Hello from Albany NY!!

[treyes111]

Hi everyone,

my name is Tom, and I moved to Albany from NE PA about a year ago. at that time I had 1 phalaenopsis. Actually, the picture below is just a few months before I moved. The second spike in the pic was in full bloom, and actually Y'ed about half way up, both sides full of flowers. Needless to say, they didn't travel well, and it was a while ago, but I think I saw the first signs of a new spike starting to show earlier this week

(gotta attach the photo until I have the postcount to link the pics)

since then, I have added another phalaenopsis which I believe is a yellow and pinkish color. It was a "super market" special, and the blooms didn't last long after I brought it home. A few weeks ago, I saw small, bagged Cattleyas at the local Lowe's, so I figured I'd give something a little different a try

Well, seeing I had a new interest, my girlfriend decided that a few plants would make for nice Christmas gifts. The first six arrived the other day, and consist of (to copy from the auction site):
T-3992 Bc. (Little Stars x Maikai) 'Hawaii'.
T-3424 Cat. (C. Sophia Martin x C. Penny Kuroda) HCC/AOS
T-4353 Blc. Fatari 'Carmella'
T-4409 Blc. Keowee 'Mendenhall' AM/AOS
T-4410 Lc. C. G. Roebling 'Sentinel'
T-4501 Epi. Mabel Kanda 'Green Leaf'

They all seem to be in great health, but I plan to have at least a year to see any blooms. They are all in 2 inch pots, and those pots where arranged in a large orchid planter that she also picked up, and one I had, mostly for stability (the little pots tip too easily with my 4 legged friends running about, which will be the subject of latter questions)

Lastly, and where I think I will be in WAY over my head, there are 6 more plants en route. They are in flasks. This one was even more a surprise, but they haven't been delivered yet.
Encyclea Alata, Myrmecophilia tibicinis, Guarianthe Skinneri, Cattleya dowiana, Stanhopea wardii, Maxillaria punctostriata.

Its pretty easy to say that my little table in the window has gotten awful crowded in the past few days. I have been reading to prepare for the arrival of the flasked plants, and the differences in how to handle what I have, which is what brought me here. I hope to get as much info as I can, but be ready for a few dumb questions from this guy. I grow grass on a golf course, I am sure that tropical plants are gonna catch me a bit off guard!

Thanks for a ton of info that I have already seen. Talk to you soon

Tom

[SwTLaDYy16]

Welcome Tom! Hope you enjoy the wealth of information that you will find here!

[digitalgate]

hope you are experienced in orchids growing. Growing from flask is not for beginner you
to wait for 1 year before you see any flower. They are very fragile , too much , too little
can kill them easily. Anyway everyone start this way. I did.
I thought it would be cheaper to do that, end up kill my two flask of mini cattleya and
almost killing most of my Aranda . At least now my Robert delight seedling is doing well.

[patticake]

Hi! You're gonna love this forum- Hey, you're right in my back-yard! Good luck with the growing!

[Tobi]

Hi and welcome to the forum Tom. I am also a fellow upstate NY (Rochester) member.
Looks like you've got quite an addition there. The 6 that your girlfriend got for you are
all in the Cattleya alliance so their growing conditions are similar. Good bright light,
however be careful that they don't get prolonged direct sun because although they
have stiffened foliage, they can be susceptible to sunburn. Good air circulation is also
beneficial. Water when almost dry and when not in active growth, allow it to remain
slightly drier until new growth is seen. I personally have not done any deflasking, but
several of the members here have, so I'm sure they will be able to help you. Thanks
for joining and I hope your stay here is beneficial and enjoyable.

[articuno75]

Welcome to the forum!!! You will find some great information here. There are a lot of members here that have done deflasking. Sorry I'm not one of them. Hopefully one will see this thread and be able to help you out.

[treyes111]

Thanks for the warm welcome

I was just watering, and even tho its a bit overcast today, the sun poked out a bit, so I snapped a few quick shots of my little "garden"

you'll notice the cats' grass next to the stand, which is often ignored. a few of the smaller plants have been trimmed a little where they where chewed on, and the largest has a few tooth holes.

the smaller plants are all still in the 2 inch pots (as was recommended by the seller), but for stability and looks, I filled the larger pots with some medium to bring them to level, and hid the plastic pots with a bit of moss.

Again, I am a beginner, and as of about 3 weeks ago all that was on the table where the 2 plants to the furthest right, so any comments or critiques are welcome. Thanks

Tom

[Tobi]

They look very nice Tom. Just be careful when you water, since some of them are in
moss and the others are in bark. The ones in moss probably will only need to be watered
every other week at this time of the year. You want to be sure that they are almost
dry before you rewater.

