planting a bareroor

[slippery_biscuit]

Have a post over in another spot but am thinking this one is getting more hits.... plus, I am a newbie! So I just took delivery of a bareroot Schomburgkia (about 18" tall). Not many roots, compared to my other orchids. It came in a vanda basket, just the plant and basket, no media.

Should I use a mix of fine/medium bark? just medium? What's the best why to use this basket? I figured to put the plant in a pot, and the pot in the basket. ??

Any special water treatment while this repotting process takes place?

Thanks, Jeff

[slippery_biscuit]

I see why I should preview my post....!

[jerrymeola]

You can leave the plant in the basket without any medium. Most orchids grow without a medium in the wild.

Just realize they dry out very fast and need to be watered often. Also they need regular fertilizer since there is no where else for the plant to get any nutrients.

I would not bother with some medium in the basket, I have never liked the results. The plant may be too difficult to you to remove from the basket at this size.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

After the plant has more roots, no doubt when the next new growth reaches a modest size, put this plant in the highest light you can. I have all my myrmecophilas hanging in the brightesty, warmest part of the GH with the Schomburgkias very near by on the bench. What is the name of the plant you have?

[slippery_biscuit]

Hi folks, This plant is a Schomburgia (Myrmecophilia) tibicinis. What is the subtribe of these? Myrmecophilia?? I'm just dialing in my GH temp ranges and am shooting for a 75-80 deg daytime high and 65-68 nightime low. There is no bright (direct) sun right now but I thought to fire up the MH lamp from about 3:00 am 'tll 9:00 am. Does this sound like an okay greenhouse setup? Once stabilized I have several orchids to move into it.

I see this Schom is maybe a rock-dwelling plant, so just sticking it in the basket makes sense. Water it once a day? Would it hurt to have it planted in a rough bark mix?

thanks for the help.
Jeff

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Should do OK in bark. Why are you thinking of running the light at night? Plants like a day night cycle just like people. I would run the MH in the day if you do not have any direct sun. I used to run my heater to maintain 61/2 F night at bench level, and the cooler at about 85. I recently moved the heater up to 64/5 do to having too many warm growers and not ebough stratification to give them what they need while hanging high. Once a day in the empty basket, somewhat less with the added large bark.

[slippery_biscuit]

Hi Cynthia. I'll stay with the bark watch the water, maybe every few days. The light... not intending to mess up the day/night cycle. Thought I had read along the ways about 16 hours of light being good. On at 3:00 am would yield six hours under the MH and another 8 hrs of so-so light. I guess the question is how many hrs of light are required? and are those hrs good quality light? Does 6 not so good hrs of light equal 4 good hrs? Probably not, is my guess.

Temp... I'll have to dbl check with the plants as to common requirements. Placement within allows some deviation from the norm, maybe?

cheers, Jeff

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Nothing wrong with adding a couple of hours to the normal day length, but you should change the day length to match the current season. Here is a table for getting an idea of the length at different seasons: http://www.orchidculture.com/COD/daylength.html
I think mixing day light and MH light is a good idea. Putting the low light guys like Phals on the perifery, if you have the space to spread out, sounds like a good way to handle things.