New Orchids

[janice]

I am going to try and attach my two newest orchids. I brought them back from Florida to Southern Illinois at Christmas. They seem to be doing okay but a couple of bottom leaves on each one are turning yellow?? I hope this is just natural and won't continue. I also am concerned regarding the Ascnda since it is in an open basket - and having to be inside during the winter poses a humidity/watering problem for me...any suggestions...thanks jan

[janice]

The third picture is my Su-Fun Beauty..........one of my favorites. jan

[janice]

The third picture is my Su-Fun Beauty..........one of my favorites. jan

[articuno75]

The Su-Fun Beauty looks like it is in a bark mix. How often are you watering now, and what is your humidity levels? I have humidity issues as well. If you have dry conditions maybe if you add some spagh to the mix, this might help. Vandas are similar to Neos, and with them just being moved from their warm humid, enviroment they might still be adjusting. Watch the watering now though cause up here in the North you can get rot easily in winter. Air circulation a big plus. Check roots for overwatering. They might have to dry out a little more before the next watering now since being moved further North.

I love that orange!

[janice]

Thanks, Jenny. I have had the Su-Fun for over a year and it survived last winter. But I do worry about the new ones, especially the Ascnda.......since it is not in any potting medium. Do you think I need to add something to it? jan

[articuno75]

I don't have any Ascodendas, so I don't know what the requirements are. You could look up on the website for a culture sheet on them or the the AOS webpage. Some medium has to be better than no medium though. Wait for others to help.

[snowballsarebad]

Janice, you have some nice orchids! I too struggled a little with basketed vandas in the winter...at least, I used to! I now have them in sphagnum moss (still in the baskets) and they are doing well over the winter. I dunk them in a bucket at least twice a week, not quite every other day. They sit in there for anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes (depending on when I remember to take them out). The sphagnum helps keep moisture around the roots, of course. As for your Ascocenda, if you don't end up surrounding the roots with sphagnum, maybe dunk it in a bucket everyday, for a few minutes? I have to do this with my two mounted orchids, and they are both doing well.

[Debbie Hayden]

Janice, I'm envious of you. Those are beautiful orchids. Maybe after I learn a little more, I'll be able to grow beauties like that. I'm dying to try a Vanda this summer and I love orange!

[janice]

Deb, the Su-Fun(orange)was a gift from my sis who has LOTS of orchids in central florida.................and it has bloomed several times since she gave it to me......and she (the orchid expert) is envious!!! I love it.

And Snowsballarebad (I love the name!) I really am watching my two mounted orchids and the new Asc. because I just don't think inside my house without careful monitoring will be good..........and I would hate to lose them. Do you think I could try to put spaghum around the roots in the open basket to help???

[articuno75]

If your house is fairly dry to moderate I would suggest the Spagh in the open basket, this should be fine. Maybe mix up with a little bark. You shouldn't have any issues.

[snowballsarebad]

Thanks!
Yep, that's what I did, and it really seemed to help. Key is to not let the sphag dry out though, so it still requires a watchful eye, but less so. I just touch it with my fingers everyday to make sure it's not drying out. My apartment is very dry, but I work around it with the humidifier, misting, and keeping an eye on the plants that are more susceptible to the dryness, like the mounties, the vandas in baskets, and the little seedlings. Sphag has definitely helped the vandas.

[jerrymeola]

The key to growing all Vandaceous orchids is lots of water. They do not like their roots bound, and while it is possible to grow them in pots, they respond better to having their roots in the air.

They can grow in air with nothing around its roots. Bark is added to retain moisture in the basket area. Using sphag just increases the water retention. A difficulty of bark or sphag is that the roots now have two different growing areas. The basket and the hanging roots have different water retention rates. Vanda normally handle this OK.

I recommend for all northerners that like Vandaceous to try soaking in Worm Tea for 30 minutes. the microbes in Worm Tea result in 30% more water retention in the roots. I started on Worm Tea when I saw a Vanda blooming well when only watered once a month by soaking. I recommend at least once a week. Since the Vanda roots are exposed you can see the results immediately. The roots will not dry as fast and it is very noticeable.

Worm Tea - further testing -accerated growth rate

[rmt135]

Janice,

Nice flowers you got there. I have about 20 vandas. They like to get their feet wet - not too wet though. Generally vandas that are the more terete [tubular leaves] loves more direct sunlight than a Vanda that is strap leafed or has a "V" shape in cross-section.

Jerry,

I wish I worm tea in Singapore to experiment. Even if there is one, I believe it will expensive.