[patlee]

Welcome,Tom. Hope you find this site fun and educational,too. The members are great and someone can answer just about any question you have about orchids and their cultural needs.

First tip: Hold on to that girlfriend--anyone who showers you in orchids is someone pretty special

[patticake]

It looks like you have a great set-up ! I think you'll do well- sence you have a great "passion" for the orchids! Your girl-friend is the BEST!!!
Please keep us informed!

[treyes111]

Hello again all

over the past few weeks, I've made a few changes, so I figured I'd do a little update post

1) I acquired what I think is a pretty cool, kinda unique table that was in a stock room at work. It was painted white and kinda beat up, so I planned on doing a little work. First plan was a strip and refinish, but a lack of workspace and a nice color rattle can had me do a little spray painting. Not perfect, but the color really pops in the light, and its whats on it that counts.

2) I was having problems with the little guys. Even after taking the moss away from the tops of the little pots, they seemed to stay too damp in the larger pots. A Dollar Store serving bowl and a bag of aquarium gravel and ttaaaa ddaaaaaaa, and new humidity tray. Seems to be working MUCH better already.

3) a few new plants (the 2 dens), and a new pot, and here I stand. I am actually gonna write up some little tags, and puts skewers in each one when I finish this post

the flasks still haven't arrived, but thats another project all together

the pics:







and an overview pic from the loft. I'd like to move the table to the center window, but there is an electric baseboard under it. I'd like to think it would be ok once the heat is off, but then it will depend on the light, because there is a tree that may block the sun when the leaves come back



Tom

[rmt135]

Welcome to the forum. You have a nice set up there. Hope your partnership will lead to more babies - oooops flowers.

[Tobi]

Looking good Tom

[Brooke]

It looks good Tom but what kind of light are you receiving from your window. Everything you have purchased recently are very high light plants and with the curtain shields the light even more. If your electric baseboard heater is the type I think it is (no off and on blasts of air) your young seedlings will appreciate the added warmth and help with the drying time to avoid root rot UNLESS you keep your home much warmer than I do :>)

Four of the six flasks you are getting are in the Catt. family and they will require high light and are years from blooming. About how many plants are supposed to be in the flasks. Keeping the humidity levels up after they are planted in compots will be the hardest thing to accomplish along with the gradual increase from low light to high light.

Good luck you are going to be very busy with your new addiction.

Brooke

[mehitabel]

I had the same reaction as Brooke when I saw the curtains. Even without curtains, a south window in winter is not enough light for catts or dends-- we have maybe 3 days of sun out of 7 all winter.

You should seriously consider acclimating your plants to more light. Without it, you are unlikely to get any blooms at all, and very likely to have declining vigor as time goes by. Do it gradually over a period of two weeks and you should not get burn.

[treyes111]

I'm not quite sure about the flasks. They were picked out for me before I really knew what they were. It may be a good thing that I am getting the run around from the seller, and may have to file for a refund. They were supposed to be shipped on 18 Dec, then the first week of Jan, and now I get no response.

As for the light, it is usually much brighter than it seems in those pictures. Yesterday was very overcast, leading to a storm overnight. I'm not sure if the pic really shows, but they were taken without a flash and no other lights on. Without knowing for sure, guessing based on the nearest highway and river, it faces south.

I think I will move the table to the center, maybe the heaters that I thought would be bad will do some good!

[Brooke]

I'm not really judging your picture by the amount of light I see but by the curtain in front of the window and the fact that all but your phal sit below the window. Everything but the phal should be at window level sitting as close to it as they can get. Your phal could be placed in back of the other plants. You have high light orchids and they will just limp through winter until summer when hopefully, you can put them outside to grow.

A south window will be best for your plants through the winter but for maximum growth and eventual blooming, they need several hours of morning sun. The phal would probably be happy and bloom for you if kept in front of the window year round. Think of it this way, a phal will grow in 800-1200 fc's and catts and dends need 3000-3500 fc's.

I don't want to discourage you but in your current situation, flasks into compots, will be tough for you to accomplish. The tender young plants will need high humidity, extra warmth and light from low fc's to eventually as high as an adult plant.

Good luck - Brooke

[treyes111]

thanks again. I'll have to look into some rearranging.

actually, the flask drama has ended. it seems a paypal refund is easier than actually shipping things that were ordered the week before Christmas. So much for that gift.

[digitalgate]

high light seedling only need 1000 foot candle of light . Dont give it more than that. They
simply can't grow that faster than that. Unless you are using c02 enrichment then they can
go beyong 1000 to 1500foot candle. You need to up water and up fertilizer. (ony 1/7
fertilizer for me until they are at least 3 months old , i increase to 1/4 strenght.)