Stanhopia help!

Maxxreps · #1 (**permalink**) 07-31-2007, 11:00 PM

My Stanhopia's are not growing! They are in basic phal. soil (added a bit of seedling bark) and a month ago I placed them (5 common species) in higher light due to their lack of growth. I guess I'm getting desperate??

I keep them evenly moist and give urea free N with high cal-mag and sill nothing. The leaves have surprisingly not burned after a month with catts. and they remain the deep green of most of the genera.

Any suggestions? Do you think it's the regular 95 depree days?

I would appreciate any help...

fred · #2 (**permalink**) 07-31-2007, 11:24 PM

what sort of pots are the Stanhopia s in ?

I grow mine is a busket with sphagnum moss so the spikes can come out of the base freely.

see attatched pics

Maxxreps · #3 (**permalink**) 07-31-2007, 11:49 PM

They are all in wire baskets with coco fiber to hold in the bark mix. Most have flowered, but it just seems like they don't grow...

slippery_biscuit · #4 (**permalink**) 07-31-2007, 11:52 PM

I procured my one and only stanhopia maybe 6 months ago. A smaller leaf finished out to maturity and then not much. What I have seen is a lot of root growth ( I put it in a basket similar to yours). Now finally in the past week or two I have noticed it has started to sprout a new growth.

How long have you been observing no growth (that's sort of funny, observing nothing!) and are you able to see if the roots are taking off?

jeff

kmarch · #5 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 12:11 AM

How long have you had them?

Maxxreps · #6 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 09:22 AM

most around 3 years... I know they will grow around here as I saw a couple of specimen at a local club meeting. The roots seem vigorous and appear to be growing all over the place!

kmarch · #7 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 09:42 AM

Well if the roots are growing, that's one of the most important things for plant health. Is it possible that they were just not blooming size?

**Cynthia, Prescott, AZ** · #8 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 12:43 PM

Micheal, you mean to say that you have not seen a new growth in 3 years? Or just this year? And how many have gone with no growth in 2 or more years. Any orchid that won't produce a new growth in 3 years may not have any viable eyes, or it needs a hormonal kick in the pants. I've had a few orchids of other genera that went 2 years without growth at the base (keikis yes), and some of these have responded to hormones repeatedly placed at the base of the most recent growth (water soluble only) and discontinued or washed off when new activity was seen. For sympodials, it does not seem to matter which type of hormone is used, but using it at the normal growth season is most effective.

Maxxreps · #9 (**permalink**) 08-01-2007, 07:49 PM

Cynthia,
They have all put several new bulbs on each season until now. All but one (it's a niod so that makes it worse) have bloomed each season. I don't hold much faith this season though...

CRorchids · #10 (**permalink**) 08-02-2007, 06:32 PM

I have around 7 species of Stanhopia the ecornuta is flowering at this moment.
They really grow fast when you take them out of the flask. They grow faster than most other species I have tried with.
But the like to get good bright light and fertilizer. they stop growing in the dry season in Costa Rica when it is better to give them a bit less water but I don't know if it's the same with all species.
thank you

Maxxreps · #11 (**permalink**) 08-02-2007, 09:50 PM

THanks for the info CRorchids,

HEy what is the average daytime temp there in the summer and about how many new bulbs do your Stans grow each season?

Mike in Charleston

**Cynthia, Prescott, AZ** · #12 (**permalink**) 08-03-2007, 12:09 AM

Well, I just checked my Stanhopias. A couple have their new growths recently fully matured, and several have new growths from about 3" to about 6", but no bulbs formed yet. So I would guess that your new growths are over due. If you have any hormones like maybe some tomato set, you might want to spray some on the base of some of the latest growths as an experiment.

Maxxreps · #13 (**permalink**) 08-03-2007, 08:23 PM

Thanks for the specifics, Cynthia. That proves I'm doing something wrong! What media are yours growing in. I may have mixed mine too wet?

**Cynthia, Prescott, AZ** · #14 (**permalink**) 08-04-2007, 01:32 AM

I have them in 2 parts perlite to 1 part peat and water just about every day. Well, they are hanging in the eves and it gets pretty warm up there when it shines. Arizona has lots of sun, but we are having monsoons now, so every other day works. However, I have had very little blooming (well, no blooms actually) and it may be the small bulbpans and azalia pots that are the problem. I have large holes in the bottoms, but I think there may not be enough mass in the pots to make them happy. And they are probably drying out too much in spite of the frequent watering. I used to bloom a primary hybrid, Spindleriana, but it was in a big basket. It only bloomed on the sides of the basket, and I found out when repotting that the mix in the bottom of the basket was rock hard.

Maxxreps · #15 (**permalink**) 08-04-2007, 02:04 PM

Wow your's are in dry media. I planted mine in phal mix with about 10% spagnum and 10% Potting mix. These suckers stay wet. Maybe I need to pull one up to look at the roots... maybe rotting?

**Cynthia, Prescott, AZ** · #16 (**permalink**) 08-04-2007, 08:11 PM

Let us know what you find. I may want to change to a higher peat ratio for these guys.

CRorchids · #17 (**permalink**) 08-05-2007, 05:33 PM

It sound the media is to moist.
I grow them three fern or mounted. I don't like using peat moss (exept for aclimation of flask) since in rainy season is almost imposible to make it dry.
Temperature here is almost steady throught out the year.
We have normally from 20 c to 30 c The coldest last year was 14 for a couple of weeks in december. the diference is dry season and rainy season.
I will attach some pictures nest week.

Maxxreps · #18 (**permalink**) 08-05-2007, 08:38 PM

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll pull one up here soon and see what the roots say... We are forecasted to get over 100 for the next two days!, so I think I'll wait to do it...

slippery_biscuit · #19 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 01:45 AM

Cynthia,
I'm using about 1/2 course bark and 1/2 sphag. The basket is 12-14"' dia. and maybe 4" deep. The roots are almost at the perimeter and there are a few poking out at the bottom. The basket is in a greenhouse (near Seattle) and gets watered a bit everyday. Gets plenty of ventilation and despite the sphag, can get quite dry in a couple of days. Once a month I dip it. Do to a monster fir tree the greenhouse gets a break from hot midday sun for a couple of hours. So, it never really dries out much. Monsoon or not, you must be getting more sunlight/heat than I am. Don't know if this senario is good, bad, or what the heck. The roots are growing so I'll stick wih it for now. There is that one new growth popping up to boot...

jeff

**Cynthia, Prescott, AZ** · #20 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 03:30 AM

That sounds like a pretty big basket for what must be a pretty small plant if we are only talking about a one new growth plant, and may be only one new growth last season. I am sure it will grow into it, and it sounds like it is doing well. What sounds really good is that the basket is only 4" deep. This avoids the very long pass thru the mix for a bloom spike centered in a half spherical wire basket like my original Stanhopia that never bloomed thru the bottom.