I need more help

[love2cee]

I replanted a Haemaria discolor - Jewel Orchid
Orchidaceae, thats her internet name, I call her Black Jewel, thats what the tag called her. I planted her with my dendrobium because I thought maybe they would be compatible room mates. Well the den is doing fine in the pot but my black jewel is just as lifeless, not dead or dying (yet) just the stem is soft and not strong like the den. I moved back the bark medium that they are living in and noticed that i bought it growing with dirt. Now that totally blows my mind because I thought all orchids lived in anything but dirt. She has been in this pot for 2 months now and like I said earlier, she's not dying, she's not growing either.



My question, should I move it into a dirt home and see if she's happier or leave her and just wait for her to adjust.
She is so beautiful to me and being new to this hate for her to die.

Thanks
Pam

[love2cee]

...and if I should put it in dirt, should I put it in a small 3 inch pot. I have been reading that about other types of orchids when they are stressed.
Pam

[janet_a]

hmm. my den is in lava--my jewel (ludisia discolor) would definitely not like that. jewel orchids are semi-terrestrial; they can grow in dirt. mine's in a pretty loose mix of potting soil, long fiber sphag and a handful of bark. 3 inch plastic pot, watered well once a week, northern exposure. sits around and does nothing over the winter (probably too cold and dry for it).

you should still repot only large enough to hold the rootball; don't overpot. but yeah, you probably want to pull it out of the den's pot.

(oh, and most den's like very high light; jewels are much more into shade. if mine gets any direct sun at all, even from the north, it turns orange and mushy. the den's on the other hand are in a full western exposure.)

[ryan_d_cruz]

Jewel orchids require more moisture that the dendrobium and also less light, while most dendrobiums are epiphytes or lithophytes, jewel orchids are terrestrials plant.

I have a Macodes dendrophila, which has similar requirements as ludisia, it is in a mixture of equal portions of peaty garden soil, crushed fir bark, charcoal granules and perlite, it is in a clay pot and is watered twice a week and gets little direct early morning light. It is doing decently so I think the condition; especially the soil and watering are fine.

[jerrymeola]

Here in Florida we can grow discolor as a ground cover under oak trees. Its growing pattern is very similar to a wandering jew plant. Low light and moist. It will not like the bark mixture of your den as it dries out too quick. The jewel prefers to be moist all the time.

I tried growing terrestrial here in the shadehouse with daily watering and killed them all by their drying out. when I moved them to heavy shade under the oaks and in my ground sprinklers they took off. they bloom a small white flower in early spring.