Irene's Ghost Orchid

[Irene]

No no, I don't have one yet. Ordered one from Oak Hill last week and they are holding shipment for better weather. So, I thought I would take this time to figure out what I'm going to do with it when it gets here.

I've been all over the Internet, reading everything I can find about Ghost Orchids (no links, just keeping notes in my head). Here's what I've discovered:

They like humidity
They like to be dry
They like stagnant air
They like good air flow
They like low light
They like medium to high light
They grow near the water
They grow high in trees away from the water
They like nutrients
They don't like nutrients

Now I am working out how to fit all of that into an environment for them

I'm hoping to come home tomorrow with the stuff to get started on their home. Stay tuned

[Olive Cook]

lol!
I'd be so lost.... I'm sure Oak Hill should have some good, non-conflicting advice

[kmarch]

There are lots of posts about ghost orchids here on the forum. Do a search and you should find several. There are a few members here that grow them.

[Irene]

Oh yes, I've scoured this forum. I know stelios has one. I don't recall who else. I'll be picking their brains for sure.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I have tried the Ghost orchid once but an awaiting two that I recently purchased along with a couple other leafless orchids. I have learned a lot since the first attempt and been to rebloom other leafless so am going to try again. If all goes well I will have a picture of one that bloomed for me.

[Stelios]

Irene, i started taking care of mine(s) without a lot of research. Thankfully members provided some tips. Unfortunately 1 of them died but it was a bit stressed from transport. The remaining one is doing great. It's a slow grower but every couple of days i can spot the difference in its size.
I have mine dry during the night so it can breath and i am giving it a little bit higher light than i would give to a phal. during the day. I don't fertilize. So far it's OK but as it is a very small seedling it will need a lot of care and time. I hope i can manage to keep it happy. I am looking forward checking out photos of yours when received.

[Undergrounder]

I manage to keep mine alive (mostly) and occasionally they grow, but they're not exactly 'busting out' with growth. So i can do things a lot better.

I find air movement is relative. Little to no air movement will be fine when the plants are dry, good air flow is required if the plants stay wet and if they get very high humidity. They need to dry out at night (leaving them wet for long periods of time does kill them). But at the same time they will dessicate quickly in low humidity and in a drying wind.

I've found they grow better with good light, i use slightly higher than Phal. light as well.

I don't feed them but i think i should, and i might start to to see if i can encourage more growth.

Also i think its important to keep them 'stable'. Don't get one, unmount it and then move it around too much so that different sides of the plant get light at different times. I've found when you just leave them alone they tend to do better. Mount them early if possible to make sure that only one side gets light.

When i change my watering water they tend to do badly for a while. I don't know what it is, but my water is quite alkaline (near 8) but fairly soft and clean. I think after a while as algae grows in it is becomes more acidic and the plants do better. I'll have to check if that's true, but i think these things could be very responsive to pH.

P.S. To give you an idea how different these are to other leafless orchids, i have a bunch of Chiloschistas that i have been able to grow in my bathroom, in a tank with daily watering, in the backyard (suburban Sydney) and in the same tank as the ghosts. They thrive with lots of water, almost constant water, and don't need to dry out. In low - medium light they just don't stop growing. But the ghosts just don't. There's something different about them.

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

P.S. To give you an idea how different these are to other leafless orchids, i have a bunch of Chiloschistas that i have been able to grow in my bathroom, in a tank with daily watering, in the backyard (suburban Sydney) and in the same tank as the ghosts. They thrive with lots of water, almost constant water, and don't need to dry out. In low - medium light they just don't stop growing. But the ghosts just don't. There's something different about them.

I have a Chiloschista and like Undergrounder said...it is an extremely easy plant. Mine is getting ready to bloom....4 spikes this year! The Polyrrhiza...well, to be perfectly frank...I'm just not in love w/it enough (seems as though I'm the only one that feels this way) to put up with it's fussiness...so it would probably die under my care.

Chiloschista and Polyrrhiza are both called ghost orchids but I do not believe they are in the same groups. I'd have to check on that but I'm almost certain they are in different groups. Anyway...Chilos are Asian Ghost and Polys are native to America. Different plants...requiring different care.

[Irene]

Thanks for the info everyone. It gave me some new ideas for the orchid's home. Going to try to set it up tonight. I'll post pics and you guys can let me know what you think I should change.

