Cool! :)

[lithopsman]

Hi all! I just found an odcdm. tiger crow 'golden girl' in a basket that my mom has had inside, but it's in a separate pot

 

 The label is mostly ruined but it says odcdm. tiger crow 'golden girl' I had only identified it as an odcdm. (possibly) until I found the buried label. NO, So, I can't wait to bring it to my CP room (my closet

 

 

) and see what happens!

 

 

 wish me luck!

there is no flower!

 

[swords]

Here's a pic of your orchid

If it's correctly Identified yours should look like the image above. Manytimes store bought orchids are not exactly as their tags read, sometimes, even orchids from Orchid greenhouses aren't even correctly ID'd or teh tags ahve been lost or whatever.

I don't know what your growing chamber is like but if it's large enough and is a humidity controlled environment I believe all epiphytic orchids grow faster and better when mounted naturally on cork bark, wood or fern root slabs with sphagnum around the roots. It's also nice to be able to see all parts of the plant, nothing is hidden by the a pot after the plant is established to mount culture, roots, bulbs, leaf bases, etc all is visible when grown this way. It is quite hard to do if you don't have a controlled environment as plants dry out very fast unless kept in a 80%+ RH environment.

Good luck!

 

[lithopsman]

So wait, this plant in general has to have 80% RH, or only on root mount? Any tips to get it to flower? Well actually, them...

 there are 4 or 6 plants in the pot, yes I moved them to a WAY BIGGER pot, but its is impossible to seperate their roots, its one mangled mess! Oh, thanks for the pics! I think I saw that flower on it (only 1) wwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when she first bought it... I've got it in 83% bark, 8% peat, 5% sphagnum, and 4% pearlite P.S. The peat/ sphagnum is only on the very top...

 

[lithopsman]

Got another!

it's a phal. White with purple speckles. $15 because it was "Damaged" (an old spike broken) Smashing condition. The greenhouse people must be idiots, it is worth approx. $45 at least! I'm ssssssssoooooooooooo happy!

(me)

 

[swords]

I don't mean to imply that you can't grow it if it is not mounted, what I meant was that orchids like these seem to grow faster and with healthier looking root systems when mounted. Most all cultivated orchids are epiphytic and grow naturally on trees/roots, vine etc in the wild. I like to grow mine on cork bark and "hydro logs" but you need to have high humidity if you grow them this way otherwise they will become too dry too fast.

Other people do fine with pots, just make sure when you repot it to use a potting medium that will drain water away quickly, I would use orchid bark and charcoal but not much or any sphagnum peat because the longer water is allowed to sit on the roots of an epiphytic orchid the more damage can occur underground where you can't see it happening. Most orchids are used to having water/rain wash over them and then they dry up til the next rain in the evening or morning. water sitting at the roots or base of the plant can cause rot. Manytimes orchid dealers will plant in a "rich" mix using peat so they can nutrient load the plants and get them into bloom fast for the retail gardening market (Home Depot commonly has large specimen sized phals and dendrobiums for $9.95). The soil mixes you get orchids in from the store are not always the best, or even good at all sometimes! I've even seen Phals in what appeared to plain potting soil!

The main thing to get orchids to bloom is to give them enough light, humidity and nutrients. I grow all my orchids in grow chambers where I can control air flow, humidity, light (metalhalide), etc.I use only reverse osmosis water to water them and Urea Free orchid formulas from GrowMore at 1/4 strength once a week applied to entire mounted plant (except any inflorescence of course).

Good luck!

 

[Khai]

Lithopsman, it sounds to me like you may have inadvertantly over potted your orchid. From what size pot did you move it and what size did it go into?
The plant you have has a sympodial growth habit, that is it produces pseudobulbs on a creeping rhizome. The Phalaenopsis on the on the other hand is a monopodial, it does not produce a rhizome but adds growth only to the top of the plant.
So I assume when you say you have multiple plants you are confusing each psuedobulb for an individual plant.
While I aggree with most everything Josh said I would add this, slab culture can be difficult for a begginer when he or she has no previous knowlegde of how a particular orchid or any orchid for that matter behaves to differing stress factors.
One should first have at least some experience with orchids in standard pot culture before attempting to grow them on slabs.
As for peat I dont like it with bark, it is very acidic and therefore assists in the decomposition of the media, it can also cause ph shifts which can interfere with the absorbtion of nutrients.
I prefere a fine bark mix composed of fine fir bark-60%, vermiculite-10% and large grain perlite-40% with a little fine charcoal-10%.
You definately need to add more perlite to your mix.

FWIW

 

[lithopsman]

Thank you! although, It is definately multiple plants, because there are at least two rhizomes, and it was in a 4 inch pot! I moved it to a 6 or 7 inch, has enough room now.

 

[PlantAKiss]

Hi Lithopsman

Congrats on your new orchids. You'll enjoy them. Most of mine are in pots from clay orchid pots to plastic pots. You do have to watch the sphagnum moss since it does hold water. I am currenly trying to rescue several phals that were given to me dehydrating from root rot. The vendor PACKED the pot tightly with pure sphagnum which amazes me. Once watered they sat in soggy moss. How can a nursery sell an orchid that way, I'll never understand.

Good luck with yours...and post pics when they bloom.

suzanne

 

[Khai]

Well your plant is slightly over potted but if your careful not to over water you should be fine.
A general rule when repotting orchids is to only increase pot size by one level, ie. 4" up to a 5 or 5.5".
FWIW

 

[lithopsman]

Okee, dokee! unfortunately, our only digicam is my dad's for his office, so I can't post pics, but the phal is like a typical white, but with a BILLION pinhead-U. sandersoni trap sized spots, see the pic from swords for the pic of odcdm...