# slow growing orchids in summer?



## philoserenus (Jul 28, 2007)

hi guys. im from ontario and itz mid summer already, i leave my window open so the room is generally the temperature outside, except on the cooler days which i close the window.

my other orchids (NOID phal, den. kinganium, NOID den., and neo. falacata) all seem to be throwing out roots, leaves, or flowers, but my one of two paphs seems to just sit there with no real growth... the one which is blooming size bloomed already so im not expecting much from it for a bit, but the other non-blooming sized one just seems to have no real growth...

i've unpotted and repotted and the small roots system seems fine... it's in the same pot as the one which just bloomed... 

NBS = delenatii x moqueanttium.
BS = NOID from Loblaws

thanks


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## philoserenus (Jul 29, 2007)

wow... not one reply eh?... hmmm... i guess i'd just hafta be patient


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## Marco (Jul 29, 2007)

What did you repot the paphs in?


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## likespaphs (Jul 29, 2007)

do you have it under or over potted? 
how long have you been growing? are your watering habits appropriate? do you fertilize?


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## Heather (Jul 29, 2007)

I too am wondering about the mix - can you take a photo?


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## NYEric (Jul 29, 2007)

The cause for slow growth could be not enough water or fertilizer too.


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## goldenrose (Jul 29, 2007)

how about the light factor? what exposure window do you have them in?
Humidity? I would expect drier air in Canada, but that can be ignorance on my part!
Is the NOID green leaved, mottled, give us a size idea please.


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## philoserenus (Jul 29, 2007)

marco: i repoted the paphs in small sized coconut hust.

likespaphs: i believe it is in the right sized pot. the seedling one use to be in those tiny 2.5" pot, and the BS one use to come in a 4.5" terra cotta pot, but i've taken both of them out and repotted them together in a 4.5" plastic pot. i've been growing orchids since the spring of this year. and watering habits = 1-3 times a week depending on how hot my room gets, how dry the medium gets, and depending on the species. because on a 20*C day outside, it could feel like 25-27*C in here if its a really sunny day. i fertilize weekly weakly.

goldenrose: i have a 20' x 20' window in my room with due south exposure. i place them infront of the window with the blinds down such that slithers of direct sunlight can get through. humidity could be a prob but i have them on trays and everyone else is fine...

the BS NOID from loblaws has 3 mature leaves that are 5-6" long, and is currently in the process of growing itz first basal growth. it is a mottled leaf and i'm going to think it is some cross of a maudiae.

the pictures are listed below. the length of the silver ruler from end to end is 16 cm, and every long tick is 1 cm. the little guy is the paph delenatii x moquettanium that seems to be growing slowly

sry i dunno how to make then appear in the actual posts

shows my growing area: 





new basal growth of NOID:




the little guy infront and the NOID behind: 








overall size:





thanks for all ur help guys, i really appreciate it ^^


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## likespaphs (Jul 29, 2007)

i don't know if you know or not but lots of people under pot Paphs as they seem to like it. (one also pots according to the size of the roots). 
another thing is when you fertilize weakly weekly (or weekly weakly) the fourth watering should be with plain water to flush out any accumulated salts...


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## Marco (Jul 29, 2007)

I also agree with Mr. President on the under potting. My plants hated it when they were over potted. It didn't allow for the medium to dry in the center and caused roots to rot.


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## philoserenus (Jul 29, 2007)

tight feet eh? well i guess i could give it a try. it seems like i was able to squeeze both of them into a 2.5" square pot. hopefully that will be better. i just hope it doesnt topple, haha. and i know about the flushing, even if i fertilize weekly, i flush all my orchids before hand anyways.

thanks, but would making them have tighter feet make then grow faster b/c the medium dries quicker? didnt they say that paphs like moist medium and never like to dry out?


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## likespaphs (Jul 29, 2007)

they just grow better when they're potted tight, i don't entirely know why... probably what marco said...
to keep them from falling over, you could put a few rocks or cracked pieces of clay pots or other heavy things at the bottom of the pot. it'll help with drainage, too.
most of them don't like to go bone dry.


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## goldenrose (Jul 29, 2007)

Thanks for the pics! Overall I think they look pretty good.


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## Jorch (Jul 29, 2007)

It sounds like your plants are not growing because they don't have good root system. If you can fit *BOTH* plants into a 2.5" pot, that sounds like you don't have many roots on your plants (which is never a good sign). I'd also pot them seperately instead of jamming two plants into one pot.. oke:


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## NYEric (Jul 29, 2007)

philoserenus said:


> sry i dunno how to make then appear in the actual posts


After you save them don't cut/copy "clickable images" cut/copy the IMG for forums and chats, etc. and paste here.


