Wrap it all up

[benetay]

Hello!

I'm not sure if this is often done.

Bulbo tinga.

Literally wrap the whole slab with moss but expose the growing areas a little on the top so it doesn't get wrap in the moss. I water them 2-3 times a week some times 4.



Not sure if it's feasible.

Cheers!

[trinigirl]

I have a lot of mounts, but I only wrap the root areas. I don't have too much moss near the bulbs for fear of rot. I water most every day.

Maybe the way you have done it will work in your conditions?

[kid a]

I think it looks awesome! I've not much experience with bulbos...actually none at all!

[digitalgate]

wouldn't recommend moss for Bulbo in our humid weather. chunky Charcoal should be fine.

[patticake]

I guess it depends what the growing conditions are. Take into consideration what the air and watering conditions are like. Keep us posted! Everyone has different conditions that work for them!!

[kid a]

How long have you grown it this way and has it worked well so far? I think it looks really neat.

[jbigio]

when it comes to mounting orchids I always look at how they would grow in the wild. I have about 60 bulbos almost all mounted and there are very few that grow attached in the wild that have much more then the roots covered with litter, in fact a large number will grow sideways on a branch. As for the way you have yours mounted it is not a conventional way for it to grow but you may also be on to something. only time will tell if this will work for you keep us posted.

[benetay]

Yes actually i'm quite skeptical about wrapping everything up into a ball. Not recommended with our high humidity. Problem that i face is when i water in the morning, it will be bone-dry by night fall and i don't water them every day. Sometimes i water them only on the 3rd day after the 1st watering. I can feel the crispiness of the exterior moss and did the skewer method to check for the interior.

Moreover the humidity will be lowered at night to 56% almost the humidity that i keep all my camera gears and leather goods in the dry cabinet (45% RH).

A fan will be supplement during the afternoon for better air circulation and will be turn on to the maximum allowable speed.

These are some of the factors influencing my decision on wrapping the roots area and subsequently the whole slab (except for the back).

I know it's a very unconventional method for growing bulbos. It has been like this since i bought it, which is like 2-3 weeks back. What triggered me was the first bulbo which i bought. However much i water, the bulbo doesn't seem to get enough water and i do not have so much time to water them on a daily basis.

Maybe in another couple of weeks i will remove the moss and check the interior for any signs of rot or any detrimental factors, which may be prudent for me to remove the moss.

Thanks all for the valuable response and i'm very keen to hear more from the rest!

Cheers!

[Brooke]

Growing the Bulbo in this manner would be no different than growing one in a pot. I have Bulbos mounted and some in pots. They are watered on different schedules. If you know when to water, yours should do fine.

Brooke

[benetay]

I also thought so, it seems like no difference to grow it in a pot base culture. Certainly something that is a pot base but mounted style. Hope it does well.

Cheers!

[digitalgate]

Originally Posted by benetay

Yes actually i'm quite skeptical about wrapping everything up into a ball. Not recommended with our high humidity. Problem that i face is when i water in the morning, it will be bone-dry by night fall

by afternoon it get dry up? Wow that is really really fast. My thin layer of moss took 4 days to dry up. That is why i hate moss , there is no control for me. I rather plant it in charcoal rather risking root rot. Wish i have such a low humidity like yours Benetay.

[benetay]

Maybe that is also the reason why her room can grow tillandsia funckiana with so much success whereas i couldn't even grow a single one at my place. In total i purchased 25 funckiana and killed 18 & gave the remaining to my gf. Now after so many years, they have grown so long, flowered and thrive. Now when i think back, i'm quite regretful not to make a quicker decision.

Since now all the orchids are in her room, i will try to adjust the watering regime to suit the plants.

No moss in the room can be wet overnight unless i water them at night. I could have moss for supper with a cup of hot milk if they were edible.

Cheers!

[benetay]

Here is another orchid bulb retusiusculum, which i did the wrap it all up method.

After just 4 weeks of purchase, i rescue this small little guy from the basket that houses individual orchids. Since this is a mini, why not just bring it back home to nurture.

It has quite a lot of spider mites on it and risking that, bought it home and immediately remove the pot that it was on, gave it a good shower under the shower head. Inspect for mites and other critters, inspect health and condition of it before mounting it. It is mounted on a 6cm x 3cm bark with bottom and top dressing of NZ moss.

Left it alone in it's own quarantine corner for about a week before introducing it to the rest of the family. Since then, it has 2 little nudge coming from below the bulbs. I'm suspecting new growth. No mites are found subsequently.

here are the pictures.



growth #1


growth #2



Cheers!

[digitalgate]

cool, did you purchase this oversea?

[benetay]

No i got it from WL. I show him the name of the bulb i want and it tally with the tag. I was very worried about getting the wrong plant, which is Bulbophyllum reticulatum but the leaves on it is unmistakable.

It's not shown on his website, most of the time i have to go down and show him the names of the plants i want before he can register if he have it a not. There are plenty of NOID orchids too.

Hope that helps!

Cheers!

[trinigirl]

Congratulations on another good looking bulbo.

Great work with the mites. Looks like this chid is very happy.

[benetay]

Thanks Sarah, i hope they continue to be happy in the given condition. I took the risk to do such a mount and hopefully they can get use to it.

I have some bulbos bought recently that ain't doing quite good. Will have to find out the actual root cause of the problem.

Cheers!