Darwinian orchid care

      Even as my updates have gotten fewer, I've also been finding less and less time for watering my collection.  Where before I was spending nearly an hour on my orchids every day, now I water everything in one quick go every few days as I remember.  Sometimes 'a few days' means almost a week goes by.

     With this kind of neglectful care, my collection is undergoing a rather harsh natural selection process.  Some orchids seem perfectly fine for now under this regimen of care.  Others, particularly orchids which were in weak health to begin with, have visibly suffered.

     My collection is now reduced by two.  I lost Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy almost a month ago.  This was the orchid which rapidly lost all its roots due to what I think was excessive cold during the winter.  The phal continued to shed leaves, until nothing remained of the orchid.  RIP.

Infected orchid

     I also threw away my hapless Aliceara Matthias 'Glamour'.  This orchid has been trouble ever since I first bought it.  I had noticed a white fuzz on it a while ago, and recently it appeared to have spread.  I am not too versed in orchid pests, but I'm guessing this is 'scale'.  Regardless, I had the orchid isolated from the rest of my collection for a while.  Today, in a moment of frustration, I just threw it in the trash.  I'd rather have one less young, sick plant to take care of, than risk the rest of my orchids for the chance to see this one flower.

Surprising blooms from Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

A severely dehydrated Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy in bloom

     My Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy took a big turn for the worse soon after I treated it for cold-induced root loss.   The leaves turned limp and wrinkled, and eventually yellowed and died.  It now has only two leaves left, and neither looks very strong. And yet, even as the plant itself suffered, it managed to proceed to blooming.

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

     Even more surprising than the appearance of the flowers was their look.  They look different from the image advertised on the Hauserman's website when I purchased this orchid, and even more different from images of Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy I've seen online.

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy as advertised on Hausermann's

     In hindsight, perhaps the Hausermann's picture is not too different (just a yellow hue which changes the colors of the flowers). However, there is a great variety of Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy flowers around the internet with all sorts of different colorations and shapes.  Check these photos out: one, two, three.  Every single one looks like a completely different hybrid, yet all bear the same name.

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy, by Orchidgalore (Flickr photostream)

     Some of these flowers are solid colored, some are spotted in various patterns.  Some have the more typical phalaenopsis shape, while others like mine have the smaller petals and pronounced lips typical of dtps. hybrids.

My Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy flowers closeup

     The flowers on my Dtps. Yu pin Burgundy are a very deep saturated wine red, with white edging on the tips of the petals.  The flowers are small, only about 1.5 inches across, and their lips are disproportionally large.

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

       The individual flowers didn't last very long, but I suspect that's a reflection of the plant's current dehydrated state.  The first flowers opened on March 12, and the orchid is still in bloom now.

Repotting Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

     On March 09, I noticed some more rotten roots through the clear plastic, and decided that I could not risk waiting any longer to repot.  If the stress of repotting would blast the flower buds, so be it.

 

Extensive root damage

 

Remaining roots after trimming off dead and rotten material

     When I removed the orchid from its pot, I discovered extensive root damage.  Most of the roots were either dried out, or rotten.  Only 4 living roots remained, and those were all shriveled and unhealthy still.

 

     My suspicion is that the damage was caused by cold shock.  My orchid shelves are next to an open window, and this season had some very cold nights.  Further, the water I use on my orchids is stored in a glass tub right next to the window, so I was likely watering my phals with water that was far too cold for their roots to handle. 

 

     In the meantime, I treated the orchid with fungicide, and repotted into a smaller 4-inch pot.  The orchid is now looking very scraggly and dehydrated, and losing leaves.  I hope it manages to pull through.  In the meantime, it has managed to open some of its flowers, which I will post about at a later date.

Troubling root rot on Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

     My Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy is a big healthy phalaenopsis hybrid, with two nicely growing spikes, and an extensive root system.   That is why I was particularly troubled to spot a rotting root with what looks like a fungal growth through the clear plastic pot.  Normally, I'd take that as a sign to immediately repot, and cut off the affected root.  But I would hate to jeopardize the blooms.

A diseased root

     The picture above shows the affected root.  The rest of the pot is dried out, so what looks like moisture is all coming from the root rotting.

     I soaked the orchid in physan-treated water today.  But I am really questioning whether that is sufficient to keep this infection from progressing.

     Thoughts?

Phalaenopsis flower spikes update

Phalaenopsis Orchids in spike

     Six of my phalaenopsis orchids went into spike earlier this fall.  The spikes are maturing at various rates and all seem to be growing well. 

Noid Phalaenopsis

     

     The tallest of these belongs to my noid phal, which started opening its flowers around the first week of January.  I first noticed the side spikes on Nov 5, meaning that the spikes took about 2 months to start blooming. 

     The orchid blasted two buds while I was away, but has opened more flowers successfully since then.  There are relatively few buds on each side spike, possibly because these are reblooms from old spikes, rather than new ones.  I'll do a full post on the orchid once it reaches full bloom, which may take as much as a month longer.

Dtps. Jungo City

     Dtps. Jungo City started growing its spike on October 15.  Over three months have now passed, and the spike is still growing.  The spike is 14" tall. Its terminal nodes are developing into buds, so I can hope to see the first flowers open within a month.

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

     Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy started growing its first spike on Nov 6, and its second spike on Dec 4. The spikes are 9.5" and 4" tall, respectively, and have much more growth to do before they mature.

