Problem: Phal. hieroglyphica

[benetay]

Hello all!

This Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica was given to me by my friend as he got to make space for more orchids to come. It was a difficult choice for him since he kept this hiero for about 5 years.

He told me some history about it and that is also the reason why he gave it to me. I hope by sharing it will give some background information for better understanding.

Initially it was growing very well and it started blooming every year. After the 4th year, everything stop, it send more spikes out but never flowers. Have been asking around but got no answers. All the spikes put out only gave keikis. I cut one down and brought in indoor to be taken care under a more controlled environment.

I hope i can nurse this phal back to it's glory where it will give out some flowers. Now it is placed along the corridor where it will not receive any direct sunlight just bright light all day long.

I really hope maybe someone can guide me on the next thing to do as i do wish to let it regain it's original beauty.

This is the whole plant, it's relatively mature i believe to send out so many spikes, some spikes have spikes on spikes. 7 spikes, 4 keiki.



Core. Some live roots, some dead.


smallest keiki was only a nudge when it was given.


Thanks everyone in advance for any recommendations or suggestion.

Cheers!

[patticake]

What a pretty little thing! I'm wondering if a little direct sun, say early morning...but an increase in moisture. I'm only taking a guess, but where I am, the mounts dry out so fast! Good luck with it. I'll be very interested to hear what others say also.

[benetay]

Thanks Patti, i'm also thinking the same, maybe give it a little direct sun. From the burn marks on the leaves i'm scare to make it even worst. I added in the moss 2-3 weeks back to retain more moisture since they dry off a little too quick before i got time to even water them again. It is expose to rain, so when it rains, it gets a real good watering.

Cheers!

[patlee]

Sorry, my hieroglyphica was only purchased in February. She is growing well and seems to be happy in her new home. I agree with both you and Patti on the humidity. Mine is currently sitting on top of one of our aquariums in a smallish room . The room is filled with seven aquariums and a couple of shelves of orchids. I have to keep a fan running in there, but she seems to love the humidity

[tansyflower]

You could always keep it as a keiki producing plant. (I know this isn't answering the question- but I love keikis.)

Then you can pot all the keikis up and proudly show your friend all the "babies". Or use them as presents, or sell them and buy other orchids.

[digitalgate]

how about trying some dry spell?

[benetay]

Dry spell, does that mean more light, less watering?

I'm not sure if i want to introduce this whole chunk into the room since the night time temperature drops significantly and humidity drops quite a lot too.

I have one keiki in the room & i think it's doing much better in the room than outside. Maybe it's a good idea to move it indoor for a couple of months before moving it out again.

Cheers!

[kmarch]

P heiroglyphica comes from the SE Asian islands near the equator. In the wild it experiences surprisingly consistent conditions year round. We can obtain some useful cultural info by looking at the conditions it receives in the wild:

Temperature
Warm growing - average nighttime winter low: 72F (22.2C), average nighttime summer low: 75F (23.9C) - average daytime winter high: 83F (28.3C), and average daytime summer high: 89F (31.7). What can we deduce form this? Give it even, warm temps all year.

Light
According to Baker and Baker's climate data this plant receives very low light in the wild. They recommend 1000-1200fc. I successfully grew and flowered this orchid in an unobstructed east window in Michigan.

Water & Humidity
Water - In the wild this orchid receives some rainfall year round, much more in the Northern Hemisphere's winter months. It never experiences a dry period although summer is drier for this orchid than winter. The difference is about 5 inches of rain (monthly average) in summer but 20-25 inches of rain in winter. I never gave my heiroglyohica a drier period. I watered it evenly all year round.
Humidity - 80-90% - You'll need really high humidity for this guy. Growing him mounted as you are will make it more like it would be found in the wild which makes the humidity all the more crucial. You've got to have really high humidity for this guy.

It's flowering season comes in (NH) late summer and autumn suggesting it might flower in response to longer days (more light).

[benetay]

Alright! That information will certainly means 'in the room' There is no way we can have night time low of 22 degrees without air con. The lowest possible so far is 26 deg without air con.

Thanks!

Cheers!