all.

---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------

Sedirea japonica does bloom seasonally. I don't remember if it was once a year or twice a year, but they are seasonal.

If anything, I'm most certain about spring. I'm not sure if it also blooms during the fall or not - it's been a while since I've had one. I've put off getting one because there were other orchids I wanted first.

---------- Post added at 09:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Pilot

I think you have to do something drastic... Like sacrifices of livestock.

I've had amazing growth on my plants too save this one minmaru shima.... My second minmaru shima is even happily growing like a weed...so what gives? No idea.

I saw this after I posted my previous message.

I'm giving it some thought, and I'm thinking...

Could it be genetically related?

I got an unaltered Sedirea japonica, and this thing just went nuts!

Minmaru is produced from a genetic mutation, I'm thinking that this mutation might have its own special set of problems.

[Gthumbz89]

I haven't figured out the secret to growing this plant either...The leaves keep turning bright yellow and get discolored. As far as the roots stalling mine does that as well. They grow and then lose the root tip. I don't think it is a fertilizer issue because I fertilize very weakly at 1/4 the recommended strength. I only consider myself lucky that I've managed to keep this plant limping along for over a year.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Alright...

Let's start over.

I'm just going to do this like how I go about troubleshooting the issues people have with Phals.

1. What's the lighting?

2. If growing potted - what's the potting media?

3. What are the temperatures? Day? Night? Seasonal?

4. What's the fertilizer brand? Urea or urea free? NPK ratio? Frequency of fertilization? Concentration of fertilization?

5. What kind of water? RO/DI? Rainwater? Tap? Distilled?

6. If not potted, what other methods are you guys using?

7. Air circulation?

8. Indoors? Outdoors?

9. Use additives? What are they?

10. How often do you water?

[Call_Me_Bob]

Do You guys think that Sedirea need a cool period to initiate blooming, like standard Phals? I've had a standard Sedirea japonica for three years and it's never bloomed for me.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

Do You guys think that Sedirea need a cool period to initiate blooming, like standard Phals? I've had a standard Sedirea japonica for three years and it's never bloomed for me.

I don't think it's the cooling. Maybe it's more the seasonal temperature differences.

The spikes grow rather quickly.



---------- Post added at 10:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

But some of these guys are not just having problems with blooming; they're having problems with growing the plant.

The only difference between Sedirea japonica and a Phal, is that the Sedirea can grow brighter. They can be grown in moderately bright indirect light.

---------- Post added at 10:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------

You know what guys...

For all of you who have problems growing this species-

Do you guys happen to have pics of your respective plants?

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Alright...

Let's start over.

I'm just going to do this like how I go about troubleshooting the issues people have with Phals.

1. What's the lighting?

T8's-- roughly 8 inches below the bulbs-- mixed 6400 and 3500. Bright enough to lighten tiger stripe neos well. The plants are a nice dark trending to light green, except the variegated leaves, which are nearly white and their green is a nice dark green.

2. If growing potted - what's the potting media?

Moss mounds-- traditional japanese method-- hollow center-- dries out in about three days.

3. What are the temperatures? Day? Night? Seasonal?

Temps range from 70 to 88, low to high. It's hard to gauge right at this moment because I moved my grow space to a smaller room and it heats up faster-- still working that issue-- however, they've only been there for a few days so not long enough to really cause an issue.

Seasonal-- I change the photoperiod incrementally by 30 minutes to simulate the seasons. I'm currently at the peak of summer but will begin dropping it down soon.

4. What's the fertilizer brand? Urea or urea free? NPK ratio? Frequency of fertilization? Concentration of fertilization?

I use GroMore urea free 20-20-20 as the standard, but will use SOLO on occasion, too. I will use 1/4 strength, at most, once a week and only after a clean/fresh water flushing.

5. What kind of water? RO/DI? Rainwater? Tap? Distilled?

I am on a well-- use that most of the time-- dissolved solids are the lowest I've ever seen outside of RO or distilled water-- we are truly blessed with amazing water. My RO DI unit doesn't have to work very hard to reach zero. I have very few build up issues as a result.

6. If not potted, what other methods are you guys using?

I have extensive experience with sh but never put a minmaru (shima). I have put a "standard" sed in sh and it never seem to like it but to be fair, the plant is not a strong one.

7. Air circulation?

I've got this covered. Several fans on all the time, half are "wave" fans so there is an ebb and flow.

8. Indoors? Outdoors?

Indoors-- basement. No natural light! I use a vent fan to exchange air, however...prevent that musty smell.

9. Use additives? What are they?

Megathrive only-- I think that's the name... orchids.com gave me a bottle of it- supposed to act as a stimulant. I'll use this as a SOAK when a plant is ailing, which is what I'm now doing now with this shima that is giving me real problems.

10. How often do you water?

Whenever the moss gets crisp.

[Joyorchid]

Interested to see what develops here. Hope you can save those adorable little guys, Ryan.

[Pilot]

You know what guys...

For all of you who have problems growing this species-

Do you guys happen to have pics of your respective plants?

I should have some on my phone... will post them soon.

---------- Post added at 10:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Joyorchid

Interested to see what develops here. Hope you can save those adorable little guys, Ryan.

Thanks, Joy. It's really just one and he's doing OK right now... but i get one step fwd and then one step back with this thing. It's twin is doing well.

---------- Post added at 10:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 AM ----------

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

I also have the stalling of the roots issue. Beautiful leaves. Would love to put this one and others in S/H.

Maybe take it to the temple, light incense, gong the bell and prostrate.

I put my problem shima into sh last night. I'm not keeping the res full of water as it's not quite yet growing new roots. I'm soaking him in a stimulant, too, and the hydroton is top-dressed with moss to keep the media more uniformly moist.