Explorations in Watering and Humidity

This post was started sometime in June 2013 and the last comments were entered recently in October of the same year.  As time progressed, I learned some things and others I had to experiment with to see what would happen.  These are my findings:

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For some time now, I had been watering my orchids by pouring water over the top of the pot carefully avoiding the crown.  However, my results using this method were not great ones.  For one, my media kept drying out a bit too much.  The water kept wetting the media and pouring over the roots without properly saturating the core of the pot.  After all, bark based mixes are water repellent to some degree.

I decided to try soaking the entire pot in water to thoroughly moisten the media and then ensure I drain out all the excess liquid.  The first time I did it, I left the plant in for 1/2 an hour since I never got around to soaking the bark mix prior to repotting the plant.  However, I think a good 5 minute soak once a week with diluted fertilizer should be just dandy.  The key here is to ensure the media is not packed in too tightly and that it drains really well with good air circulation.

After that initial soaking, I was amazed at how my mini Phal's roots had swollen to double their usual size to absorb the water offered.  I realized the way the roots had looked routinely, while I had been watering it in the past, were actually dessicated and slightly shriveled roots.  But because I was so inexperienced in the whole orchid hobby, I was unable to tell the difference.  I had no real point of reference.

In order to soak the orchids properly, I ordered a couple of deep clear plastic saucers.  They are about 6 inches deep and about 8 inches in circumference, which are just great to accommodate any pot I currently have.  They are extremely light for me to take to the office and compact enough to hide away just about anywhere.  And best of all, they are inexpensive enough to be replaced as often as needed, but durable enough for many consecutive uses.

Eventually, I learned that the optimal method of watering for my unique conditions was to provide about 2 cups of warm water for the Paphs and allow the water to drain from the bottom holes.  However, the Phals get about twice that amount of warm water, but are soaked for 2-3 minutes  with diluted fertilizer every other watering.  The rest of the time, they get the same amount of water, but no fertilizer.  On average, I do this for all the orchids twice a week.

The other method I am attempting in order to provide a stable and suitable growing culture for my plants is a homemade humidity tray.  I purchased a sterling silver rectangular tray, which is about 2 inches deep.  I also purchased a bag of large gardening grade Jade stones.  The look is very pretty, but because the bags of stones are pricey and aren't as plentiful as I needed, there are a lot of spaces with just clear water in between.  I did a lot of research prior to setting this tray up and learned that the stones are traditionally placed in the water to simply hold the pot up above the water level.  Other than that, what truly provides the humidity is the evaporation of the water within the tray.

I decided to put this theory to the test.  After all, there is a lot of documentation attesting that the stones must be of a certain size, type, and closeness to be effective.  I placed my electronic hygrometer right next to one of the orchids on top of the pots they are in while sitting inside of the fully assembled humidity tray.  I left the instrument there for a couple of hours to get a range of the difference in humidity during various times of day.  All my readings yielded over 50-55% humidity.  I then decided to test the humidity in the same room, but away from the water.  I got readings in the low to mid 40's.  Obviously, the humidity tray does not provide a huge increase, but it's enough to make things very comfortable for the orchids.  In the winter, when the humidity will most likely plummet when the indoor heating comes on, I will use my trusty humidifier and place it near the plants.  That way, I am covered through the entire year...yay! 

The homemade tray did not end up being an overall success.  The size of the tray was a bit too small and the stones became a headache to keep clean. The water often became murky and smelly and it was difficult to balance the plants atop the stones.  I then ended up buying larger commercial trays and those work really well.  There is no need for stones.  I simply fill them with a couple of cups of water and the water evaporates cleanly in about a week.  I clean the trays every other week to remove any pathogens and mineral stains, and let them dry naturally before I fill them up again.


Since this particular Summer has been a very hot one,  it's been a challenge to provide enough moisture for the Paphs.  They don't like to be sitting in overly dry media.  I have been thinking of misting the foliage on the Paphs in between waterings.  I was still not 100% convinced I was going to go down this route, but I wanted to consider it carefully.  I am very weary of getting any type of crown rot and the word out on the street is that Paphs don't appreciate to have their leaves wet for very long.  However, I have observed that the water tends to evaporate rather quickly in this heat.  As if you can't tell; I was very much torn.  However, I did decide to mist very lightly on really hot days.  The Paphs seems to love it.  I do take great care to mist them from a good foot away and as I stated before very lightly.  I don't want any water to get trapped in the crevices of the foliage.

The last thing I had to consider was air circulation.  I learned the hard way that this is one of the most important elements in orchid culture.  Since they are tropical plants, their native habitats tend to have gentle breezes blowing through the roots and foliage routinely.  In our homes, if the air tends to be stagnant, we need to recreate this condition by artificial means.   An oscillating fan with various settings serves this purpose well.  Until the middle of July, I had been growing my orchids without a fan dedicated to them.  I would simply turn on an oscillating tower house fan we used for our family, but it was stationed about 12 feet away.  It did rustle the foliage, but it did not provide the roots any real air circulation.  Because of this, my plants suffered some root rot, but luckily, I was able to catch the problem in time.

