3 New Orchids, need care advice

[Joyce W]

Hello,

I am a novice at Orchid growing. I love them but have been fearful of successfully caring for them. I purchased 3 two years ago that were marked down at a local nursery because they were no longer in bloom and decided I would jump in and learn. They did well the first year, two of them bloomed. For fear of overwatering and traveling too much last year I nearly lost two of them but after a lot of care and monitoring I have new growth and was so ecstatic, I went out and bought 3 more this week.

I have found lighting and watering needs for the Psychopsis Kalihi, but the leaves have small black spots and some damage to the ends of the leaves (pictures posted). A book I have, "Orchid Growing for Wimps" by Ellen Zachos, says that the small black spots could be an indication that it has been overwatered. Please look at my posted photos and let me know if this appears to be the case or is there another problem that needs to be addressed.

I need care information for the other two;
Paph Temptation (kolopakingii 'Klehm's' x philippinense 'Ratcliffe')
Bl Golden Glory (Does Bl stand for Brassavola?)

All three look as if they are in dire need of repotting. Pictures are posted of all.

Thank you for any advice and direction.

Joyce

[kmarch]

Hi Joyce and welcome to the forum!

The American Orchid Society provides free culture sheets on a variety of orchids. Go to www.aos.org and click on culture sheets. Download the sulture sheets for Paphiopedilums, for Cattleyas, and for Oncidiums.

Also I'm not a fan of the "Orchids for Dummies" type of books. It's just a personal opinion of mine that they don't do a very good job of explaining things. I highly recommend Ortho's All About Orchids. It is clear, concise, and explains things very well, and it's a very affordable book too, less than $20USD.

Lets start with the Paph. Paph Temptation is what we call a "multi-floral" Paph meaning it will have 3+ flowers open all at once. Multi-floral Paphs like warmer temperatures, a minimum of about 60-65F at night and as high as 80-85F or more on a summer day. They like medium light like you'd find in an east window. Paphs like to be kept gently and evenly moist at all times; never waterlogged but never dry. They like fresh air so using a fan for air circulation is recommended. They like fresh potting mix and based on the look of the mix it is currently in it could use repotting. Paphs like to be repotted every year. I recommend a moisture retentive mix of medium to small bark, perilite, charcoal, chpopped sphagnum moss, and possibly some coir chips, peat, coarse sand and shredded oak leaves. The Ortho book describes many kinds of potting mis and what each ingredient does for the mix.

Cattleya culture is pretty well spelled out in the AOS culture sheet.

It sounds like you're all set with Oncidium culture but the culture sheet will give you some additional info should you require it.

The black spots on your leaves in the 3rd pic are probably mild fungal spotting. Black spots and speckles like these are usually fungal in nature and don't come from overwatering as your book suggests but usually result from a combination of high humidity and cool temperatures or poor air flow. So making sure there's plenty of nice fresh air circulating around your plants will help.

Don't hesitate to ask lots of questions here. There are lots of growers here from all over the world and they're eager to help. If you find other orchids you're interested, it's always a good idea to look up their culture before making the purchase. It will help to insure your orchid will do well when you bring it home and help to avoid frustration with loosing plants.

Happy Growing!

[fred]

hi and welcome to the forum
It will also help us with advice if you could go into your user settings and update your Profile with your Location.


the Bl stands for Brassolaelia
you can also download the culture sheets from the American Orchid Society
for Paphiopedilum and Cattleya
http://www.aos.org/aos/orchids/page01.aspx

with repotting I think the orchid in the first pic looks fine only the plant seems to be potted alittle to deep.
the one in the fourth pic looks good also.
the orchid in the fifth pic the mix looks as if has brocken down a fair bit you could take the orchid out of the pot and replace the mix you can use the same pot it will need to be steralized befor its reused.

as for the marking on the leaves it could be to much water it could also be rottern roots.
have you had alook at the roots ?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I don't see problems in any of your pictures. The whitish spot in pic 3 may be too much light, but it does not look like permanent damage. I would train your new leaves, pic 3, somewhat upright while you can, just don't bend them so much at any one time that you break them. If you don't train them up right, your plant will become very awkward and take up too much room.

[pikevi]

Welcome to the forum, Joyce W.

[Tobi]

Hi and welcome to the forum Joyce. As you see, you'll get all the help you
need here. Great people!!

[Joyce W]

Thank you for the quick responses. I have printed out the care sheets and do have the home conditions to care for my new plants. I know now I need to move them to new areas of the house.

I am in the hot and humid south in central Georgia. I am acclimated to a warmer temperature myself and keep the summer thermostat set on about 80, the temp drops some at night I will get a thermometer placed near the plants and see if it is enough of a drop for the Paph. The Paph is in the living room where the ceiling fan runs all of the time as it is the warmest and sunniest part of the house, so the air should be fresh enough for it.

I will tend to any repotting needs and share photos later when I have blooms, or a new condition that needs advice.

Thank you again, this is a very helpful forum.

Joyce

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Joyce W

I will get a thermometer placed near the plants and see if it is enough of a drop for the Paph. The Paph is in the living room where the ceiling fan runs all of the time as it is the warmest and sunniest part of the house, so the air should be fresh enough for it.

Joyce, just to clarify, I didn't mean to imply that the paph should be 85 every day and 65 every night. The high temp is a summer high (and the plant will be able to tolerate higher temps if the moisture/humidity is there and there is good air circulation) and the low temp is a winter night time low (and again the plant can tolerate lower temps for short periods of time but growth will probably slow down or stop). When I lived in Michigan in the summer my day time highs were 80-85 but my night time lows were around 70. In the winter my night time lows were about 60 but my daytime highs were only about 70-75. I hope my post wan't confusing.

Cheers