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## philoserenus (Jul 29, 2007)

jorch: ya, when i got both of the orchids earlier in spring, the root system did seem a little skippy compared to wat i was thinking they should look like. thats y i was always a little overly concerned with them all the time. the smaller one had three 1-2" roots, and the NOID has five 4" roots.

i'm trying to have them grow more roots, and hopefully they will when i just let them do their thing. i'll split them up later when they get a little larger, i dun mind having a communal pot even though they are very small, just i'l have two distinct flowers, if i can get them to rebloom...

how much root am i supposed to expect for the plants my size? how can i make them grow more roots?

goldenrose: thanks ^^ always needing support

NYEric: thanks for the tip =)


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## goldenrose (Jul 29, 2007)

It always surprises me that a plant can look good topside, but have so little roots. People on another forum swear by Superthrive to grow roots.
Now I'm going to check that one plant.......


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## philoserenus (Jul 29, 2007)

yes it surprises me too... do older plants also grow faster than young ones b/c they have more resources to work with? eg. roots, leaves, etc? so are u basically saying that if i go find some plant growth hormones and that will be fine or just go with the normal fertilizing routines and they will grow just a lot slower until things are established? are there other methods also too?


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## goldenrose (Jul 29, 2007)

*Paph.Vera Pellechia*

Vera = stonei x St. Swithin. This plant has a leafspan of easily 26". It has 4 growths, you can see there is one mature growth, the 2 smaller & in between them is a previous flowered growth. I have it in a 4" pot. The plant was in a 1 gallon pot & got banged around in shipping, I've had it for a few months.









Your thread prompted me to unpot it to see how the roots are progressing.






Pretty pitiful - the roots are about 1 1/2" long! The good news is there are 4 new white tips about 1/4"! I've done regular fertilizer, I have Superthrive but the bottle is old so I don't know if it's any good. It catches some spray from the misters, so that helps keep the humidity up around the plant. I repotted in a lighter, coarser mix, I think those roots need to go seek some water! I think there's hope for this one!


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## philoserenus (Jul 29, 2007)

" that root system is indeed very pitiful... scary, but no worries, i believe plants can feel our love. love them and care for them and they will grow and be happy ^^ and at least there are new growths at the tips.

are such large plants harder to care for than smaller ones? like ones whose leaf span are 5-7"? also, do previously flowered growths still grow, even though they will not flower again?


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## NYEric (Jul 30, 2007)

Generally older [bigger] paphs are easier because they're established; if you mean bigger leaf types, like multifloral hybrids, no they're no-easier or harder to keep alive. Unfortuanatley a lot of multi-floral species and their hybrids take a long time to be blooming size. Paph sanderianum for example, 20+" leaves at 1-1/2"/year = Argh!


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## philoserenus (Jul 31, 2007)

ya i was referring to species with larger bodies... hmm i think i'd stick with the little guys for now and no more buying orchids until i can truly manage to rebloom them. and that is such a slow growth... do that mean it could bloom once and not bloom for another couple of years until the growths are large enough? if they blasted... oh geez...


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## goldenrose (Jul 31, 2007)

philoserenus said:


> do that mean it could bloom once and not bloom for another couple of years until the growths are large enough? if they blasted... oh geez...


You got it! It can take 3 years for growths to mature on alot of the multis, so one wants a new growth each year.
Alot of us start out with plants that bloom very reliably on each year's 
growth(s). Practice makes perfect! How can you get the experience on culture without buying plants?


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## Marco (Jul 31, 2007)

goldenrose said:


> Practice makes perfect! How can you get the experience on culture without buying plants?



....and killing some along the way oke: God know I have.


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## goldenrose (Jul 31, 2007)

SAD but TRUE! It's part of the 'experience'!


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## philoserenus (Jul 31, 2007)

true say on the part about buy more = growing more = gaining more experience but i just want to confirm that they can at least survive the winter in the room i grow them in first. if they can, then i dun mind having my collection grow little by little. 

my room is the only room which plants can grow in my home; there's lots of windows but not very few bright rooms. my room gets cold in the winter time so i wanna make sure they can at least survive one winter. if they can, i'm gonna get excited ^^ i would love to get my hands on a paph. malipoense especially knowing they like a chilled winter


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## goldenrose (Jul 31, 2007)

Nick you're playing it wise!


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## philoserenus (Aug 1, 2007)

better safe than sorried, and at least i'm going to save myself some grief. rather make sure things can survive b4 i start to buy more. i would hate it to have it all die off when the winter comes.

any other easy to grow, cold-wintering hybrid or species u guys know of that are good for the beginner?


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