Lots of questions!

[plantsim]

Hi everyone,
I have a small collection of orchids that I've had for nearly a year now. I really love my orchids, but I'm afraid I don't know what I'm doing. When I first got them they were so pretty, but now most of them are looking sad. I think I should repot some of them, but there's so much going on! I don't know if I should trim some of the dead parts off, divide some into two or more different plants or something else. I took a lot of pics today and put them together on a little website with captions by them. I have 7 orchids total, but I only had time to photograph 4 of them today. Here's the little site I made:

http://www.crosscountrycookers.com/o...chidsindex.htm

I really appreciate your help!

[Tarad]

Well I cant help you much because I only have phals. BUT the hole in the pot looks like a rodent too me perhaps the ever pesty squirrel, the dang little brats can get into anything. Tara

[plantsim]

Thanks, I thought that it might have been some kind of small animal. I wonder why it would want to eat my plastic pot though! Weird...

[kninum]

that little hole sure does look more like a squirrel/ or raccoon made it......rats are really good at knawing smooth round holes....not randomly mangling a hole in a pot.....thou it could have got jabbed or kicked.....

thou i am no expert i would probably keep it as a whole during the re-pot, larger divisions make more robust plants and after cleaning it up a bit i would think it might fit the same size pot even

they are all very lovely, and seem in fair health....if you have had them a year you may want to consider a re-pot for all of them

from what i know of re-potting... trim off anything that is dead/mushy/sick, and take a look at what you have left, out of the media orchids can change shape a bit so you can never be sure of exactly what to do until you get them outta their pots. None of them look super huge so i probably would divide any of them right now.

[Tarad]

I forgot a garbage bag outside once and a squirrel into it and hauled a black plastic plate up a tree, shredded most of it all over the snow. Looked like a volcano had erupted. Tara

[LouisW]

The little Bassovola you can leave alone (unless the media is going bad, or is breaking down). It will eventually grow all over the basket. Other wise you orchids all seem to be growing fairly well. Den. nobile will need a bit of a winter rest, which involves cutting down on water and fertilizer. The other den is the only one that needs a little help, doesn't seem to have grown and I didn't see any new growth. You might get some blooms if you allow your orchids to chill a little at night. A 10 to 15 degree F differential between night and day is important. If they are getting the right light and water (which it seems they are) that should coax some elusive flowers.

Im with kninum. None of you plants need to be divided. they can be grown huge to become specimen plants. Thats what im going for anyways.

hope that helps a little!

[Myxamatosis]

for the stanfornian, I don't think that you need to do much other than put it in a larger pot. the roots look healthy, the small green tips you see on some of them are actually growing, don't break those tips!

the Linden appears to be in moderate health but chronically under watered the psuedobulbs will be come shriveled with lack of water. but for the most part it seems healthly.

I am no expert with dendrobiums, or Lcatts. so take my word wih a grain of salt.

[11Orchid126]

Plantsim, I don't know much about brassavola's except that they like tight shoes and lots of water, but I can comment on the dens and the laelia. As for the Burma Gold, the pot it's in is the right size right now. Dens bloom better when pot bound, and they like very tight shoes. In picture #4, at the base of the fourth bulb from the left, is a tiny bump that looks like it may grow into a new pseudobulb. In dens, growths from the base of the bulb are not considered keikis but now growths. The same is true for your den nobile. The new growth at the base of the bulb will be another new bulb. Don't cut any bulbs off of dens, especially the leafless bulbs, as dens bloom on new and old bulbs.

As for the laelia, that new leaf you see coming out of the older leaf is not another leaf. It is a sheath. And a sheath means bloom. Congratulations.

[plantsim]

Wow! Thanks everyone! That's great news about the sheath! I would not have known that! Does that mean its a bad time to repot? The Lc. is the one that I thought for sure needed repotted. Its very top heavy and can't stand up on its own anymore. I'm so so so excited! This will be the first time I got an orchid to bloom!!

[FLBob]

Steph here's my two cents on the Laeliocattleya Casitas Spring ‘Linden’

What I notice is that the back bulbs are being cannibalized for nutrient. That's why they have shrunken over time. My feeling is the plant is under watered and maybe under fertilized. When I say under watered I don't mean that you need to water more often but more completely. The catts roots may take a while to fully absorb the water, I will often water a plant with the hose for minutes and then come back and do it again. When I'm finished watering the visible roots are green.
When watering as I suggest be watchful on your medium, if it starts to breakdown; repot.


The Brassavola Epidendrum cross appears in good condition. Growing it as it is should allow you to water it more often without fear.

If you want flowers feed the plants regularly.

[kmarch]

Hello and welcome to the forum!!!

Regarding your "Brassavola Nodsa X Epidendrum Stanfornian" we first have to do a spell check. It should be Brassavola nodosa x Epidendrum stamfordianum. You
ll need ot correct the spelling of nodosa (also notice no capital N on nodosa) and stamfordianum (no capital S also).

The plant looks healthy but could go into a bigger pot or basket. You could either remove the plant form the existing basket and repot into a larger one or you could just drop the whole basket, plant, and all into a larger basket.

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Regarding your Dendrobium Burma Gold, it looks good to me the pot size is right. I have a tendency to over water these so take care not to water too heavily when not in active growth. The reddish edge to the leaves is a result of high light, which is a good thing as long as the leaves don't get sunburn.

