Assessing the damage: coming home after two weeks away

The orchids were somewhat rearranged when I came back

     I left my orchids in the care of my bf during the two weeks that I was away, with the instruction to water all the mounted orchids every other day, and the potted ones whenever the wooden skewers tried out.  On my return, I found that most of my orchids were happy, a few had thrived, and only one suffered drastic damage.

     The first thing I noticed when I got home was that my orchids were all in different places than where I had left them. Most of this was not a problem, but the wilsonara at the top shelf had its leaves directly up against the lamp, which resulted in some lamp burn.

Sunburn damage on oncidium leaf

    A number of my oncidium and cymbidium plants lost a leaf or two over the last few weeks, but are otherwise fine.  In fact, the only 'casualty' from my two weeks away was my dendrobium victoria reginae.  It lost the one leaf it had, and the new cane growth dried up and died.  It roots are fine, and the canes aren't dehydrated, but I don't know if this particular den will successfully recover.  I ordered a replacement plant for in case it doesn't.

Wrinkling on psychopsis leaf shows dehydration

     The psychopsis looked very dehydrated.  I think in part, it's because I told bf to water it every other day (for simplicity of instructions and to avoid risk of overwatering) and in this case that wasn't often enough.  However, when I checked it's roots, I found that they were all hollow.  This would be no fault of bf's care, but rather the consequence of this plants poor health from the very beginning.  It's spike is still growing, but I don't know whether to expect it to bloom, or if it will survive or not.  In any case, I ordered another psychopsis as a travel companion for the new den victoria reginae.

Cattlianthe Jewel Box 'Scheherazade' flowers going out of bloom

     My cattlianthe flowers were already wilted looking by the time I got home.  They were also far less red than the earlier photos suggested.  Since the orchid was already getting the maximal amount of light it could handle, it must be the temperature which adulterated the blooms' color.  There is a third flower forming on the spike, and I moved the orchid to a windowsill, in hopes that the cooler air would help it develop a deeper red.  I'm not sure how successful my attempt will be however, since the weather is only getting warmer, and the flower bud is already pretty well developed.

New cattlianthe pseudobulb

     The new pseudobulb has nearly tripled in size over the last two weeks. Here is how the growth looked just two weeks ago.

Tolumnia Genting Orange

     Fortunately, my Tolumnia Genting Orange is in full bloom and going strong.  The flowers opened facing every which way, making the blooms hard to photograph.  I'll do a more detailed post on the orchid later.

New roots on Phal Memoria Audrey Meldman 'Mendenhall'

     My phals seemed to thrive under my bf's care, producing tremendous root growth.  For the rest of the orchids that I didn't mention--there were no notable changes.  They had neither grown nor suffered in my two weeks' absence.

     The bottom line seems to be that phals really are good beginner orchids, as they seemed to be the happiest under my bf's care.  My paphs probably come in as a close second, since none showed any signs of stress when I came back.  And finally, the only one of my orchids that really deteriorated, was one that was sickly to begin with.

Growing new cane on Dendrobium victoria-reginae

3-week old cane

     This picture was taken about three weeks after I first posted about seeing the new cane start.  Back then the new cane was just a barely noticeable green lump. It has since grown quickly, and already has two tiny leaves showing.

Dendrobium Victoria-reginae progress in recovery

Mounted dendrobium victoria-reginae down to one leaf

     My dendrobium has lost another leaf recently, but I am actually optimistic about the orchid's progress.  I am convinced that the best indicator of an orchid's health is in its roots, and the the dendrobium's roots have been growing splendidly.  

After watering, the roots turn a deep green (left).  Wait to water again until the color turns back to white (on right)

     The orchid is mounted in live moss, so that I am able to water it daily and still have it dry out fast enough that root rot cannot set in.  The roots change color from green to silvery as they dry out, giving a clear visual indicator for when it's time to water again.  It's a little demanding since I have to water almost every day, but the roots have thrived as a result.

     I've circled where the roots have grown through several inches of moss and are now peeking out on the other side.  They've grown longer and healthier on this mount than they ever did while I had the dendrobium potted.

Start of a new cane: hard to see--harder to photograph

     With the orchid's roots now well established on the mount, it's also started growing a new cane.  The new growth is hidden behind the two older stems, so I actually didn't even notice it until today.  I think the dendrobium victoria-reginae is generally a fast growing species, so I hope to see fast progress on that growth.  I'm not sure how long the last remaining leaf on the old cane will last, but I really hope to have new leaves develop before it falls. 

     Note: the bud-like growth I had noticed in early February, has developed a purplish tinge and completely dried up.  I am fairly certain now that it had been the start of a flower bud, which blasted because the orchid was under so much stress.  I am not much disappointed, since I am much more excited by the promising growth as the orchid returns to health.

Growing orchids in live moss

     
I visited my family in Michigan over the weekend, and noticed some really prolific moss growing all over their backyard.  I harvested some to bring back with me for my orchids (thankfully TSA didn't question why I had plastic bags of green herbs in my baggage).  If dried sphagnum moss works well as a potting and mounting medium, then live moss should work even better, right?  I guess I'll soon see the answer.  My hope is that living moss will be better able to keep a good humidity around the roots.

slight wrinkling of the cane shows dehydration from my lack of watering over the weekend.  The wrinkling disappeared soon after I came back and watered 

     

     As seen in the above picture, I decided to try mounting my dendrobium victoria reginae.  I'm hoping that this way I'll be able to water the orchid daily and thus provide more moisture, without risking root rot.  Also, by hanging the orchid mount off the side of the shelf, I save space, and can place the orchid directly next to the humidifier for maximal moisture.    

     I also placed some leftover moss at the top of some of my pots.  Even if there is no benefit to the plant, I think a green layer of moss is aesthetically pleasing.