Now, they have a mini tower oscillating fan all to themselves.  Even though my growing area is about 3 feet away from a window, the air does not tend to move much in this heat.  The roots were simply not getting the air they needed.  Once I was able to rectify this, things have been going much better.  The plants are no longer wilting and I am not losing any more flowers prematurely.

The last variable in all of this is the type of media used.  I first tried the regular run of the mill hardware store Phalaenopsis bark mix.  This type of mix just dried up way too fast and when soaked, remained too wet for too long.  My poor orchids did not know what was happening and it was hard for me to discern when to water.  Sometimes, it was 2 times a week, sometimes it was every day, and sometimes the outer media would dry up and the center would remain wet.  I got fed up and did away with that type of mix.

I then tried a mix made from mainly Orchiata for the Paphs.  This change did seem to agree with them and for a good long while, this type of mix worked well for them, but it was rather expensive.  During the course of the Summer, I purchased a new plant that came to me with Mealybugs.  They became a thorn in my side for several months.  No matter what I did, they just came back a few weeks later.

I realized the bugs were hiding in the root system and now all the plants were insidiously being infested.  I ended up having to repot all the plants, I ended up losing one of the Phals to the wretched little parasites.  By then, a friend had recommended Seramis Orchid Mix, which until fairly recently, had only been available in Europe.  I ordered a bag online and used it for the Phals.  This mix did wonders for them.  For the Paphs, I wanted to repot them back in the Orchiata based mix, but did not have enough on hand.  The mix itself is pretty pricey as it is, but tack on the shipping costs, and it really makes you think twice before placing an order.

Out of necessity really, I combined the Seramis and Orchiata mix together for the Paphs.  It turns out the Lady Slipper Orchids LOVED this new combined mix...go figure :)

Newly Improved Overall Culture

Since adding the 2nd lamp with the 40 Watt bulb, the orchids have regained a much lighter foliage color.  I have also begun to rotate the pots atop the humidity trays to ensure they get different light levels as they grow.  The clamp light now has a 60 Watt bulb to compensate for the distance.  Combined, I am providing about 100 Watts of light to my 6 orchids.  It appears to be working well.  The plants have shown some immediate improvement; better color, perked up foliage, and no more mealy bugs.  The last one is the best benefit of all so far. 

The color of the foliage is not as dark as it was initially.  This was a clear indication that overall the orchids were not receiving as much light as they needed.  Once I added that second fixture and bulb, there has been substantial improvement:

I am now watering the orchids twice a week although the mini Phal needs to remain dry for an additional day or two on average.  I run the humidifier on low on most nights.  The plants get a consistent RH percentage of about 50-60.  I am certain through the Winter, I will need to raise the humidifier to be able to maintain the same levels once the heating comes on.

In the past, I always had issues with bud blast even in the Summer, but this is no longer the case.  Once someone suggested  it might have been a humidity issue and I am prone to agree with this assessment.  Without use of the humidifier, RH in my home tends to linger at or below the mid 30's.  Right now, the only orchid I have in bloom currently is Kitty White, but so far, all her buds are still developing and opening slowly.

Even the tiny, undeveloped buds at the very end of the spike are starting to develop slowly.

The grow lights stay on from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm daily (14 hours / day).  On days when enough light comes in through the window, I will slide the table closer to the window's edge to take advantage of the natural light.  But, these days, those days seem rather elusive.  So for now, this seems to be the alternative to making it through the Fall and Winter successfully.  I have also started rotating the plant's physical positions so each plant gets different levels of light, which seems to be working very well.

I also revved up the speed of the dedicated fan I run 24/7 for the orchids.  The air flow is much less static and seems to be benefiting the orchids consistently.  At first, I thought that running it on the second speed setting, would be too harsh for them, but they are loving it.

I feed the Phals every other watering with a weakened solution.  The Paphs are fed monthly with an even weaker solution.  Once a month, all the orchids also get some liquid kelp and a dosage of Superthrive.  The Paphs require a monthly sprinkling of lime as well.

I think I may have finally found what works best for my conditions...yay!

Kitty White's Flowers

After repotting Kitty White and rehydrating her once more, her flower spray began to open.  Here are the pretty blooms:

The blooms haven't opened entirely, but already are starting to look very very pretty!

CFL Light Requirements

Lately, since the weather is beginning to change as we approach Fall, I've noticed the sun's rays are becoming increasingly scarce.  I now find myself sliding the coffee table on which I grow, closer to the window.  However, I have been noticing that my plant's foliage is beginning to darken, which indicates more sunlight is needed.  During the Summer, I was using a Feit Electric ESL40TN/D 40-Watt Compact Fluorescent High-Wattage Bulb in Daylight. 