[Schlyne]

I look forward to seeing your setup. I think I will eventually try one or two of these, but not until I get a mounted orchid going first.

[Ben G]

what temps do they need

[davetheorchidaddict]

Thanks for the info Undergrounder, it gives me some food for thought as I tackle the Polyrrhiza again. It is one of my goals to bloom one and I am open for any help. I do not research as much as I listen to people who have been growing them and blooming them but I have to admit there are not a lot around.

[Irene]

The orchid house:

This great glass thing came from Walmart. Diameter 9", height 10-1/2", height 12" with lid on (that's inside area)


Has a lid to trap in lots of moisture if needed


Can cock lid to let in/out air


Filled with stones and a bamboo plant. I'll be getting additional plants to sit in the water. Thought maybe it would help with humidity and air exchange


Filmy cloth thing to cover it if it's getting too much sun, as it will be in SW window (this looks thicker in the pic than it is. More like mosquito netting)


So, I can raise and lower humidity with lid. I have low, med and high light. I can put on lid for stagnant air. Can open lid for good air exchange and drying (ceiling fan overhead). It's near water. I don't have any trees to hang it from but I do have bamboo

Ok what am I forgetting? What do I need to change? Be honest, I can take it

Oh! I don't know how big the mount is. The water level may need to come down a bit. I'll be fastening a hook to the inside to hang the mount.

[Irene]

ok either my idea is horrible and no one wants to hurt my feelings. Or it's so fabulous that everyone is speechless

I added a couple more plants

[Irene]

A little sphag for extra humidity. Also rearranged the rock. Now has a deep side and a shallow side where the pebbles are partially exposed.

(are you guys really going to make me do this on my own? Don't you know I'm a newb?! )

[berniep]

G'Day Irene

Watching, watching, watching! Intrigued to see the end result keep us posted.

Cheers
Bernie

[mitko]

Irene, I have my dendrophylax lindenii for about 6 months . It feels good and i think it is growing , very slowly , of course, but growing . Firstly it was mounted on a piece of sterilized bark . Because of fungi spreaded on the bark i changed mount with piece of cork stopper . You can see my ghost and where it lives . Conditions are almost the same with yours . The vase has 2 parts , in the lower part there is a container with distilled water , upper part is stopper . The mount with ghost hangs freely in the vase . I water the ghost from time to time , using distilled water too. Sometimes , once a 10-14 days , when i fertilize tillandsias ,i use the same solution and fertilize the ghost too . In this solution there is too little fertilizer , maybe 0,5 gram NPK 20/20/20 in 2 l water. You can see some pictures of ghost and his home .

first mount

home

home

today

[Irene]

Thank you for the pics and the info!

How do you water your ghost? Do you spray it or dunk it in water to give it a good soak?

What do you guys think about having the other plants in the container? Should I be concerned about spreading disease to the ghost?

[Irene]

Ok I'm shifting gears a little.

Not sure if the plants in the tank would be risky for the Ghost and it's not worth guessing. So I'm going to pull those out, sanitize the tank and rocks, put the rocks back in, add water, and live sphagnum.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I used a covered aquaium on my first 5 or 6 times with poor results, when I started just leaving them around other plants they started to thrive and bloom. That is the plan for my new ghost orchid. I may place a pan of water below it to increase the humidity a little. Plants need CO2 to grow and I want it to have it.

[salaite]

OMG all this sounds very high maintenance, I'm still in the level were I get satisfied just from watching "Adaptation" by Spike Jones. Although very curious to see the progerss of this of your chid.

[Undergrounder]

Irene i think your tank would be a good start (you always have to change things as you go just by looking at how it's going), but i think if you leave the lid on it will get fungus problems... better leave a crack open at least.

Honestly though i'm no expert by any means, i can barely keep mine happy and still have a lot to learn!

[mitko]

Originally Posted by Irene

How do you water your ghost? Do you spray it or dunk it in water to give it a good soak?

Personally i water the ghost both ways - spraying and dunking . I spray the plant especially when i ferilize it. Sometimes i dunk it in destilled water for a minute or two. When the ghost is completely dry , it has almost white colour and when it is wet, colour changes in green .

Originally Posted by Irene

What do you guys think about having the other plants in the container? Should I be concerned about spreading disease to the ghost?

