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On the throne (pixelfed.social)

Josie, a neighbor's West Highland White Terrier, on the front steps. I took this picture.

[-] sean@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

Unfortunately can't help you there as this one was in bloom when I got it :)

Has yours grown additional side growths? As far as I understand each fan of leaves only blooms once, then the side growths have to mature and those will each bloom once and so on.

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submitted 1 year ago by sean@lemm.ee to c/houseplants@mander.xyz

I saw the flower and couldn't resist buying it! It's a hybrid between Paphiopedilum "Fred's Wonder" and Paphiopedilum "Presidential Moon" which are themselves hybrids of hybrids.

I bought it from Emerald City Orchids in Tacoma, Washington.

[-] sean@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Interesting about the cinnamon! Sounds like you're doing a great job.

[-] sean@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thanks! Definitely most of the roots are in the bark, about 4 inches cover and half an inch or so sticking up

[-] sean@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks for your comment! That's reassuring that it's pretty normal for the stem to be out of the bark. They're not really aerial roots in that they were completely under the bark in the previous pot. It's just the top half-inch or inch or so that's moved up above the bark after repotting. Kind of fun that the roots are so strong to be able to lift up the plant like that!

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submitted 1 year ago by sean@lemm.ee to c/houseplants@mander.xyz

I repotted a Phaelenopsis into fresh bark about a week ago. It's a small plant and evidently doesn't weigh very much, because as the roots are growing, they're pushing the stem of the plant up out of the pot. The tops of the roots are emerging above the bark, too. I realize now I could have pinned it in place while the roots restablished, but too late for that.

Should I repot it again, reburying the roots and pinning it down? Or should I just let it go and not worry about it? I'm inclined towards the latter; after all, new roots grow from up the stem and their tops are inherently exposed above the potting media. So that makes me think it's probably not a big deal for it to be up out of the pot a bit.

[-] sean@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Congratulations! What did you do for intense rehabilitation? Did anything else change (sun exposure, temperature, day length)? Hope the momentum keeps up!

[-] sean@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Very nice! Looks like it's 3D printed, is that right? Do you plant directly into it or is it meant to hold an inner pot?

[-] sean@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I think overwatering is very common with orchids! They're different than most plants because they grow attached to trees, not in soil. So their roots are designed to be exposed to the air or just barely covered. They get water from rain that runs over them and then dries off as well as out of the humidity in the air. The houseplants we're used to growing grow in the soil where the roots are used to being moist. So that makes orchids a little different!

Here is a great video about watering orchids, it gives more details than I did and it's really helpful because it shows how the roots should look when they need watering. I've seen her other videos highly recommended too!

[-] sean@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

This book is the one I've liked most. It's more detailed than most of the books I've read, which I want! But there are lots of good books out there. What I've learned is that flowering is a complex process governed by many different factors and differs between species (of which there are tens of thousands for orchids!).

First it needs to be healthy, so getting appropriate levels of light, water, humidity, and temperature. Then it may need some kind of environmental trigger, this could be daylength/seasonality, change of temperature, or even change in atmospheric pressure from a storm! But then the total opposite too: if a plant is dying it may flower as a last ditch effort at reproducing itself. So basically it's pretty impossible to make it flower on purpose unless you know the specific needs of your plant, just keep it healthy and hope for the best :)

Generally Phaelenopsis orchids (the most commonly available for sale and iconic type) want to be heavily watered (even soaking the pot for 15-30 minutes) and then allowed to dry almost completely over a week or two, more or less depending on the temperature and humidity. Keeping the soil/bark constantly moist causes the roots to rot, so you want it to dry (but not so much that the leaves get floppy/wrinkly). They like bright but indirect light, which is tricky -- not direct sunlight but in a bright location all day. Warm temps, with night time minimums above 60. Higher humidity (mist them with a sprayer sometimes if you can). At least that's what I have taken away from the reading I've done!

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submitted 1 year ago by sean@lemm.ee to c/houseplants@mander.xyz

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/518987

I've been getting into orchids lately and reading a lot about them. I have a few, but thought it would be fun to get some more to learn about how to care for them best.

I posted on my local buy nothing group (a neighborhood facebook group where people give away stuff they don't want anymore). I asked if anyone would give me an old orchid that wasn't flowering and said I'd return it if I could get it to bloom again. Well, I had to cut the post off after 18 hours because so many people responded!

The picture shows the first 7 plants I received, but not the 4 I already owned or the 3 more I picked up the next day! I assigned each one a number so I can keep track of whose is whose.

Most were in pretty good shape, just dusty and a few dehydrated. I looked them all over and gave them a wipe down and a watering if they needed it and assessed their needs. One needed to be repotted right away, I think it had been kept too wet and it had a lot of rotten roots. I'll repot a few of the others in the next few days. Otherwise they're off and growing around my house! I'm excited to see how it turns out.

[-] sean@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

It's pretty good! I have only listened to a few episodes so far. I have tended to skip through the first 30-40% of the episodes, which has been a lot of discussion of the guest's academic training and career, which isn't very interesting to me personally. After they finish talking about that, I usually enjoy the rest of each episode!

[-] sean@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Wow! Good luck getting to 100! What city are you in?

I heard about the orchid project on this podcast episode, a pretty interesting interview: https://www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2022/5/29/ep-371-the-million-orchid-project

[-] sean@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

What a cute idea! How many have you given away so far?

Reminds me a bit of the Million Orchid Project, where plants are given to community members and schools to plant out in their community https://fairchildgarden.org/science-and-education/science/million-orchid-project/

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sean

joined 1 year ago