This was fine as long as the orchids were getting a steady supply of sunlight even if it wasn't at optimal levels.  This was when the 40-Watt bulb came into use to supplement the light they got from the sun.  Now, I switched out the bulb to the Hydroponic Full Spectrum 3200K Warn CFL Grow Light Bulb 60 Watt Bulb 60W3200K, which should help during the upcoming cloudier months.  When I unpacked the bulb, it is physically large, but that was expected because of the higher wattage.

During the Summer, I had programmed the grow lamp to come on during the early mornings and the late afternoons when the sunlight is the dimmest.  During the rest of the day, there were at least 3-4 hours when there was a steady stream of light beaming through the windows.  But now, I am considering leaving the light on continually as the sun becomes less readily available.  For now, I am going to make the most of the remaining sunny days, but once these days begin to diminish in number, I will try out leaving the light on all day long to make up for the lack of natural sunlight.

When I went outside this weekend, I noticed that now when the sun does hit the front of the house it has shifted towards the side of the house and away from one available window.  It was then I decided to purchase another lamp.  After the whole fiasco trying to put up the last lamp onto the wall, I purchased a Neewer swing arm lamp for the FEIT 40-Watt bulb.  This way, I can attach it to the coffee table and adjust the lamp whichever way I need it.  What I couldn't find was a reflector that was large enough for what I need.  I may give it a shot to make my own, but in the meantime, I will just wait until the lamp arrives and figure it out from there.

The lamp arrived 3 days later.  It did not come with any instructions, but it was pretty easy to figure out particularly for a complete laywoman, like myself.  I decided to place the new lamp off to the side of the table about 8" above the plant foliage.  The clamp lamp on the wall was redirected towards the rest of the plants the smaller lamp cannot reach.  I think this should be a welcome improvement.

Kitty White Comes Home

I received my package from Norman's Orchids today.  I was so very excited.

I could not wait to open the box and discovered this was quite a large plant.

It arrived in a 4.5 inch  plastic sleeve packed really tightly in algae covered moss.  Having learned my lesson from past experience, I immediately began to repot the new plant.

It was then that I began to appreciate what a large plant this really is.   The foliage is about 1.5 feet across.  It is by far my largest orchid.  Upon carefully removing all of the moss, I found a little bug crawling around.  At first, I thought it was an ant, but no, it was a baby spider.  I continued working rapidly to rid the plant of all that nasty old moss, and the more I dug, the more spiders I found.  Lucky for me, they were more interested in staying buried within the depths of the moss, and a few jumped off the substrate I was disturbing and into the plastic bag where I was discarding all the old media.

I took the opportunity to trim a few yucky roots and decided to give the roots a nice shower under the massaging shower head.  I rinsed it for a good 5 minutes to ensure that not only any leftover spiders had been  dislodged and drowned, but that the roots were rinsed from any stray strands or moss, as well as, rehydrating the roots.

I then walked back into the kitchen and began repotting into my trusty Orchitop pot and Seramis Orchid Mix.  I must say I am glad I found this stuff because I really like how idiot proof it is.  Just right for me! 

There was some green gardening wire to protect the spike and brace it to the bamboo skewer it arrived with.  I removed this wire and used it to brace the plant to the pot itself.  Since it's such a large plant, it kept leaning and the sheer weight of it, was pulling the roots out from under the substrate.  The small piece of wire was perfect for holding it in place.

I then placed Kitty White in the growing area.  This coming Saturday when I retreat the rest of the orchids with the  Bayer 3 in 1, I will also treat her as well just in case.

What a stark contrast compared to the dainty Audrey 2 in the back right?

Kitty White's flower spray

Doritaenopsis Happy Cat 'Hello Kitty'

After losing Snow White to the cursed mealybugs this past weekend, I decided to buy another Phalaenopsis, but this time, I chose one from Orchids.com that would be significant to my youngest daughter.  I purchased a Dtps. Happy Cat 'Hello Kitty' HCC/AOS (Phal. Safe x Dtps. Happy UFO ' OX' AM/AOS).  I had shown this orchid to her a few months back, and she asked me to get it, but since we were low on room at the time, I had not.  Now, we have the room so why not? It will definitely make both of us happy.

Of course, her name will be Kitty White.  You Hello Kitty fans, of course, will know why :) The other added bonus is the plants are now in spike or bloom so it won't be long until my daughter will be able to enjoy the pretty flowers.  She will be absolutely thrilled with these:

Now, all I have to do is keep the orchid alive.  I tell you...I have had no luck with Phals.  But, I do feel confident that I have learned a lot from Audrey 2, who is still alive by the way, and the 2 other Phals, who valiantly lost their lives while I got my act together.  I now have the whole watering and correct medium thing down.  There really shouldn't be any more major problems from now on.