I think while the plant is immature is dangerous to keep other plants in the container. This will lead to rot of organic matter and the growth of pathogenic microorganisms .

[patticake]

Good luck! Here's a link to my thread on my Ghost orchid. Sadly "Poly" bit the dust. You can check it out and see what NOT to do!

My Ghost orchid

[digitalgate]

Since this is the first time you grow orchid or you have very little experience with other orchid. I would recommend you try something else before you try this plant. I have grown lots of orchid before i nail the art of watering(still make mistake in watering through). What ever advise you seen here , you must take note that everyone has very different environment. We swear by our own methods but if you dont know your micro climate that you have. It would be difficult to grow this orchid. Take everything here with a pinch of salt and finger cross that the method will work for you.
Even in a tropical weather growing ghost is by no mean easy. I have a flask of 40+ seedling got killed by weather , fungus.... left with 4 really strong ones and growing new roots before it was STOLEN!!! I still waiting for my next flask of ghost and may be 5 years later before i can see flowers.

[Irene]

Thank you everyone for your input! I really appreciate it.

My area is humid all the time. A little less so in winter, due to indoor heating, but still humid, nonetheless. I'm hoping that will help the ghosts conditions a little. I keep windows cracked open all the time during the day, when I'm home. I like the fresh air myself.

I was planning to grow it with the top off, and maybe put top on part way (or all the way?) at night when the fan is moving air over the rest of my orchids. But I'm not planning to completely shut him in. Oak Hill said stagnant air and that they have theirs growing away from fans. However, they are still out in the open and getting some air movement just by virtue of not living in the home, in a jar.

The water plants will come out, for now. The rocks will be cleaned and put back in, with fresh distilled water. Thanks, mitko, for your input on that.

I'm going to try to attach a hook to the inside of the container, so the ghost is sheltered a little. If that doesn't work, I'll hang something in through the opening. Going to wait until he gets here so I know what shape/size I have to work with.

digitalgate, the difficulty is what makes it so intriguing! It's too late to change my mind now, as it's already been ordered.

While I've never seen the Everglades, we do have a lot of cyprus swamps here in NC, which I am very familiar with. Also estuaries. I don't really know how I'm applying that knowledge but maybe it's in the back of my mind somewhere.

Hopefully it will be here next week. I'll post a pic of the tank before I put him in so you guys can give me a thumbs up or down, before I commit him to it.

[Irene]

Final version!

No ghost yet. Hopefully the weather will break soon.

I cleaned the tank and the rocks with bleach. Put the rocks back in with some distilled water. Added some live sphagnum.

It's not as fancy but I think will produce humidity and also some of the good things of having live plants around (thanks davetheorchidaddict).





eta: Comments welcome

[Irene]

Ghostie is here!!!

Also, I just found a local grower with a very nice GH/nursery. He seems very knowledgeable and friendly. We chatted for a bit the other day. He has Ghost orchids from Oak Hills, too (in his private collection). His bloom! So, I'll be taking my baby to him if it looks like I'm killing it.

He says his like shade. So I'll be starting it out in front of SW window with cloth providing some shading.

Ok here are the shots:

ignore the cat whisker


looks pretty healthy, imo


top down shot on container. Water and rocks under live sphagnum. The spag is higher on the sides, creating a little valley.


Ghostie swinging in his new home. Yes, wrapping ribbon. I wasn't prepared!


side view


bottom side, to show he's not sitting in water

[rodbender]

Looks like you might have it in a good home.
Dont get to upset if it does not make it tho I have tried several times to get seedling ghosts to grow and have found them to be one of the hardest to grow.
Good luck I hope you are successful

[koshki]

Irene, I would love to have one of these, but have simply decided I don't have the environment for it.

Then I read your thread, and think, hmmmmmm!

Please keep us posted on its progress. You are giving me ideas!!

[Irene]

Update day two: still alive

With the lid off and the ceiling fan on overhead, the roots remained green over night. Concerned that it might not be drying off enough, I shortened the hook a little to raise it up in the container, a little farther from the water and moss.

Here are some better pics:





Don't worry, I won't really be giving day to day updates.

[koshki]

Who's worried????

[Irene]

Originally Posted by koshki

Who's worried????

Update day two and a half: still alive

I had moved the hook up a little to let it dry out faster. Noticed it was drying out maybe too fast. Lowered the hook again and roots turned back to green with no watering from me.

