My Next Victim....

[brookn]

She's here!!! My Masdevallia herradurae for the project. ‏What a cute little thing, I am going to call her Herra (original I know). I am actually quite terrified of the little thing, and after fixing some of the moss that was knocked loose in shipping, have set her on the kitchen table. I figure she could use some water, but oh, I do not want to go down the rotten dead path again. I am still deciding what medium, and pot I am going to use, I think she will get her own special painted pot. As I said though, totally terrified.

[amersault]

hey, Brookn!

it's a great looking plant and looks like it held up during shipping well. don't worry - you won't do than worse when we all get ours

it'll be fun to compare notes

[articuno75]

It looks great!

What color pot you going to put Herra in?

[fred]

Dr Brookn think positive
very nice plant I would keep the masd in sphag and just lightly mist the leaves in the warmer weather I don't mist my masdie leaves at all in the cooler months only the sphag.
now I am giving away my secrets ( good Fred ) lol

[brookn]

I'm not sure what color yet. I was thinking red, but the color that I have I think is too bright, so I may have to shop for a different one. Maybe a copper? This is the big girl pot I am working on for my ambionensis, I think the color is really pretty. Any color suggestions?

[jbigio]

I need a drink....................

[lmartiny]

Brookn. You appear to have a lot of knowledge and experience with orchids and have offered a lot of info and help to other geeks. I'm sure your plant will do great.

If the blooms will be pinky/purple then I don't know if I'd go with a copper color. (just my opinion)

[brookn]

They are actually a deep red color. I'll post a link to a couple of pics. The one that Joe sent is more of the red than the link I have shows.

IOSPE PHOTOS

http://www.orchidspecies.com/orphotd...herradurae.jpg

This is the link to a pic that Joe gave us of the one he has, he said our blooms should be similar.

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/att...ct-herrad2.jpg

[fred]

I will throw a spanner in the works brookn
I like the idea of a cream pot it really makes the foliage and flowers stand out well hmmmm now I might have got you thinking lol

shhh Fred hehe

[brookn]

Oh Fred, good idea. That color of the band around the copper pot is this nice pearl color. It doesn't show as well in the pics I took, but it has a nice iridescence to it. It shows better when it's sealed, but I am still touching that one up. Hmmm....Fred's got the mad crazy decorator skills hee hee. Anyone else's opinions?

[patticake]

Mine's in a clear plastic pot. That way I can slip it into any pot that strikes my fancy! It can even "change clothes" for the seasons! Just an idea!

[fred]

Quote] Fred's got the mad crazy decorator skills hee hee
hehe yep lol
oh I remember shhh Fred lol

[solay]

I'm partial to green but I'm sure whatever you pick will look great.

[lmartiny]

Cool flowers and I really like reds. Very different from the pict on the culture sheet I printed from the AOS site. Obviously a different type. (I'm learning)
Actually copper and green with deep red may work nicely. Reds and oranges are in style right now.

[brookn]

Patti, I don't have any little clear pots that small, and since I live in the sticks.... I also really enjoy potting into clay, as my humidity stays above 70% most of the time, it helps to dry them out. Great idea though, you have some of the cutest pots! I am off to check out paint tomorrow, so for the time being, I am keeping it in the pot it came in.

I put it upstairs in my drafty bedroom, and I slept without the heat on last night, so temps were around 60 F. I was cold, but it was happy. Took my hygrometer/thermometer up there for the time being, and humidity was 80% gotta love that humidity. I watered it, and it looked perky and happy when I left for work this morning.

[lmartiny]

A 60 degree bedroom????? Oooh.... No can do.
But I'm a Florida girl. If the thermostat is on 75 I'm "cold." We have thermostat discussions a lot.

[patticake]

I agree!! My husband likes it much cooler than I do.- I'm very lucky to have a cool basement! I'll take fuzzy jammies and slippers, thank you!

[brookn]

Whenever I stayed at my grandma's I would have the basement to myself, so I guess it doesn't bother me so much. Besides, I had on flannel PJ's and a nice thick comforter. I did wake up with my head buried though lol. I put the heat on last night brrrr. Herra had to settle for about 67F.

[Brooke]

Miss Herra thought it was hot last night :>)

Brooke

[lmartiny]

I did note that they like some lower temps. That will be a challange for me with temps here.

[brookn]

Hee hee Brooke, it's a "heat wave". I'm shooting for 65F tonight. Separate units for the upstairs and downstairs, so the Phals and various others are sitting pretty in around 74F which honestly is still too warm for me most of the time. Kid's, and chid's comfort, what a sacrifice lol. No lost leaves yet, so I am happy. My Celtic Frost lost leaves within a few days arrival, so whoo hoo.

Imartiny, I have total faith that you will figure out a way to keep your little one happy. I am on my second Masde. after my first one languished away.