Bayer 3 in 1 Insect Disease and Mite Control

Because I am still in the midst of fighting a mealybug infestation, and I am slowly, but surely, losing the battle, I went looking for a very highly recommended systemic insecticide.   The most popular product mentioned was Bayer 3 in 1.  I searched hi and lo, but did not find it at any of my local stores.  It wasn't until I visited Amazon.com that I found out that it was not available for sale in New York State.  I had to resort to ordering the product online.

The beauty of this insecticide is that it is sprayed on the plant to be absorbed by the foliage, and can be added to the water the plant takes in through its roots.  This causes the plant to become toxic for at least 30 days at a time.  When the pests dine on the plant, they ingest the poison and die.  The insecticide has a multiple approach and is much more effective than anything that is sprayed on topically.  Its effectiveness is due to the fact that it targets the pests' entire life cycle; the adults, eggs, and offspring are eradicated.  Because the plant itself becomes poisonous, any surviving pests, which might decide to burrow under the media and munch on the roots instead, are also taken care of as well.  Because the treatment lasts a month, usually, only one round is necessary to wipe out the current infestation.

However, I have learned quite recently that mealybugs are not only stealthy and hide just about anywhere they can and wait until they can attack a weakened plant in the near future, but they can be spread by a light breeze or they can travel on their own several feet if need be.  This may mean that infestations may reoccur on a pretty consistent basis.  The best preventive is to ensure the culture is on point so the plant is not stressed, which lowers the plants immunity to future attacks.  Being a new orchid hobbyist, this is my main challenge because I am still learning what is best for me and in my home environment.  Each season is bringing a new set of surprises and challenges so my approach is still reactive rather than being well established so I know when to alter things in order to prevent issues.  By the same time next year, I will be more prepared to foresee what lies ahead instead of being taken totally unaware.

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Update 09/21/13

It's been almost a week since the initial treatment with the  Bayer 3 in 1, so far, no more mealybugs.  I will still administer 2 more treatments as recommended to ensure the infestation has been eradicated entirely.  The usual problem with mealybugs is that people stop treatment too soon.  When they don't spot the mealybugs for a week or two, they believe they are gone.  Most times, they are either lurking somewhere else biding their time, underground, or have left eggs behind that will eventually revive the infestation.  I have decided to learn from the mistakes of others and not give up applying the poison prematurely.

More Mealybug Drama!

So the little buggers are still around.  I have been meticulously spraying the plants with the Bayer Advanced Natria Insect, Disease & Mite Control. It gets rid of the bugs on contact and for a good 5 days afterwards, but they would surely find their way back.  I realized they must be hiding in the media itself.  I ordered online some Bayer 3-in-1 Insect Disease and Mite Control Concentrate.  This is a systemic poison with the main active ingredient being Imidacloprid (sold under the brand name of Merit), which has a very high success rate.  This insecticide is successful not only because of its chemical composition, but also due to the form in which it is administered.  It is fed to the plant during watering and in a few weeks, it makes the plant itself toxic so when the pests feed on the plant, they ingest the poison and die.  If this is what it takes to keep my orchids mealybug free, then so be it!

In the meantime, I took out each plant out of its pot and got rid of all of the media in the pots.  I  then carefully washed all the roots and sprayed each plant and roots with Bayer Advanced Natria Insect, Disease & Mite Control while out of the pot and left it to soak a good 10-15 minutes.  I then washed the pots thoroughly and let them sit in diluted bleach while the plants were being treated with the insecticide.  Once I was ready to repot, I prepared fresh new media, sprayed the insides of each ceramic and plastic pot with insecticide just in case any bugs were missed the first time and carefully repotted each orchid.  I also took the opportunity to sterilize the humidity trays and wipe the wooden coffee table well, even under its lip.  I didn't want to take any more chances with these resourceful and very tenacious little pests.

As I was treating the plants, I noticed Marilyn has grown a new root and leaf.  Audrey 2's roots are in much better shape and I also gave her a slight trim of a few dead roots.  Rocky is still hanging in there and appears to be doing much better.  The problem with Rocky is that he has so many nooks and crannies for the bugs to hide so he got an extra dose and time of pesticide goodness.  Vino had some great new growth, but lost 2 other leaves to the mealybugs .  I took extra time with him to ensure I got all the bugs.  Kalista was the worse off.  The bugs had established themselves in her delicate leaves and had infiltrated the media as well.  It was not pretty at all!

And lastly, Snow White's roots, unfortunately, had not only succumbed to the bugs, but also had dozens of black spots all over her roots.  Some type of fungus had attacked the weakened Phalaenopsis.  Since I didn't want the unidentified fungus to spread to my other plants, I painfully decided to toss it before it was too late.

I would say that the mealybugs won the last 2 rounds, but I came back with a killer upper cut and stunned them this time.  Let's see what happens in the next round?

Furniture Sliders Save the Day!