Interesting...

[koshki]

Ok, maybe that is a bit much!!

[Irene]

Is it too soon for an update?

He's still living in the container posted above. The lid is kept off most of the time. I do put the lid on, occasionally, at night when the temps are low outside and I know my central heat will be running all night.

I think he's grown a little, but, I might just be looking at him with a mother's eyes.

So how's he look to you?

for comparison





edit: lol looking at the comparison pic, I think he's exactly the same as before. Well at least I haven't killed him yet.

[LouisW]

May not be growing much but it looks healthy anyways!

It may be a while before it feels comfy enough to get going but if you are patient and keep doing what you are doing I bet it will come.

[Irene]

Argh!!

So I took my ghost out of his little home this morning to let him rest under the lamp for a little bit, as I got ready for work.

I forgot all about him! Now he's spent the day lying on my "high light" orchid rack, directly under the ceiling fan, directly in front of a big, bright SW window.

I won't get back home for another 5 hours

[katrina]

Tell your boss you have a family emergency and you'll be back soon. After all, it's your 'chid, right? Ok, ok...bad joke.

Bummer you left it out.

[Irene]

I already used that excuse when I took off early, so my orchid shipment from Oak Hills didn't have to stay outside on my step after the sun went down. My supervisor looked at me like I was nuts, but let me go.

[Irene]

It's ok everyone! You can all breathe easy again. Ghostie is fine.

[mitko]

I `m happy to hear that the ghostS are fine , Irene . The more i look at your pictures, especially the latest ones , the more i see there are 3 plants /at least , maybe four / Congratulations Irene !

[Irene]

Dear Diary

Yesterday I heard the strangest sound! I looked all over but didn't notice anything amiss. Went to bed and had a long nap. Got up, had some dinner and then read orchid sites until it was time to go back to bed. (oh how I love weekends)

This morning I woke up and went to tend to my orchids. Ghostie's giant rubber band, that was holding his mount out of the water, was busted and lying on the floor! Poor Ghostie was face down in his tank, sucking up water and wet sphag.

I wonder if that strange sound I heard yesterday was the rubber band exploding. That would mean poor Ghostie was swimming in his tank for almost 24 hours.

I picked him up, shook him off, and hung him back up from a long piece of wire. Then headed off to work. This evening, when I got home, I raced over to check on the Ghost. He seems to have survived his near drowning with no visible damage.

This little guy seems to be a lot tougher than I thought he'd be.

[Irene]

Question for the other folks growing Ghosts.

Are you fertilizing? If so, what do you use and what are your results?

I have sprayed my Ghost with diluted 20-20-20, and, SuperThrive. Neither killed him, so I guess that's good. Now I'm thinking of trying Worm Tea. Anyone else tried this on a Ghost?

[Irene]

Time for another update

He's been watered with distilled and tap. He's had fertilizer, SuperThrive and worm tea. He's been left out in the sun and nearly drowned in his own tank.

Looks like he's lost some roots but other roots seem to be doing well. What do y'all think?

[Julez]

Very cool Irene. You would not think that something so small can be so demanding. lol

I have just purchased my very first Den Torresae, it was so small the boys thought it was a broken stick and nearly threw it out.

[Irene]

Yea, he's fun.

I'm going to take off the smaller plant and mount it in my terrarium, once I get that set up. If it goes well, I'll move the whole bit over.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I have to agree with digitalgate about the various microenviroments we create, I have purchased several ghost orchids including a flask with little success. My latest go at it I just hung in the corner of the gh with my other leafless and treated it the same as the others, guess it is working because new roots are appearing. Sometimes we over do our mother hen act with plants when we should turn them loose to do their thing which they have done in nature for hundreds of years. I have always found orchids do better when they are 'neglected' to some degree and ghost is afterall an orchid.

[Irene]

Update time!

So I moved my Ghost to the terrarium. After taking him off his stick mount, I learned that it was actually 5 or so small pieces. I had a great piece of wood for the tank, so I siliconed the pieces to that wood. There is a T5 light on the tank hood. Here's what happened:

After siliconing to wood, the pieces started drying out and turning brown. So I added a bunch of sphagnum moss to provide protection. Then the pieces started to rot from too much moisture. So, I took off some of the sphag, trying to give protection without suffocating them in moss.

