Hi All;
A few months ago i bought a flask of orchids, must have been 20 in the flask. anyway i went out & bought orchid bark for them & put them all in a sweater box to acclimate. I gave away most of them but have about 3 left & they are doing terrible. i have tried with the lid on & then off & they are almost gone. I will post a picture of whats left. Can someone tell me what to do. I have never had them before.if you look close you will seed the green in the picture
mrsbonnie
Hi mrsbonnie! I think maybe you should post this over on the orchid forum: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/orchids/all/
I have a few orchids but don't know much about them to give advice. I had no luck with the bark method so all of my orchids are planted in Long Fiber Spaghnum Moss and they seem to do well for me with that method. I'm not sure why! It just seems like when they were in the bark, they withered away to nothing! I don't water as often as I should and the Spaghnum stays wet longer but I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. Some of the more knowledgeable growers over on the orchid forum might be able to advise you on what to do.
thanks for the info.I can get some of the moss & try it. the bark is definately not doing any good at all.
mrsbonnie
Good luck with them Bonnie! I just buy those bags of Spagh Moss at Home Depot and dunk it in a bucket of water and squeeze out the excess - place it in the pot/basket, make an indentation in the center, stick the plant in and push some more moist spagh around the roots.
Hi There;
I will get some at walmart.I just posted on the orchid site you gave me also. thanks so much.
bonnie
i have a ton of orchids and have found that with flask orchids that moss is best. they are used to constaint moisture. usualy from flask they do best in "COM" cor comunity pots 2 or more per pot and keep slighly damp i mist them so not to desterb the plants so they can set roots. but caution dont keep to wet they will rot. The problem with the bark is that it dosnt keep moisture level high for such yng plants. If these plants survive dont replant for about 2-3 yrs then seperate in to their own small pots. unless you have a greenhouse you might whant to becareful not to have to close to window if you are. in Illinois due to radiant cold. i find that a container of rock with some water in it and set your compots on the rock will help keep humitity highter in drier months. but dont let the bottom of the pots sit in water. Up north you also might need to have them under a growlight for a few hrs. this sound like a lot of info but i have had to nurce back a lot of plants due to harsh enviroments. my orchid count just over 100 right now and im working on more! Merry christmas and wish you the best luck. feel free to ask me if you have any questions i just joined and love to help
bless be
chefmike92
Hi There: Thank you so much for all the wonderful info.I tried looking up orchid groups in hopes to get some help, but that did not work out either. I have 2 babies left that i just stuck in long fibre moss, so here's hopeing they survive.I will keep you posy=ted.
mrsbonnie
i bought mine off ebay.they were fine when i got them.
flask orchids are kind of hard to grow and due require some tlc and warm humid bright enviroment. i to got mone on ebay. I got 10 flasks to start with and killed about 200 yng babies. NOT GOOD so i started to read read read and then i only purchased 1 flask but also got several compots(comunity) pots. Usualy you move flask orchids to com pots. I think this is a bettrer buy. Orchids from flask to blooming size could take from 3-7 years depending on kind and care so if your looking for blooms better to get plants in the 2 yr range. If you buy in ebay its best to read a lot of the feedbacks the seller has. remember its cold now and if you have orchids shipped now they will need heat paks and be ready for when they arrive. I would not buy from a person out of the usa...
mike
wow, thanks for the info. I did try to find info on them, but unless you join an orchid club, i could'ent get any info.I will keep all this in mind when i want an orchid again. I still have 3 babies.
mrsbonnie-
One of the sellers on ebay has the info on their store page of how to unflask and grow on. They sell the flasks orchids too. But sounds like you are past that point. I think moving to the moss is the best advice anyone could have given you. Congrats on the 3 babies!
