new member with stanhopea problem

[hippychick]

hi to you all,
i am a new member, i have been growing orchids on my window sill for 3 years,i have reflowered some orchids and i have some that have never flowered.At the moment i am wondering how to repot my stanhopea into a basket without all the media falling straight out again.

[tom499]

If you've got a wooden basket you can attach some plastic coated mesh or just use non rusting mesh onto the bottom and sides of the basket and then use a layer of moss on that, then your plant and bark sit in that

The type of mesh I mean is sorta like chicken wire, its got 1cm or so holes so the stanhopea spikes fit through easily.

[hippychick]

thanks Tom i have a basket ready and waiting, so i will give it a go

[articuno75]

You could also line with long fiber moss, then lay your bark mix over it (using the moss like a cup) Hope this helps.

[hippychick]

thanks Jenny,
i dont know where i would buy long fibered moss,where i live,do you think sphagnum moss would hold everything in ?

[kmarch]

I'm afraid I have to disagree wiht Tom on the mesh. I would not recommend a stanhopea basket be lined with plastic mesh because when they bloom, stanhopea inflorescences come out of the bottom of the basket and hang down. Plastic mesh won't allow the inflorescence to get through and out. I recommend a thin coconut fiber liner or better yet (cheaper) a layer of sphagnum moss. I use the latter. If you dampen the sphag and then press the water out, you can easily line a basket with it and it prevents mix spililng out.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my stanhopeas will bloom this year!!!!

[articuno75]

Actually there is a trick in manipulating the moss. (Really no trick)

1. Take what moss that you're going to line the basket with and get it soppy wet.

2. Wrap it around the bottom end of a soda pop, beer or any other sized bottled, while soppy wet.

3. Now squish all water out of moss while still on bottle. Once somewhat drained, gently remove from bottle.

You should have something that resembles somewhat of a cup. Place this in your basket and fill with other media.

You can add more or less moss to the "cup" to strenthen or weaken it. I've never tried it with shorter fiber moss but you can pull it off as long as the moss is cut at least 4 inches.

[kmarch]

Wow...very clever Jenny...aren't you just the Martha Stuart of orchid-in-a-basket potting

[_cor]

I've found lining a wire basket with paper bark to work very well.

I have also normally potted in bark but have found that they "seem" to really like coconut fibre

[articuno75]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Wow...very clever Jenny...aren't you just the Martha Stuart of orchid-in-a-basket potting

_cor~ Have you tried taking the coconut fiber 'blankets' and putting a slash in them? I was going to do this with a couple of other plants to see if it would work for them. One being a hybrid strawberry that hangs.

[kmarch]

_cor,

Paper bark would work really well except that I dont' know if they have paper bark trees in England. I know in America, they have a tree commonly called "Paper Birch." which has thin papery bark that peels off like the Australian paper bark. Do paper birch or paper bark trees grow in England?

I use paper bark branches to mount Den. tetragonum. It works really well.

[cindiras]

Just asking...Would a coffee filter work? Or would it be so strong as to prevent the spikes from growing through?

[kmarch]

A coffee filter would be too strong, I think it would not let the spike through.