As the seasons begin to change, I find the sun's light is changing positions throughout the day.  Because my growing area is atop one of my coffee tables without castors, I don't have too much flexibility in moving it around to chase the sun's trail.  When I had attempted to slide it previously, I just ended up making the legs wobbly.  I began thinking on how to solve this issue, and decided to try some furniture sliders similar to these:

I figured if these didn't work, I wouldn't waste too much money anyways

The ones I ended up purchasing are about 2" wide and long.  They also adhere with some sticky backing to the bottom of the table leg.   After I had them all positioned under each leg, I tested the ease of slide.  I have a faux wood linoleum like product and these babies work great on this type of flooring.  It makes moving the entire table closer or away from the actual window so convenient and effortless.  It was such a simple fix to yield so much benefit.  I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!

I detest Mealy Bugs So Much!

At the beginning of August, I received Rocky in the mail.  Since then, I thought I had beaten the cursed mealybugs, but no, they just managed to stay low long enough to invade most of my other Paphs.  Yesterday, when I went to water Kalista, I found a few bugs in her creases.  I cannot find enough words to convey not only the surprise to find these unwelcome little pests, but the anger at having to start all over again trying to eradicate them.  I then examined all the plants and found that they had spread to all but one of my Paphs.  Thankfully, the Phals remained unaffected.

I treated all my plants with the homemade alcohol, soapy water mix.  It appears to have zapped the bugs that had congregated on the foliage.  I made sure to saturate the tops and undersides of each leaf.  I do feel that at this point, I need to call in the big guns.  Tomorrow, I am going to Home Depot and buying a systemic insecticide.  I am not taking any more chances.  These little guys are relentless.

I know that success in getting rid of them altogether hinges on consistency in administering multiple applications.  All I can do is hope that my orchids won't be too stressed and start declining in health during the treatment period.

After my visit to Home Depot, I found they did not have any of the Bayer 3 in 1 I had been looking for, but instead they had Bayer Advanced Natria Insect, Disease & Mite Control.  Apparently, the 3 in 1 is not sold in New York.  Although the Natria is not a systemic insecticide like the 3 in 1, it contains Sulphur and Pyrethrins, which should take care of things quite nicely.  The plants need to be treated every 7-10 days in a well ventilated area and away from any water sources.  I will admit that the sprayer that comes with the product is terrible.  It did not deliver a fine mist, but sloppily drenched the plants and everything around it.  I had to pour the product into my previous mister and then resume spraying all the plants over and under the foliage.

The insecticide certainly did zap the mealy bugs on contact, but it also has a really strong smell.  It does not dissipate right away, but instead tends to linger and if you get too close to it, it stings your eyes.  It is really important to provide good ventilation when using this product.  Even if you spray it outside, once you bring the plants indoors, they will still be rather smelly.

What's in a Name? The Difference Between Paphs and Phrags

Back in the beginning of the Summer, I sought out to buy a new Paphiopedilum at a local store.  One of the things that really confused me about these 2 type of orchids was how to identify them from a simple eyeballing if the ID tags are missing? Some are quite easy to identify since many Paphs have mottled leaves and Phrags do not:

But it couldn't be that simple, could it? No, it's not! Look at the leaves on this Paph:

Before we get too deep into anything, let's go over a few basics on Lady Slipper Orchid anatomy:

The other characteristic people carefully inspect to discern the 2 types is the pouch shape:

Phrag Pouch

The lip of the pouch on Phrags is usually set much lower and away from the Staminode than on Paphs.  This produces the illusion of a more open appearance:

Paph Pouch

 

The petals on the Paph generally tend to be stockier, shorter, and more oval in shape.  Phrag petals tend to be longer, more delicate, and pointier.  The halos (Dorsal Sepal) on a Paph also tend to be wider while on a Phrag they tend to be more elongated and sometimes curl.  As a general rule, Paphs tend to be shorter overall while Phrags tend to be taller and leggier.

Of course, there are those examples that will throw you for a loop:

Paph Pouch

Phrag Pouch

Another characteristic which sets them apart is the country of origin (not where they are grown, but where they can be found in the wild).  Paphs come from India and other parts of Asia as well as Indonesia, South China, Burma, The Philippines' Solomon Islands, and New Guinea.  While Phrags are found in Mexico and throughout South America.  This is more significant than just one plant being from a more exotic location versus another, but it also affects the care regime they will require to successfully grow in your home.

Paph Care

Phrag Care

Lastly, for the most part since these plants are grown from seeds, they are sold with their tags in the pot, which takes the guesswork out, but if you find a noID from either genera you can't identify, and have fallen in love, keep in mind this is a very basic guide to distinguishing the two varieties.  These are my humble newbie observations along with some guidance from others who love these orchids.  There is a lot more to learn, and if you find yourself perplexed, don't be too hard on yourself.  Sometimes, even experts have a hard time telling them apart.