Then I moved the wood around a bunch, and knocked it over a few times, and lost track of the pieces that fell off. As far as I knew, they were all gone, lost somewhere in the substrate in my tank.

Last night, as I was placing a new orchid on that same wood, I moved a piece of moss and found a surviving Ghost. Very exciting! It looks as if the roots have new tips and are growing.

Here are pics:

Under the moss


With moss moved so you can see


Close up of his little corner


Full tank shot



So now I'm wondering if I have found the secret to keeping them alive. Just the right humidity, light, protection, air. I've ordered another Ghost and am building a small terrarium for plants only, since this tank will house frogs soon, and, they will trample all over the place.

[dillon935]

Wow I admire you that's all pretty intensive. Will be watching your thread with enthusiasm.

[GhostFerret]

I recently purchased and Asian Ghost orchid, and now I have a long spike with buds all over it, so I'm guessing that's good. I also have a question about one of my phals that I'm worried about. It was kinda beat up when i got it from the rain and what not; so I knew that it may drop its blooms from stress. It did drop its buds and held two blooms for about a month. After the blooms dropped it hasn't grown anything new and the spikes are still green. The leaves are healthy but I cant see the roots in the Spag Moss. Should I re-pot?

[Irene]

Hey GhostFerret!

Grats on your Asian Ghost spiking! Hope to see pics, soon.

As for your phal question, I'm afraid I am no phal expert. In fact, they are the one orchid I regularly kill. I recommend you making a post in one of the other sections, such as 'Newbie Questions" or "Orchid Care and Cultivation".

More people will see your post there and have good answers for you.

[GhostFerret]

ok, i'll be sure to post photos soon.

[Irene]

Ghost take 2

Got my new Ghost from Oak Hills today. This one had many more pieces than the last one, but, the pieces were smaller. Overall I think it was more plant than last time.

I took it all off the mount and attached them to a piece of grape wood. Then I put pieces of sphag on the grape wood. Unfortunately, I'm all out of the long pieces of live sphag, so, had to use the dried stuff. Then I put the grape wood into the old container.

This time it was set up a bit differently. The bottom has about an inch of glass beads, because I ran out of LECA. On top of the beads, is a piece of fiberglass screen. On top of the screen is shredded coco, chopped coco husk, and chopped live sphag and chopped dried sphag. There are also some chopped pieces of magnolia leaf and some pebbles and rocks. The layer of glass beads and screen keeps the media from sitting in water.

The point of the set up this time was maintaining humidity vs just wetness.

Also, in the container, I have 4 mini orchids and a really cool viny thing.

The Ghost that survived in my frog tank is still hanging in there.

Ok here are the pics:

[Irene]

Oh yea, I also threw in some springtails to help keep it clean

[Ochin@]

Springtails as in the bug??

[Irene]

Originally Posted by Ochin@

Springtails as in the bug??

Hehe yes! They eat fungus, mold and decay. I figure that with all that humidity, I'm bound to have problems with that.

Grape wood in particular gets rather moldy in humid conditions.

[ocrcDirChina]

This is one I dream about growing at our orchid rsearch center in China. I have always like them just hard to find good seeds.

[Irene]

Hi ocrcDirChina

What I have is Dendrophylax lindeni. I believe it is known wildly only in the Florida Everglades. Is this the same as you are trying to find seeds for? If not, I'd love to see pics of the Ghost you are seeking.

[Anisa]

Irene - very cool. Keep us updated.

[ocrcDirChina]

Irene I would settle for Dendrophylax Lindenii or Polyrrhiza Lindenii any day. Most of the pepole with seeds grow and sell in flasks or seedlings.

[Loki]

I'm nearly ready to try again with this orchid... mine did well until I went away for a week or so and left the orchids under a donar carer... sadly, the change in routine was just too much for him.

Must start looking around again..... they are not easy to find stil, as far as I've noticed.

[LouisW]

Originally Posted by Irene

Hi ocrcDirChina

Dendrophylax lindeni. I believe it is known wildly only in the Florida Everglades.

I believe it was also found in Cuba, but it may be extradited.

[GhostFerret]

My Ghost bloomed and is starting a new spike. I have the pics on my profile.

[willowbanks]

Hello GhostFerret, I've had a look at your photo in your profile and think it may be Chiloschista parishii, not the same GHOST we are talking about in this thread.

Looks good, I'm thinking of giving one a try myself.

Bill