     My one difficulty is that in attempting to keep the moss alive, I may end up overwatering my plants.  For now I'm going to keep my watering regimen the same as before, but spray the top of the moss daily to keep some surface moisture.  Hopefully some of this moss will establish sufficiently to survive my conditions.

Flower bud on dendrobium victoria-reginae?

Something grows at the tip of the cane

     A couple days ago, I noticed something budding off the top of my dendrobium victoria-reginae cane.  According to the kind folks at the OrchidBoard it can only be a flower bud or keiki.  I'm told that since keikis rarely form so high up along a cane, it's almost definitely a flower bud.  Although this is the right season to see den victoria-reginae bud (spring flowering), why would this orchid prepare to flower when in such an obvious state of distress?  

     As the picture clearly indicates. the den has continued dropping leaves, with only 2 green leaves remaining.  The roots I wrote about in this post have continued growing, and the new cane bud seems unchanged.  In an attempt to get more even moisture available to the new roots, I repotted the den into loosely-packed fresh sphagnum moss.  The moss now comes in contact with the new roots, and the velamen of the longer root now looks green, suggesting that perhaps more moisture is getting through.

Dendrobium Victoria Reginae--making a fast attempt at recovery

     This is what my den victoria-reginae looks like today.  The larger old cane remains unchanged, while the young new one seems to be rapidly giving up.  The picture actually shows the yellowing of the cane even more clearly than the naked eye.

     Instead, all the rapid growth seems to be happening at the base of the orchid.  Two new roots (as I first noticed here) are now clearly visible.  Meanwhile, the little bud off the old cane (at the bottom of the picture) seems to be the start of a new growth. I've been misting the roots every couple of days to help get more moisture to the plant, while still keeping the watering on the sparse side.

A desperate attempt at survival

This rate of growth is quite rapid considering that this is what everything looked like this just 3 weeks ago:

     Now I just have to hope that these new roots survive once they penetrate into the growth media.

    

Dendrobium in danger: I think my dendrobium victoria-reginae is in trouble

A leaf turns yellow then falls

     The signs were there months ago, when a new root tip suddenly and inexplicably rotted away.  My dendrobium victoria-reginae is suffering.  After the loss of the small new root, I noticed that the top of the newest growth seemed deformed and dried out.  Meanwhile, of all my orchids, this one was the only plant to lose leaves after a dry period over christmas break.  Something is wrong with this orchid, and I am not sure what I need to be doing to fix it.

dried out top of new growth

     

    Earlier this week I decided to unpot the orchid and check on the health of its roots.  What I saw was discouraging.  The same multitude of roots which were green and healthy 2 months ago were now mushy and mostly rotten.  The pitiable state of the roots explained the weak and shrunken appearance of the plant.

     Although all but the first 2 inches on the central root seemed dead, I decided to be conservative in trimming back the roots.  I only cut back the most obviously mushy/rotten roots.  Since the dendrobium seemed to have so few good roots left, I didn't want to risk cutting off any roots which might still be functional.

dendrobium roots after trimming the most rotten tips

     All the roots in the above picture were green and healthy just two months ago.  After trimming away the deadest of the dead roots, I repotted the orchid into the smallest pot I had, reusing the original potting media.

     I am uncertain as to why my dendrobium victoria-reginae has faltered in this way. I had followed the typical instructions for growing this species of orchid: grow on the wet side under lower light. But all the signs indicate that something is very wrong with my current culture conditions for this orchid.  My first suspicion (and the usual culprit in orchid decline) is that I have been overwatering.  From now on, I will let the pot dry out more, so that I am treating the orchid more like I treat  my paphiopedilums.  (In fact, I haven't watered the orchid since repotting on tuesday). Also, I moved the orchid to a slightly more shaded location on the growth shelf.

two new root tips

     Fortunately where there is life, there is hope.  And I caught the trouble with this orchid relatively early (though I should have been more suspicious 2 months ago when the first root rotted).  Although this orchid will never grow back the leaves it lost, it is not yet at deaths door.  The picture above shows 2 new root tips poking out of the base of the cane.  I had actually only noticed one to take the picture, but when examining the photo in close-up I noticed the nub of the smaller root on the right.

     Of course, if the original problem remains unfixed, these new roots will soon perish just like their predecessor did.  An orchid can only put out so many new roots to die before it exhausts its energy reserves.  However, if a slightly dryer growth condition is the key to preventing further rot, then these two tiny root nubs can flourish and help the plant recover.  I'll be keeping a very close watch for any signs of either further deterioration or of improvement.  

     

Dendrobium Victoria-Reginae: seeking the blues

     After my first two internet orchid acquisitions proved successful (read: didn't die after a couple weeks) I started browsing various orchid nurseries for a blue orchid.  When most people talk about blue orchids, they are referring to vanda hybrids.  However, I wasn't particularly fond of those species' growth habit or their tendency to grow into a huge sprawling mass.


     Setting the blue vandas aside, I eventually found a reference to the Dendrobium victoria Reginae, a neat tiny plant which blooms with blueish-violet flowers.  At 6 inches tall, it's supposedly already at blooming size, which makes this currently the smallest orchid in my possession.


     When I first acquired this plant, the new growth was only 2 inches tall; as you can see it has since grown to nearly the height of the older cane.  The growth had also put out roots of its own, but unfortunately those rotted away. This observation prompted a repotting, and fortunately the older roots all seem healthy and green.  Hopefully the plant will make further successful attempts to grow new roots.

     The new growth is very responsive to the direction of the light source, and it has been a trial to keep this orchid growing upright.  The canes are top heavy, with very thin stalks at ground level, and my biggest fear is to accidentally snap one of them off while watering.  The plant is staked upright, which gives it some support, and hopefully some root growth will develop to offer further stability.