Status on Kalista

This morning, I was doing my monthly flushing of the pots.  Everything was coming along splendidly until I started flushing Kalista's pot.  Let me first state that since I received the plant, I noticed that some of the newer leaves that were growing, were rotting at the base. At first, I thought I was overfertilizing since Paphs generally tend to be sensitive to this. It never sat quite right with me that I had never actually seen this plant's roots and as one leaf after another began to wither, I began to think something was definitely amiss.   But, I wanted to not disturb the root system for at least 30 days as the vendor had advised.

This morning, I noticed that with all the other orchids I had been watering that the water would sift through the media and drain freely out at the bottom. With the new fairrieanum, the water was sitting on top and would eventually drain from the sides down. It was as if the center of the media was really dense. I also noticed that the pot itself also weighed a bit more than all the others and no matter how many times I flushed it, there was still evidence of salt in the media.

I decided to look inside the pot and began pouring out the media it came with. It was terribly dense, and at first, I couldn't figure out why.  It just felt so grainy.  It was sand mixed into the bark, and a good deal of it. The sand was making the center of the pot become compacted and was retaining way too much water and had started to rot some of the roots. I repotted into my usual orchiata mix and trimmed some of the roots. I did notice there was a lot of new root growth, which is great and decided to not bury the roots too deeply, but a bit more shallow so they could dry faster. Incredibly, the plant looks perkier already.

More on Seramis Orchid Mix

So after trying the regular Seramis clay granules for houseplants for over a week and having good results; the media held the water longer, but remained aerated and the look and texture of the roots was improving, I decided to order my very own bag.  I ordered from www.seramis.com.  I found out that the distributor here in the US is located in Germantown, MD.  Additionally, I wanted to try the actual mix that was specific for orchids.

It turns out that Seramis in the US is now a subsidiary of Mars, the candy and pet food company.  Once I received my shiny yellow bag of media, I repotted both my Phals.  I left the mix dry until tomorrow morning when the orchids get their monthly dose of liquid kelp.  This batch of Seramis is mixed with some type of bark.  I am looking forward to continued good results and hopefully, having my Phals grow some new healthy roots.

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Update

Since I repotted both my Phals into the Seramis Orchid mix, I have noticed that Snow White's roots have plumped up significantly.  She's been in it, for about 2 weeks or so.  At first, I potted her roots very shallow and they were exposed to air for about a good week or so.  After that initial week, I buried most of her roots a bit deeper, but left the media nice and airy.  I made no effort to pack in the Seramis, but only to cover the roots.  I have been watering her every 3-4 days and in between, I have been spraying her leaves with a weak mixture of water and Superthrive.  Her roots are now nice and green and very plump.

Her roots had black rotted spots scattered through their surface and were stained
brown from repeated fertilizer application

Her air roots as well as the ones in the media are a nice healthy shade

Of course, as the roots improve, the plant also takes a turn for the better in regards to its physical appearance:

Her oldest leaf yellowed and died.  Since I purchased her with 3 flowering spikes, I decided to sacrifice the last of the flowers, which were about to die in a few weeks anyways.  I trimmed the triad of spikes down to the base to ensure the plant would concentrate on repairing itself rather than producing or maintaining old blooms.  Since then, she has also put out a new leaf in the center, which is growing at a good pace.

Audrey 2, on the other hand, is not doing so well at the moment.  I am watering her a lot more conservatively until she recovers a bit more.  I transferred her over to a clear homemade pot and made numerous ventilation holes throughout its surface.  With the new mix, her roots should recover nicely and she is already working on putting out a new leaf:

These roots are still off colored and still rather stringy

New leaf growing

So far, I would have to admit that the Seramis Orchid mix has been a positive addition to my culture!

Orchid Updates

This post is just to report back on how all my plants are doing.  Of course, some are doing better than others, and some plants just seem overall hardier than others.  Right now, my problem child is Rocky.  After attempting to remove an old yellowing leaf, an incoming fan right in the center of the plant, simply tore right off.  This was Rocky last week before his trim:

Judging by appearances, everything looks fine here

His foliage appeared full and green, but once I started to inspect the center of the plant to detach that left lower leaf, I discovered the center of the plant was black with rot.  To be honest, I was not entirely surprised.  After all, he was not in good shape when he was initially shipped to me.  I am trying my best to save him and he appears to be trying to grow, but those roots are still in horrible shape.  They are not any worse than when I received the plant so in a way, I do consider there has been some progress, but no new roots are growing at this time.  So, after my attempt to clean him up yesterday, this is what his foliage looks like now:

Upon closer inspection:

The important thing is that now air will get in between those leaves and heal much faster since the plant will remain drier.  Gathering from everything I had read, Paphiopedilum Spicerianum is a good grower.  It may be compact, but it has a rep for being easy to grow and quite prolific.

With all my Paphs, particularly the ones in distress, I have been feeding lightly, watering generously every couple of days since my conditions are quite dry, adding dolomite to the mix, and I have been using liquid kelp once a month to stimulate root growth.

