Care for young plants

[journorchid]

A well-meaning friend bought me a couple of clearance orchids from Heavenlyorchid.com. They're both quite young -- less than 6" tall -- and arrived potted, but in these little (3/4" diameter) red-brown pebbles. They seem to be in good condition, though not well established in any way.

So -- what do you do with these? Dunk them daily? Keep them in the dark for a while? Superthrive? Repot in something else (I can't find fine bark around here)?

They look fine now, a few days into their time in my house, but please throw me some tips before I turn into a plant murderer!

Thanks, as always, for your expertise.

Dan

[Fabolusus]

It sounds like they're planted in LECA (Light Expanded Clay Aggregate) which are used in hydroponics and semi-hydroponics. What kind of pots are they planted in? Also, what kind of orchids are they?

[journorchid]

yeah, i had a semi-hydro feeling about all this.

the more substantial of the two is eng. cordigera 'chocolate violets', which looks to be a very impressive plant if i can manage not to kill it first. it has two bulbs of about 1" across, one looks older than the other and both have pretty healthy looking 5-6" leaves.

the other plant is a vanda cross. (i've never done vandas before.) it is very, very small and looks like it needs a careful touch if it is to survive to adulthood.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Both of these are high light plants, 50% full sun, but can do with less while not blooming size. Both should get pretty close to dry before watering. If you haven't been here yet, you might want to visit Jay Pfal's site, http://www.orchidspecies.com/encycliacordigera.htm
I would not repot these until they are growing over the side of the pot, inspite of how small the pots are, tho the Vanda doesn't grow side ways, and is a lot less sensitive to repotting. You can play that one by ear, just don't over pot, only enough room for current roots. When you do repot the Encyclia (Enc), do it when the roots are just starting on the new growth, or just 'pot up' (any time), by moving to larger pot, and adding more of same pellets around the outside of the old pellets, since the old pellets will not degrade. Also, make sure you leave all the extra room in front of the new growth.

[journorchid]

thanks, as always, cynthia. i have no idea where i'm going to get more of these pellets, but i guess i probably have months of growth to hope for before i have to think about that. as far as watering -- they seem to retain almost no water (they float even if soaked overnight), so i'm thinking that an every-morning dunk will be necessary regardless to let the roots evaporate during the daytime.

[journorchid]

to be more clear, though: does anyone have thoughts on how to water these?

they're potted in tiny (3" maybe) pots with these annoying spherical floating clay balls. pots have holes on bottoms but not on sides. if i water on top the balls float and the plants just fall all over the place. maybe watering from below? repot in something else? i am at a loss...