Mrsbonnie
if you would like a few small orchids let me know I think we could mabe due a trade ifyou have seeds or if not i might even ship you a few of my babies for just postage but i think its best not to ship till it warms up some. To ship now would have to be overnight or 2nd day and heat packs ( wich make it $$$ ) if i can help you at all just let me know
mike
Hi Mike;
That is so nice of you to offer. I do have seed of some of my mini sinningia's we can trade if you like, also i would be more than glad to pay shipping.By all means, when the weather warms up, it's just to cold now, i don't always trust the heat pac's.I would love to try & grow an orchid. I still have the 3 babies, but they are really tiny yet.You will have to tell me how to grow them as i never had them other than these babies & i lost several of them already.thanks so much.
mrsbonnie
thanks Diane.
mrsbonnie
That is so neat, Mrsbonnie, that you are trying to grow the little baby orchids. I might try that one day. Good luck with the other 3. : )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello chefmike92, welcome to Dave's. I bet your place smell wonderful with all those orchids. I just have about 9 or 10 orchids, and I have to run out and smell them 2 or 3 times a day.
I hope to get more in the future. I'm always on the lookout when I go shopping for a good deal. I don't mind bringing a sick one home, and nursing it back to health. They are worth the wait when they put out those blooms. : )
Have a wonderful day, everyone....and Happy new Year. : )
~Lucy
Mrsbonnie
i have to tell you i love to turn people on to orchids Im excited to giveyou a few plants. I have never herd of mini sinningia's im going to google to find out. once i get intreaged about a new plant to me I read all i can to find out all about it. I will love to get a few seeds from you and try my luck with them.
'Lucy
so meny of my orchids are yng so Im not blessed with an aboundance of flowers. the most i have had blooming at one time was9-12 orchids. I too take and serch every were for sickly orchids. I got started when a freind of my sister was moving and was going to throw out 4 very large orchids. My sister knew i loved plants so she gave them to me I took them and split them in to 12. gave my sister one of each and wala i was on my way to a collection. i have got a vanilla vine that is in a 24in round pot i builted a trellis pole with 3 pickets from my fence it ts 6 ft tall and then i have a moss vine that is going 11 feet one side of my screen porch and 8 feet the other way and this vine has grown up and over both ways thats 16 feet long and about 14 feet the other. this vine was 4 ft long when i got it (from walt disney world epcot greenhouse) i cut it in 1/2 and planted it 2 yrs ago .
i have to tell you i bring orchids in and out of the house for the smell.
lucy..... if youd like id love to give you a few plants to build your collection also.
Happy new Year to all
mike
Hi Mike;
If you send me your address i will send you some sinningia seed.You might as well enjoy it now, they propagate pretty fast, about 6-7 days.Just put the seed on the top of dampened soil & cover.Put them under lights & in a few you have plants.Once you see there tiny leaves, pick them up with a tooth pic & put them right back down in the dirt & they will grow much much faster.pictured is the plant i will be sending seed from,her name is freida, really cute little plant.Thanks again ,can't wait till warmer weather gets here,
mrsbonnie
Mike, that is sweet of you, but I don't have but 1 orchid to trade back to you. It is a Dendrobium pierardii. I have an extra.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/63730/
It just has 2 trailing canes, and quite a few roots. It's sorta trying to go dormant right now, but with it being so warm lately, it hasn't lost many leaves yet. Do you have one of those?
~Lucy
Edited to add that I also have a few things other than orchids, in my tradelist. : )
This message was edited Dec 31, 2007 9:46 AM
Where do you get your sinningias, mrsbonnie? I saw the online site of Beslisle's and almost wanted to try again with sinningias........well maybe!
i get them from alot of different places, like daves violets, ebay, beslisle's & trades.I will send you dome when the weather warms up if you like.
mrsbonnie
Would you do me a favor and just give me some names to look for in sinningias. I love to grow from seed and i can order seed from the Gesneriad Society and from the man in Brazil.
I grew this Sinningia hatschbachii 'Iporanga' MP 0624 from seed. I just have 3 of them.
This is sinningia piresiana MP 1044 from seed and have a lot of her. I am ready for them to bloom to see what i have.
i also have eumorphia salto x piresiana, it has a real neat bloom.here are a few the gessie soc. has to offer, delta fox, dollbaby,little imp, even minature hybrid mix is always nice. pink ice, leo b x self, maidens blush, these are all mini's.
bonnie
Thanks, mrsbonnie! I love to grow from seed but never know enough to place an order.........I will note these.........
