Phalaenopsis

Mass update on what’s been blooming over the past few months

/ Sarah / 1 Comment

Life keeps getting in the way of me posting regular updates and it resulted in having a long list of posts to write blocking me from posting anything new. Well, it happens, I’ll just post all bloom photos in one post and add maybe a couple more on semi hydro and other stuff that’s been happening with my orchids.

They’ve generally been doing well, I’ve been generally doing well by not adding any more to my collection (except for some raffle winnings and an occasional plant or two here and there). I’ve watered them all today, I usually split the watering in two: upstairs and downstairs, but I didn’t water any yesterday as I got tired from a Spring repotting session. They all look good, some better than others, there’s some flowers, some spikes and some new growths. I’m happy with how they’re getting on.

  • Aliceara Peggy Ruth Carpenter
  • Aliceara Peggy Ruth Carpenter
  • Joyous roots on my Den Blue Happiness
  • Zygopetalum hybrid
  • Oncidium hybrid
  • Brassia Mystic Maze
  • Mediocalcar decoratum
  • M. decoratum
  • Den. Berry Oda
  • Camaridium atratum
  • Oncidium unguiculatum
  • O. unguiculatum
  • O. unguiculatum
  • Den. Hibiki x bracteosum
  • Den. nobile hybrid
  • Den. nobile hybrid
  • Den. Green Flash
  • Den. nobile hybrid
  • Dendrobium nobile hybrid
  • Dendrobium tortile
  • Dendrobium tortile
  • Den. tortile
  • Dendrobium tortile
  • Dendrobium williamsonii
  • Dendrobium williamsonii
  • Dendrobium williamsonii
  • Dendrobium sa-nook Purple Happiness
  • Dendrobium Sa-nook hybrid
  • Paphiopedilum wardii aureum Nakamura
  • Paphiopedilum Maudiae Vinicolor
  • Dendrobium Sa-nook Snow Jade
  • Cymbidium hybrid “Shadowfax”
  • Den Berry Oda
  • Aliceara Tahoma Glacier
  • Brassia Mystic Maze
  • Prosthechea garciana
  • Cattleya hybrid “Galadriel”
  • Galadriel
  • Cymbidium hybrid “Roheryn”
  • “Roheryn”
  • Dendrobium Stardust Firebird
  • Dendrobium Stardust Firebird
  • Phalaenopsis mini hybrid
  • Dendrobium Sa-nook Thailand Black
  • Brascidostele Gilded Tower “Mystic Maze”
  • Bulbophyllum ambrosia
  • Dendrobium Sa-nook Blue Happiness
  • Restrepia antennifera

Women’s Day Phal

/ Sarah / Leave a comment

Husband surprised me with a midi-sized Phal with delicate pale pink blooms for Women’s Day. Thank you!

Speaking of which, the Phal he got me last year for Women’s Day has opened one pretty flower.

New Arrivals

/ Sarah / Leave a comment

Last month I went to our local garden centre just to get a mini Phal, as I’ve seen them at my orchid society meeting and thought they were quite pretty. I, of course, ended up getting more plants. Brascidostele Gilded Tower ‘ Mystic Maze’, which just looked absolutely stunning and a plant on sale with cryptic Nelly Isler tag which probably means it’s an Oncidopsis Nelly Isler 😉

More SH

/ Sarah / 10 Comments

My plan was to wait for four months to see how the two plants I transferred into semi-hydro fare. A few of my plants are in need of repotting though (old medium) and they’ve got new growths so it would be a perfect opportunity to convert them into SH. But do I want to risk it? I’m itching to transfer my whole collection (or most of it) into semi-hydro. So clean. So quick to water. I suppose it won’t hurt too much if a few more will join the experiment. For most I’d have to wait anyway for some new growths (will that Paphiopedilum ever start to grow anything?!). For now I’ve had two more keikis to pot up and they went into semi hydro. Dendrobium Berry Oda and Dendrobium Firebird (yup more of that one and still more on the mother plant).

My Oncidium NoID opened up:

Miltonia Sunset with all 5 blooms open:

And my Phal I got from work:

Semi-hydro Trial

/ Sarah / 6 Comments

All the people who tried semi-hydroponics seem to really like it and I keep hearing good things about it. If my orchids like it and it’s less work for me I’m all for it!

I selected my first subject for the experiment: Phalaenopsis Legolas 🧝‍♂️ because he’s the only one of the whole family that hasn’t grown as much (all the other keikis from Glorfindel did and are doing great), also because he just finished flowering and has a decent root system to begin with.

In his old pot:

Here with any dead roots clipped and washed. I found that the bark was full of little white bugs, no idea what they were, but they’re now gone. I sprayed the roots with hydrogen peroxide just to be on the safe side.

Potting into the clay pebbles was super easy (I soaked them overnight), I like how clean and tidy it looks and there was no mess like with bark or moss. So my first impressions of semi-hydro are good. I used a plastic container for the reservoir for now to see how I get on. If it works well I’ll get some proper semi-hydro pots. I’m still thinking about it. I’ve got quite a few ceramic cover pots for the orchids so it would be nice to reuse them somehow. Anyway here’s Legolas in his new setup:

That’s not the end yet 😉 My Den. lawesii hasn’t been feeling so great and it’s been losing leaf by leaf pretty much since I got it. I understand they’re deciduous, however I don’t think it should be shedding leaves in the middle of summer. It’s got a few new growth and some new roots and from what I gather it does like staying moist most of the time, so I thought since I’m checking the roots I might as well convert it to semi hydro and see whether it fares any better.

It had quite a few rotten roots but hopefully enough of the healthy ones to keep it going.

Fingers crossed they both do well!