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Regarding your "Dendrobium nobile", it is not a Den. nobile. Den nobile is a species orchid and yours is a hybrid. You do have a "nobile-type" dendrobium which is a type of hybrid made using the species Den nobile. You'll need to change your plant name to nobile-type dendrobium.

The plant looks healthy but it does look like it needs a repot as the mix does not look fresh. When you repot it keep it in a small pot. On your website you asked:

Originally Posted by plantsim

I’m not sure if this is considered a keiki or not because its so close to the base of the plant. Should I leave it alone?

The growth coming from the base is not a keiki, it is a normal new growth. With a nobile-type dendrobium, a keiki would be a new shoot that grows from one of the nodes along the cane, not from the base of the plant. To specifically answer your question, for the new growth, yes, leave it alone to grow normally. For the keiki, the one growing off the side of the cane (not from the base) let it get big enough so that it has several roots 2-3 inches long, then you could remove it and pot it up seperately. You could also leave it as it is on the mother plant.

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Regarding your Laeliocattleya Casitas Spring ‘Linden’, it looks a little dehydrated. I think a repot is in order and possibly step up the watering a little. I would not divide this plant in this weakened condition. Instead repot into a slightly larger pot and if needed, use a rock or place it, pot and all in a larger heavier pot to prevent it toppling over.

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Good luch with everything and let us know if you have other questions!

[plantsim]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You guys have been a tremendous help. I feel a bit more confident now in taking care of things. A few of you were saying I should pot up the Lc. Casitas Spring 'Linden', but should I do this now or wait for the sheath to do its thing? I will probably leave the rest alone for right now and just focus on making sure they have regular food/water.

My other 3 orchids are Dend. aggregatum, which I mounted to a piece of grape wood; and two that I just got for Christmas - one is a Dend and one is a Phal. I have the exact name of one of them (sorry I'm too lazy to get it right now!) but the other I have no idea what it is. They are doing good...in part because I haven't had them long enough to do any harm! The D. aggregatum is the one I've had the longest...got it in March '07, but I've never seen it bloom (not even in bloom when I bought it). I don't have any recent pics, so I'll have to get one when the sun comes up

Oh yeah - thanks also for the spell check! I don't like to have the wrong names for things. The name I posted came from the ID tag when I bought it.

[NancyH]

Hi, I am so impressed with the way you posed your photos. I guess that makes you a "computer geek" and an "orchid geek" too. Along with the others I agree, no dividing. Remember to soak your potting medium overnight to throughly wet it. Before I re-pot I put a little Physan into the wet potting medium to kill any bad organisims that might be lurking. Also, when I take a plant out of the pot, before I trim the roots ect ., I take another clean bucket and add a little Physan to the water then put the plant into that bucket for a least 5 minutes. Then I remove it and trim. I always wear rubber gloves to protect my hands from the Physan mixture. I have had good luck with this method so far. Be sure and clean your new pots throughly. I use a light bleach/water mixture then rinse the pots in fresh water. I am sure there are many links on this site as to what is the best potting medium for the orchids you have. Have a blast, don't be afraid, your orchids will love you for the new growing medium and reward you with new blooms and healthier plants.

[jerrymeola]

I have to disagree with some of the advice in this thread.

The nodosa hybrid is growing on a raft. That is the bottom of a basket without the sides. The plant will never be able to be removed from the raft without cutting off the roots. It is growing bare root and can do that for many years.

The plant will grow up until it fills all the space and then start to grow out the sides and then straight down from the bottom. It can eventually circle the raft in a basket ball shape (9-12 years). There is no bark or medium in the raft and does not need re-potting unless the raft breaks as they usually do after 3-4 years.

The Den looks like it is not getting water into the plant. The advice Bob gave is correct. They need to be watered for much longer periods of time each watering allowing it to dry between waterings.

The Nobile should be in bud this time of year and you may lose this season. You should not give Nobile nitrogen fertilizer after August in Florida. In other areas fertilize for 5 months after flowering and then stop. Nitrogen causes growth at the expense of flowers. Mine do not have anywhere as much growth as yours. One cane a year is usually all I get but I get lots of flowers.

Most of the white Nobile flower as early as November. Since yours was in bloom last April you have a chance yet this season. If it has not been outside put it there now. Nobile need to cool to set flowers. I leave mine out all winter. I have even had them down to 25 degrees without damage.

The Lc also looks badly under watered. Again water heavily and then let it dry out. The plant can be re-potted now but placed back in the same size pot. Cattleya grow along a rhizome in one direction. Push the old growth tight up against the pot and allow the growing end to be more centered in the pot. Sheats do not always develop into flowers and this sheat still has months to go before a bud is formed.

I like to use the analogy of a person out playing sports, hot and thirsty. If you dip your finger in water and wet your lips it feels good but eventually you die from lack of water. The same with the plant. If you wet the outside of the roots and they dry before the water can be moved to the plant pseudobulbs and leaves, the plant will eventually die.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

The nodosa hybrid is growing on a raft. That is the bottom of a basket without the sides.

Not sure what pic you're looking at Jerry, I clearly see a small basket with sides. but I do agree with you that some root damage will occur if it is removed.