Is this an orchid ? pls help.

[qsg0070]

hi everyone,

i have this plant that i cant identify. i think it might be an orchid, coz i see pseudobulbs and the leaves look like orchid leaves ( i'm obviously new to orchids ) . so, can someone please tell me if i have an orchid here and if so, what type is it ? if its not an orchid, sorry for the bother!

many thanks.

david.


heres 2 photos of it attached. its real small ( sorry about that ) coz i cant post image links at the moment.

alternatively, u can goto /archive/orchid picture gallery/orchid pictures/ and see the picture posted by me ( qsg0070 ), it should be alot bigger!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Does kind of look like an orchid. But what, I can't say. It would appear to be something on the unusual side. I think I would look at the roots to see if they look orchid like, somewhat white with a certain soft thick look. Anything super fine and wiry would disqualify it for orchid standing. I never liked the way orchids grew in pure charcoal and I think the size of the chunks are a little too large for the plant. BUT, if it is an orchid, you would not want to change the potting mix (repot) out of season. You want to wait for the newest growth to just start putting out a flush of new roots. This guy needs to have a picture posted when it blooms. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[qsg0070]

hey cynthia,

thanks for the reply! the chap that gave me the plant said that he found it growing off the side of a fallen log near his home. i asked him about the roots and he said that it was white but not thick. he couldn't elaborate beyond that, i'm afraid. btw, we're from singapore, just so that u know we're in the tropics down here....

i guess maybe its not an orchid but maybe some kind of fern perhaps ? i have a dying phalaenopsis ( that i salvaged from my brother, yes, i like a challenge ) which i'm trying to nurse back to health and the roots on this one is way thicker than that of my unknown plant. i dug around a little in the charcoal and it looks way thinner....

anyways, why do u say that charcoal is not good for orchids ? most of the nurseries that i visited near my home all use charcoal. what are the disadvantages of using charcoal ?

also, u mentioned that the charcoal chips in my unknown plant is too big.... how should one size the charcoal chips then ? i figured bigger better coz more air can flow around the roots to keep them dry ? having said that thought, i'm a newbie so...

thanks,

david.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Just because the roots are small, it does not disqualify this as an orchid. It probably is an orchid, especially if the roots are white. The reason I say the mix looks too large IS because the roots are small. For me, it was because the plant is small, and therefore, I assume that the roots are small cross-section. If it were a fern, the roots would be hair/wire like (extremely thin). Orchids vary in the root thickness, with Vanda types having the largest, and plants like Oncidium and Miltonia/Miltoniopsis having fairly small roots, something on the order of a 1/16th or a 1/32nd of an inch in diameter, tho these are new world plants and you may not be familiar with them. In general, we use a mix size that is appropriate to root size, and pot size. I would probably grow that plant in a smaller pot as well.

I have not had good luck with charcoal, and I think it may be because of the high calcium content of our water. The roots never seemed to attach very well to the mix, they seemed to avoid it. If your plants are being watered by pure rain water, or you have very good water quality, which I would expect in a land where it rains a lot, you will probably have no problem with charcoal. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