Phal. Gold Tris 'Desk Pot'

     Phalaenopsis Gold Tris started growing its new spike around Nov 13. The side spike started growing about a month later.  The main spike is now about 5" tall, and starting to form buds.

Closeup on Phal. Gold Tris spike

     I'm excited by the darkening tone around the buds, in case that means that more red color will show through in the flowers when it blooms.  The orchid arrive in bloom last spring with flowers that were mostly yellow and white. I'll be curious to see if blooming in colder temperatures will cause more red color to be visible.

Phalaenopsis Memoria Audrey Meldman 'Mendenhall'

     Phal. Memoria Audrey Meldman started growing a spike about two months ago, on Nov 13.  The spike has grown very slowly; it's quite thin, and only a few inches tall.  The side spike, which first appeared a month ago, is so small that I'm wondering if it will turn out to be just a single flower.  This is another orchid that I'm very curious to see if it will bloom redder for me, than the flowers it arrived with last Spring. However, at this rate, the weather might very well warm up all over again before the flowers are ready to open.

Noid Phalaenopsis in spike

     The final of my spiking phals is the spotted noid, whose spike started growing last month.  It's growing at a good rate, though it will be a few months more before these flowers are ready to open.

And that's all of them!

Second spike starting on Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

     I was very excited to notice a second spike starting on Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy.  This a healthy orchid with many leaves and a strong root system.  It should put on quite a show once the spikes mature.

Start of new spike on left, first spike quickly growing on right

Spike or root?

Dtps Yu Pin Burgundy on left, Phal Gold Tris 'Desk Pot' on right

     It's a question we often ask ourselves, as amateur orchid growers, when our precious orchids start growing auspicious protrusions of uncertain origin.  With phals, roots and spikes can look very similar in the earliest stages, so when I first noted the two nubs in the picture above, I wasn't quite ready to decide what they were.

The same growths, one week later

     One week later, the growth on Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy has clearly revealed itself to be a spike.  The Phal. Gold Tris, on the other hand, remains mysterious.  I think I see three faint lines, indicating segmentation, but I can't be sure.  It could just be a weirdly shaped root. In one more week, the answer should be clear.

Dtps Yu Pin Burgundy

Phal Gold Tris 'Desk Pot'

     Both orchids are healthy, and have grown new leaves and roots since I've last written about them.  The old spike on Phal Gold Tris remains green, but otherwise inactive.

Growth on Phal Memoria Audrey Meldman 'Mendenhall'

     In addition, there's a promising new growth on Phal Memoria Audrey Meldman. In this case it is far too early to even hope to guess whether this is a spike or not.  It's in the right place for a spike, and many of my other phals are now spiking, but otherwise, I'm just being overly optimistic.  A few more weeks will show what this is with more certainty.

Phal Memoria Audrey Meldman 'Mendenhall'

     The phal has been growing well, and its root system overshadows the size of the plant.  

Phalaenopsis side spike

     And finally, the growths on my Phal noid have revealed themselves to be side spikes, rather than more keikis.  There is one such side spike growing from each of the three main spikes.  Exciting!

I Don't Like Sphagnum Moss

Newly repotted Dtps Jungo City (left) and Dtps Yu Pin Burgundy (Right)

     Sphagnum moss is a good orchid media, and many people grow their phals in it successfully, but it's not for me.  I last watered my sphagnum potted phals almost two weeks ago, and they were still moist today.  It freaks me out when orchids take that long to dry out; I start to imagine all sorts of rot and fungus spreading rampant through the root system when my pots aren't drying within a week.  I've had a good experience growing phals in bark, so I decided to go with what has always worked for me.

Dtps Yu Pin Burgundy has a healty root system

     The roots on my Dtps Yu Pin Burgundy looked great; most of the roots were firm and unbroken, and there were many growing tips.  The phal had a good mix of older and new roots.  

     I potted it into a clear version of the 4.5" pot that it came with.

Dtps Jungo City roots before and after trimming

     The Dtps Jungo City, on the other hand, was in poor shape.  The orchid had dropped a leaf soon after I got it, which may be an indication that it was less capable to handle stress.  The Dtps had a ball of old blackened moss near the root base, and many many rotten roots.  Of the roots that remained after trimming, all have blackened tips, which is a strong indicator of prior bad potting conditions.  There are a couple new roots budding off the base, so I am confident that this orchid will recover quickly if I get the care right, though.

     The remaining root system on this phal was far too small to pot back into a 5" pot like the one it came with.  Instead, I downsized to a 4" clear plastic pot.  With it's tall leaves and minimal roots, the phal is a little shaky in it's pot, but hopefully it will stabilize once the media settles in and the new roots help it establish itself.

New Orchid: Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

Dtps. Yu Pin Burgundy

     This phal is slightly smaller than the Dtps. Jungo City, but not by much.  As the name suggests, this is another attempt on my part to purchase a red phal flower.  With 5 mature leaves up to 7" long, and one new growing leaf, I'm hoping I won't have to wait too long to see this phal flower.

     Like the other phals, this orchid came potted in sphagnum moss.  Since the moss looks really fresh, I'm holding off on repotting, and trying to water appropriately.  The moss takes longer to dry out than bark does, but the skewer method seems to work well enough.