My second most needy plant is my newest, Kalista.  She arrived quite bruised from being shipped.  She was also pretty dessicated and the leaves were mangled all together.  She also seems a bit discolored as if she had been exposed to way too much light.  Here is Kalista after almost a week of arriving in her new home:

She still needs a little more time, but she is recovering nicely.

In the opposite end of the spectrum, my success story has been my Paphiopedilum Oberhausen's Diamant, Marilyn.  She was fine until the middle of July or so when we had a bad heat wave and our family went away on vacation.  This, and the fact that I did not have a dedicated fan for the orchids, spelled heatstroke.  Out of all my orchids, she was the one that got it the worse.  Her foliage began drooping.  At first, I thought it was some type of fungal thing so I treated her with fungicide, which ended up burning her roots.  So, instead of helping, I ended up making maters worse.  She began to recuperate from the root abuse slowly, but was making steady progress.

Then, about 2 weeks ago, one of her leaves began yellowing and she began displaying numerous brown spots on the yellow leaf.  Again, my inexperienced instincts screamed out fungus or some type of rot, but a more experienced grower, recommended adding dolomite to the media for my Calcicolous Paphs.  The dolomite worked.  She is now doing much better.  You be the judge:

Before

After

And here is my collection; everyone doing much better!

Attaching the Grow Lamp to the Wall

I had posted an entry entitled Upgrades to My Growing Area with an update about the trouble I was having getting the grow light to stay fixed onto the wall.  I first tried the 3M Command adhesive strip two separate times.  I tried thoroughly cleaning the area with alcohol, scraping the paint off the wall, and letting it cure for a longer period of time than indicated, but nothing worked.  The lamp was simply too heavy for the adhesive although it was guaranteed to hold 5 lbs and both the lamp and bulb together weighed about 2 lbs in total.  The real issue was leverage.  The extending arm of the lamp was making it unevenly heavy.

Because we have plaster walls and my landlord doesn't want any permanent holes in the walls, I cannot use anchors because that would require me to drill holes and would give me away.  These people hear everything.  After asking many friends for ideas, I decided to use 1" screws and two small brackets to support the weight of the lamp.  I had to get them in the wall with a bit of good 'ole 'elbow grease'.  As I was screwing the hardware into the wall, I noticed the screws were not really gripping onto anything solidly.  I then decided to bring in the big guns.

The next day, I got myself a small bottle of Gorilla Glue.  I had never tried this brand or type of glue, but when I read about how it was so good at filling holes, which is exactly what I needed.  The fact that it was supposed to be a really strong adhesive once it cured made it just perfect for what I wanted it to do.  I not only applied glue to the back of the brackets, but to the holes inside the wall.  The glue filled in the holes beautifully and the brackets, which were clamped down by the screws, are sturdy enough to actually hold.  I am happy to state that with my new reconfiguration of the brackets, the aid of the new adhesive, and allowing it to cure for about 48 hours, which is about double the time recommended, it finally worked! 

I used a couple of zip ties to stabilize the lamp

I will now have to pick up a small can of paint to retouch where the previous adhesive strip peeled off the pigment.

Now, this is the finished product:

The grow lamp is simply meant to supplement the sunlight on either cloudy days or during the hours the sunlight is more muted.  Therefore, it's not that important that the bulb itself is right next to the plants.  I am just so happy that it is finally staying on the wall...yay!!!

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Update

The lamp has been up for 2 weeks now and the bracket and screws are still firmly into the wall.  I can finally cross this off my list as a success.

 

Introducing Kalista!

After scouring the Internet for a week or so, I finally found a Paphiopedilum Fairrieanum.  I love their gorgeous flowers!

Hopefully, next year, I will have blooms like this

My paticular one is a Pahiopedilum Fairrieanum (fairieanum 'Red' AM/AOS x fairieanum 'OZ') from Orchids.com.  I named her Kalista, which means most beautiful one.  When she arrived a few days ago, she seemed to have had a really bad trip.  Her leaves were all mushed down and she looked a bit thirsty.  Since she arrived late in the afternoon, I unpacked her and simply added some dolomite to her media and placed her in her new spot.

The next morning, I gave her a good watering, but she still looked a bit under the weather.  It's been about 3 days since she arrived and she's starting to perk up somewhat:

I know in time, she will recover from the shipping trauma, but right now, she still has a few leaves that need to perk up:

As the saying goes; slow and steady wins the race!

Seramis Clay Granules

Today, during one of my recurring visits to the orchid board,  I noticed someone on the forum had been raving about the Orchitop orchid pots.  They are made in Germany and not widely sold here in the US, but I managed to snag a clear one from Repotme.com.  On the Orchitop site, they also endorse something called Seramis in order for the pots to do what they were designed for.  They are clay granules, but only available in Europe.

