General Growth Update

Tol. Tequila Sunrise with 3 new blooms from an extension

      Nothing much exciting going on right now. Mostly roots growing like crazy, so I will compile it into one post.

     My tolumnia has been doing well for now and has put out a new fan. It is growing slowly and crooked towards the light coming through my window.

A bright baby green shoot in the middle. Sorry for the poor photo.

     The new pseudobulb on Onc. Heaven Scent is maturing quick and has put out a few roots. I have since cut off the leaf that was obstructing the roots from reaching the bark. They have turned around and started growing into the media.

     Another leaf is growing out of Phal. Floppy Jack, along with 3 more roots. It is really exploded with new growth and any old roots and leaves are quickly withering away. I am unsure if this is a good sign or a bad one. I guess time will tell.

     Phal. Green is also showing signs of another new leaf poking through the crown. The last leaf has grown small (just like most other ones that have grow in my window sill) from poor light.



     Now that it is July, I am slowly starting to compile things needed to set up the anticipated college-bound orchid terrarium. I have bought a small clamp light that will use a grow-light and a medium-sized dome light to rest on top of the tank and provide full-spectrum lighting. I have dismembered an old tower computer I had for its two cooling fans to provide a breeze.

     I have also started making a McGyvered humidity/ misting system using an old cool-mist humidifier using a how-to I found on Orchidboard.

     I am leaving the most expensive purchase for last: An Exo-Terra tank.

Rootless removed keikis: Update.

     The keikis that were previously cut off the mom plant are still in my closet, in a cup of water. They have been doing great, but once again are showing wrinkly leaves. The method has been efective for about a month and has bought the baby plants enough time to grow a bunch of roots.

     I dont know exactly what caused all this rooting on keiki 2's stem. Even the unknown nub has shown 3 root bumps, as seen above. For now, I am assuming the drop of Superthrive I placed in the water is responsible for the fast growth.

     Above is keiki 2, showing 4 root growths on right side. This keiki is much more wrinkled compared to keiki 1. Im going to try and keep it in the water cup as long as possible before its removal and final transplant.

     Above, the left side of keiki 2 shows 3 more roots. A total of 7 have started growing within the last month.

     Keiki 1 has done little when it comes to root growth. It is concentrating more on pushing a new leaf.

     The mother plant is still hanging on for its life. I am misting its lone, stubby, aerial root daily. Its condition has not improved but has not become any worse since the keikis have been removed.

Random growth updates.

BL Yellow Bird

    BL Yellow Bird has actually become more yellow, and the second bud has finally opened. The purple splotches are still very prominent but this is very attractive to me.

Repotted Phal NoID "Ikea"

Trimmed roots of Phal NoID "Ikea"

     Phal "Ikea" finally dropped its booms. Both spikes were still very healthy, green and looked like they were going to bud again, but I would rather the plant focused on growing the two leaves it started. I heavily trimmed the roots, actually. They were very broken and unmanageable.  Ikea seems to man-handle their plants. :P

Phal NoID "Miker with 2 new buds

      Phal "Mikur dropped all its blooms after 2 months. Two more have developed and one is on the verge of opening.

Oncidium Heaven Scent 'redolence'

     Onc. Heaven Scent is growing another P/B. Not much more to say. :)

Stunted growth on Phal. 1

     Nothing new here. Just repotted into new medium after the accident. It is kind of a good event because the old media was staring to house fungus gnats.

    I have noticed that the new baby leaf poking out from the crown (not seen in picture) has stopped growing. It has been about 2 months without growth progress.

Temporary repotting of Onc. Heaven Scent 'Redolence'.

    

Lots of healthy roots!

Oncidium in potting soil.

Edit #2: I would like to emphasize and make clear, this is NOT the proper way to pot an oncidium, and yes I am aware of that. This was only temporary.

     As mentioned in a pervious post, I did not repot Onc. Heaven Scent when I purchased it (which is what I usually do with new plants). I lacked supplies and wanted to appreciate the blooms for a bit longer. I placed it in growing area #2, since it receives more light than area 1 on my desk. My worst fears were that the Onc. was planted into something that was inappropriate for my growing conditions. Well, thats exactly what happened... 

     The pseudobulbs were starting to wrinkle lightly before I decided to de-pot the Onc.. Im glad I did because it was potted in soil! Washing away the soil wasn't too hard, and the roots were tangled but manageable and healthy. Once the soil was gone, I found heavily decomposed peat moss and sphagnum moss. Picking it away was a horrible experience, and Im sure I pulled off some roots in the process.

Baby nubbin - A future pseudobulb?

     While digging, I found a new, unseen growth! The little nubb with a leaf I found last time is another small P/B like suspected. A more mature bulb is showing signs of possible rot. There is also a very tiny growth towards the back - Im sure its a new P/B. 

Tiny P/B in front.  P/B on left with possible rot.

     I still do not have the right media for this oncidium, so it was temporarily potted in a 4" plastic pot with loose sphagnum. I am no longer concerned with the blooms since they are slowly starting to fall on their own. I hope my order of media and potts will arrive soon!

Oncidium Heaven scent in its temporary setting.
Growing area 2.

Edit: I have updated my repotting once again, properly this time. Read about it here! :)