[brookn]

Okay, update time. I have kept Herra in her pot and sphag that she came in. I figured she was happy, so let her be. The good news is that I have tons of growth going on approx. 6 leaves growing in various stages. One is more than half grown but I wanted to make sure that it was going to grow before I announced success. That one popped up, and next thing you know I have growths all over the place. Whoo Hoo!! (The black stuff on the medium is just worm poo that I sprinkled on it)

[kninum]

wow look like you've got some great progress there.......
mine appears to be happy too but the new growth is still tiny (but then i haven't had her for very long either)

keep up the good work!

[kmarch]

She looks good but what is she?

[patticake]

She's lookin good! Mine has new growth- no sign of bloom...

[Tarad]

Very cute is it a masde? Tara

[amersault]

it's our Masd. herraa . project plant! yours is looking good let us know when you see spikes so we can start checking on ours as well

[lmartiny]

It looks great Brookn. To have new growth and anticipate a spike is awesome.
I just updated on another thread. Repotted finally and I'm watching. And hoping.

[brookn]

Thanks everyone, she's not dying so it's all good. I was beginning to think she would not grow at all for a while, just look like a plastic plant. No spikes yet, fingers crossed for some though! Blooming period for these is supposed to be Jan. through March, but with the right conditions I imagine they can bloom any time.

Kevin lol it's our project plant Masd. herradurae‏. I will edit that into my original post so there is no more confusion.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by brookn

Kevin lol it's our project plant Masd. herradurae‏. I will edit that into my original post so there is no more confusion.

Oh.....hmmm....well then allow me to reintroduce myself....I'm kmarch the guy who for some reason catches the tiniest mistake in the name of an orchid but for some reason is completely clueless as to the different sections of the forum he supposed to be the Chief of Staff for.....

[kid a]

LOl! It looks great! Mine has been suffering the lack of humidity here, lol. It still looks great but I'm not seeing any new growths on mine yet. When I got it had a few new growths but they dried up Other than that it looks exactly the same as when I got it. My other Masd are blooming like crazy though so I think it may be still adjusting to the house and low winter humidity They are temporarily out of the little glass house I made I think the light was too bright and I have to redo the computer fan so I can plug it in instead of running it off batteries, they don't last but half a day lol!


Are these blooming size already?

[brookn]

I feel bad for updating after Lynne's was munched! Mine has grown like a weed, and has been repotted into the pot that I was going to put the amboinensis in. I decided it would look pretty in it. I thought I had a spike, but it turned out to be another growth. It has three more growths starting now, and I stopped counting how many growths total it has gotten at approx 15.

[flowerchild]

Originally Posted by brookn

Oh Fred, good idea. That color of the band around the copper pot is this nice pearl color. It doesn't show as well in the pics I took, but it has a nice iridescence to it. It shows better when it's sealed, but I am still touching that one up. Hmmm....Fred's got the mad crazy decorator skills hee hee. Anyone else's opinions?

Brookn, what are you painting those pots with, maybe that is something new in the craft dept for my orchids for me to try!!!! I will try anything once!!!(within reason, thought I had better add that comment!!!)

[patticake]

It looks great, brookn! Mine's doing well also, just no blooms I love yours in that pot. It looks quite happy!

[brookn]

Flowerchild- I use FolkArt acrylic paint by Plaid. I think it's a dollar or so a bottle, and lots of colors to choose from. I seal it with clear spray paint that is supposed to dry non toxic, and it doesn't seem to bother the orchids a bit. The pots are terracotta.

Patti-I swear this thing just goes like a wild child, and every which way. I love it though, the fact that it likes it here makes me happy!

[fred]

lol brookn I can see you counting the growths

one two three four five six seven eight the phone rings lost count start again one two three four five six seven eight nine ten O time to look at the mail bugger lost count again lol

Fred looks into his crystal ball I can see spikes coming very soon

thanks for the update one happy and healthy looking masdie

[amersault]

your plant looks beautifully happy and healthy and the pot is a wonderful way to show it off!

[PhalPal]

I want a Masdie in a pretty copper pot too!!!!

[lmartiny]

It looks really good Brookn. I like the pot. How big is the pot?

[brookn]

Connie, I am sure Joe has more of these if you want one! lol I am enabling you. And it is really easy to paint a clay pot hee hee.

Fred of course I counted them, I wanted to make sure it was growing!

Lynne, it's in a 4 inch pot. The pot itself was a little too big for the roots, so I took a plastic dixie cup and cut holes all over it, and then inverted the cup into the bottom of the pot. It gave it some nice air flow, and helped to snug up the roots. When I took it out of it's original pot, the roots were everywhere even running in circles around the inside of the pot. I had to trim only a couple of dead ones. I potted it into pure sphag.

[articuno75]

Hehehe. Nice to see that yours is doing awesome.

So sorry Lynn that yours croaked. I'll have to catch up on that thread.

Mine's alive with growths too. I've have a couple of leaves pop off from forgetting to water them, but these are so stinking durable that I would recommend this Masdie to anyone who wants to try them.

Connie~ this is your cue to get one.