The user on the board, who had been gushing about the pots, asked me if I was also using the Seramis granules.  I informed her that it would be impossible for me to get them in the US, but I had a similar product named Orchiata, but that it was rather expensive to use in such a large pot.  She completely surprised me when she volunteered to ship me some from the UK, where she lives.  She said the product is so ligth-weight that shipping would not be costly.  What a sweetheart! Just goes to show that people are full of surprises.  I honestly did not expect that, but since I was so curious about this product, I graciously thanked her for her generosity, and am so looking forward to my bag of Seramis clay granules.

I also learned today that the Orchitop pot is meant to be filled with the clay granules, and then watered by filling the saucer with water.  The water will wick up to the roots as needed.  This keeps the roots constantly hydrated, but also really well aerated as they were intended to grow in nature.  I will tell you, after seeing the roots of the Phals cared for by the board member, who recommended the pot and the Seramis combo, I did not dream that my Phal's roots could ever look like that.  I am definitely willing to try and see how it goes.  Right now, my Phal's roots don't look too hot in my opinion.  They are still struggling to recover from being tightly packed into Sphagnum Moss for so very long.  Ever since they were taken out of the Sphagnum Moss, they have looked a bit dehydrated on a regular basis.  The climate in my home is consistently pretty dry.  Personally, I would like to get them really nice and plump like in the picture below:

Marilyn is Getting Much Better!

This morning, I noticed that Marilyn had basically made a full comeback from the sad plant it was about 3 weeks ago.  Her centermost leaf was standing upright and there was even evidence of a new leaf growing within its folds.  I haven't dared to inspect the roots, but the one root which keeps peeking out the top of the pot, is now a healthy shade of brown and not entirely dried out as it was before.   The Orchiata based mix has served my Paphs well.  It drains well and yet retains some much needed moisture for them as well.

I did make some cultural changes recently.  We, orchid enthusiasts are a curious bunch, so I am constantly and eagerly scouring the Internet to learn more about the care of my plants.  I discovered adding some calcium to my media and a moss top layer would benefit the Paphs.  I also moved Marilyn back a bit further away from the window.  I think she prefers a shadier spot than where she had been initially placed.  It is a bright window, but the full on sun does not come in until much later in the afternoon, and it really does not hit the plants for more than an hour or two, but that seems to have been a bit much for her and was stressing her out.  2 of her leaves had been showing signs of drying out and became a bit leathery as a result.  I do find she does not seem to mind the grow lights at all so I did place her closer to the artificial lighting and further away from actual sunlight.  This arrangement seems to be working much better for her.

I am just glad she is much happier now.  I did not want to lose her as a result of my own growing pains.

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Update

So of course, as luck would have it, Marilyn had a bad relapse :( This is her leaf today:

I definitely knew something was wrong, but never in a million years did I imagine what was actually the problem.  Since I was stumped, I consulted the orchid gurus over at the orchid forum.  I was informed that sphag is not good for my Paphs at all.  What I need to add is dolomite.  I recall reading that somewhere, but there is just so many different opinions and since I wasn't familiar with the product, I kind of chose to ignore this tid-bit.  So this is what I need:

They really need to have dolomite for dummies.  Unless I searched for it online under keyword dolomite, and got the above product as a result, I would've walked right past this product on a store shelf without knowing this is what I actually needed.  In any case, during lunch tomorrow, I will be picking up my bag of dolomite.  I was also advised to do the same thing with the rest of my Paphs.

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Update - August 17, 2013

This is Marilyn today after her watering:

 

I would say the dolomite was definitely a success!

Moss Top Dress for Paphs

After doing some research online, I found out all of my Paphs (Paphiopedilums) need a calcium top layer above their media, particularly since our NYC water is so pure.  In their natural habitat, they grow in places where there are plenty of nutrients being washed onto them from the trees above.  They also tend to grow on or in between the rocks with limestone, dolomite, and other minerals.  So, it is important to routinely add calcium to the media.  From my readings, this top layer should be replaced at the beginning of each season.  Since my oldest daughter has a lizard as a pet, who also requires powdered calcium, I borrowed some temporarily to experiment with.

After adding the calcium powder,  I also moistened some sphagnum moss and laid it all along the top of the powdered calcium to seal the moisture into the media and protect any roots that were exposed to air from direct sun.  I also learned that this is something that Paphs appreciate since many of them grow in places where there is either a layer of leaf litter of moss growing on the rocks and trees they are close to.

If my Paphs were in their native habitat, they would all grow in India or in the kingdom of the Bhutan growing in pockets of humus on limestone mountain sides.

Wild orchids in their native habitat of the Bhutan

As with all changes regarding these slow growing orchids, improvements will be slow coming, but in the end, if it helps my plants, they are small easy fixes...so, why not?

Vino with this new top layer of moss and calcium

Rocky was also outfitted with a layer of moss and calcium