[janice]

Okay, were to I get worm tea...............I am not familiar with it????? All the advice as been helpful............I really think that although I have been guilty of being an OVERWATERER in the past that my mounted ones and my new Ascnda. (roots hanging without medium) have not got enough water??? Leaves are turning yellow at the bottom??? jan

[articuno75]

There are a lot of threads on here about wormtea. Jerry is the worm tea guru. He has done a lot of research on it and found AMAZING results!!! Got all of us hooked,,,line and sinker (Thanks Jerry ) Check ALL of the threads about wormtea.

[patlee]

A lot of forum members order on-line from www.ourvitalearth. You can get quart bottles that you dilute to make 50 quarts. There are also larger sizes, but you'll probably want to try it on your orchids first. And read Jerry's thread like Articuno75 said. It can be kind of expensive if you use it like water (voice of experience, here). See what the expert says and follow his advice Good growing

[articuno75]

Worm tea is reusable!!! Use the recapture method. This stuff can last for a couple months mixed.!!!! Read threads carefully! This is why I only use it to mist. (once in a while water with it) Recapturing for me is just a pain in the butt. I gotta buy a 5 gal. bucket Janice PM me for more info if needed.

[kmarch]

I have traditionally been wary of reusing water that runs out the bottom of pots because very early on in my orchid experience I was told that orchid viruses can be transfered from one plant to another in this manner. They also said that insects, fungi and other things could be transfered form plant to plant this way.

I was an impressionable young hobbiest when I was told this ans so I took it to heart without questioning it. To this day I have always just believed this and have never questioned it or investigated it further.

I would like to hear if anyone has looked into this and if they have, what they have learned.

[articuno75]

With wormtea being the natural fungicide and pesticide,,I don't know. Jerry would have to jump back in this thread again, he'd know more about than I would. As for contamination transfer, I guess you could have one bucket for every orchid to prevent it. Hehehe. (Not feasible for mass growers, I know )

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by kmarch

I have traditionally been wary of reusing water that runs out the bottom of pots because very early on in my orchid experience I was told that orchid viruses can be transfered from one plant to another in this manner. They also said that insects, fungi and other things could be transfered form plant to plant this way.

I was an impressionable young hobbiest when I was told this ans so I took it to heart without questioning it. To this day I have always just believed this and have never questioned it or investigated it further.

I would like to hear if anyone has looked into this and if they have, what they have learned.

Kevin,
Although I have not looked into this, just from my experience in the lab, if
a microbic organism has gone systemic, it would make sense that it could be
passed along in a water solution. I'll have to look into this and see what I
can find.

[janice]

Thanks for all the info...........I started researching the worm tea last night.... and reading Jerry's stuff. Patlee, thanks for the website. My last two orchid's came from the Mt. Dora area where I noted Jerry had first discovered worm tea. I too was told as a novice not to re use water but I have on occasion. I did had some spagnum and a few bark pieces to my baskets....we shall see....j

[jerrymeola]

The worm tea can be recaptured and reused. It is the method I use since I once used 16 gallons one day to water just my personal orchids.

You can also put the worm tea in a garden sprayer and soak the potting medium to near the runoff point. You can also estimate the amount of worm tea the pot can take without a runoff and add just that much (2 ounces in a 4 inch pot for established pot bound orchids less for new loose medium). Consider it a feeding and water heaving as normal the rest of the month. Spraying the leaves with the worm tea allows the mocrobes to enter the plant hrough the leaves as well. I use both methods.

I have noticed that the fear of viruses is a major topic of concern on this forum. I have been reluctant to comment since in a commercial nursery it is not a major issue. I can tell you in the commercial world it is almost never discussed. Bad plants are discarded long before it is determined the cause. Good health habits are observed and then we let nature take its course.

If you have ever been in a commercial nursery and watched workers cut plants one after another without sterilizing the tools (almost 100% of the time) certainly not washing or sterilizing their hands between each plant, you will see that if a virus exists it can be spread. It would not be commercially possible (economically impossible) to prevent the spread of a virus by sterilization.

I am not opposed to hobbyist going the extra step to sterilize, but want to point out every plant you probably own has been re-potted or divided without sterilization before you got it.

Also in the near future (10-20 years) you may not have a choice as water becomes more scarce watering restrictions will prevent the waste we now accept as practice.

In the container nursery business in Florida, the trend is to create large growing areas in plastic (a gigantic homemade tray) that is flooded in the morning and pumped dry to a holding pond later in the day.

[patlee]

Recaptured and reused! Thank goodness! I would just cringe when I first watered my plants with w/tea and all that precious stuff just went down the drain.

Thanks to one of your other posts mentioning that the microbes,once established in the medium,grow and multiply (makes sense--they even tell you not to cap the bottle tightly because living things need oxygen) I am pretty much only misting with w/tea so I am not losing a great quantity when I mist. It's still nice to know that when I water a new orchid with the tea, I can save the run off and then use it to mist. Thanks You're a great resource to this forum!