We just repotted our nuns orchid and took her outside to spend the summer in her favorite spot. Does anyone have suggestions as to the type of fertilizer to use. Will regular orchid fertilizer be okay or since she is a terrestrial do I need to use another type?
I don't have your answer but I DO have to say..."WOW!!!" Very pretty! ☺
That is prettier than the one in the Orchid show I recently attended, wow is an understatement! Maybe the orchid forum would have the answer?
Thanks for the nice compliments! I bought this three years ago and it had two bloom spikes on it. Last year it had three and this year it had 10! I also have been successful in rooting one, which is being taken care of back in AR by a friend. After the blooms all die, cut the spikes off and lay them on damp sphaghnum moss. I have found that if I wrap the whole thing in saran wrap, this keeps the moss damp. (My husband said that it looked like a giant cigar lying in our laundry room.) In about 3 months if you carefully unwrap your "cigar" you will find that it has begun to take root along the spike. I got this tip from an article I saw several years ago in Southern Living. They just suggested that you lay the spikes on the moss, but it is hard to keep moss damp, and almost impossible to dampen it once it has dried out.
I see you aren't a subscriber. Have you thought about it? Those people on the Orchiid Forum are awesome! ☺
Subscribing is the one of the best things I've done in the past year, I recommend it, too, if you can.
I'm seriously considering joining as soon as we finish some traveling we have to do. Sometimes on the road it's hard to go on line with Wi-Fi. (We travel to a lot of out-of-the way places.) But I thank you for your suggestions
We still haven't answered your question, though.
I'll do a little more research and give it some liquid orchid fertilizer before we leave here and when we return in June, I'll sign up!
You can use Miracle grow on it, half strength every 2-3 waterings.
I LOVE Nun's orchids! I have 2!
That is absolutely stunning! You have a whole green hand up to the elbow at least!!! LOL
This makes me want one, I wonder how fast I can kill it?
I got 2 on clearance and am still trying to figure out how to avoid doing that, cathy4. LOL But that is just breath taking
I think that pic should be in PlantFiles.
Thanks, Tommy, I will give it some Miracle Grow before we leave. I was a little concerned as the new potting soil didn't have any fertilizer in it and I didn't want it to die of shock after repotting. Take heart doccat and cathy -- I killed my first one. I believe I loved it to death! This one spends the summer outside in a shady spot that gets watered by an automatic sprinkler system when it doesn't rain, and we bring it inside about the middle of December, where it stays until about the first of April. Just make sure you don't take yours outdoors until the weather warms up -- anything above 40 degrees will be okay. The one I killed was kept inside so that might have had something to do with it.
Ah ha, thanks for the advice, jean. I can do that. Right now they are sitting in one of my bay windows and seem to be content.
Thanks for posting this, Jean! I found one of these in the back country of Kauai, about a year ago, and haven't been able to figure out what it was. Good timing.
Floating stump: Hope your Nun's orchid takes off like mine has. It has been a long time since my husband and I have been to Kauai, but really loved it there. FYI: I have cut off all of the spent spikes and put them in wet spaghnum moss, hoping to get a few new plants in about three months. I also saw two seed pods on two of the spikes this year. One I cut off and left it inside to see if it would dry out, and the other one I left on the one spike I didn't cut, however, when I checked before leaving FL, the pod was not on the plant -- either wind, a bird or something caused it to drop off. Guess rooting the spikes is the best way to go. Good luck with yours
Update on rooting Nun's Orchids. I had left my spikes in FL wrapped in damp moss and just returned from a trip there, bringing my "package" with me. Happy to say on my way home I gave 6 rooted plants to my daughter-in-law in GA and 2 to my cousin in NC, with several left over to start for myself. This year I found a plastic "starter" kit at Lowe's that was 4" x 20" with the little starter pellets inside, removed the pellets, lined it with saran wrap put in the damp moss, then the spikes and covered it with more saran wrap, left it out of direct sun in our laundry room and let it do its thing.
Good job! Way to go!
I agree, good job!
Thanks so much for your compliments. It seems that I am somewhat of a reverse Johnny Appleseed. I can't resist making new plants out of seeds, etc., gathering them and bringing them home to plant. I was fascinated when I read that you could root your own plants from the plant spikes and had some failures before I hit upon the saran wrap to keep the spaghnum moss moist -- quite an accomplishment for someone who can't grow petunias!
Reverse "Johnny Appleseed". I like that. LOL
