# New growths in strange position



## Cinderella (Mar 28, 2007)

These 2 new growths are way up on the existing fan. What is going to happen when roots grow?


----------



## Cinderella (Mar 28, 2007)

I didn't upload this correctly.


----------



## carrilloenglish (Mar 28, 2007)

This is a problem I tend to have with a few maudie plants I have kept. You will have to repot the plant soon and plant it lower in the mix -- right to where the two new fans have started. New roots won't show for a while so you still have time if it is in bud or flower (or expect it to be). Timing is everything. In the mean time you can place some loose sphag around the new shoots.

Christian


----------



## smartie2000 (Mar 28, 2007)

You could use sphag moss....
but I would repot it deeper into the pot. This one looks like a besseae type, they may climb


----------



## SlipperFan (Mar 28, 2007)

Smarie's got it: plant it deeper, so that the new growths can send roots down into the media. Besseae is a climber, and so are many of her offspring.


----------



## NYEric (Mar 29, 2007)

Or get taller pots. I'd peal off the dried old leaves too.


----------



## Cinderella (Mar 29, 2007)

If I bury this down to the new growths, the old growths will be under pellets and would get water in the fan. Also it is in bloom. Help!


----------



## NYEric (Mar 29, 2007)

You mean water in the leaves as if it were in a natural setting? OH NO!!!


----------



## Cinderella (Mar 29, 2007)

well how come when that happened before it caused rot?


----------



## Heather (Mar 29, 2007)

Debbie, don't listen to Eric, he's just being snarky.  

Seriously, you can pot some of the old growths under the mix without it being much of a problem. However, you can also remove them. There is a post around here somewhere from Jason Fischer about this very subject. Let me see....
Here it is: 
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1191


----------



## NYEric (Mar 29, 2007)

Heather said:


> Debbie, don't listen to Eric, he's just being snarky.


There are a couple of threads here about watering/ water sitting in the crowns. I change my whole watering technique due to this info. I wash the plants thru w/ water just as if they're in the rain. It washes dust and contaminants through also.


----------



## IdahoOrchid (Mar 29, 2007)

NYEric said:


> There are a couple of threads here about watering/ water sitting in the crowns. I change my whole watering technique due to this info. I wash the plants thru w/ water just as if they're in the rain. It washes dust and contaminants through also.


I do this too if I can do it early enough in the day. One think I have learned to watch for is water sitting in old growths with cut off spikes. The old spike will retain water much longer that a clear crown. My charlesworthii got a little bit of rot because of this but I think I caught it in time.


----------



## DavidH (Mar 30, 2007)

When I visited the orchid zone, most of the phrags were growing upwards. Terry said it was how they normally grew. They usually wrap sphagnum around the new growths for root development and when they get enough roots, repot the whole plant lower.


----------



## IdahoOrchid (Mar 30, 2007)

DavidH said:


> When I visited the orchid zone, most of the phrags were growing upwards. Terry said it was how they normally grew. They usually wrap sphagnum around the new growths for root development and when they get enough roots, repot the whole plant lower.



Ah, good to know that. I have a bessae putting out a new growth right now.


----------



## gonewild (Mar 30, 2007)

Cinderella said:


> well how come when that happened before it caused rot?



Because your plant is in Leca you can bury the old growth deeper and it will not likely rot because of the extra air circulation within the media. You can also wait until it finishes blooming, the small new growths will be fine as is for awhile.


----------



## NYEric (Mar 31, 2007)

I believe Jason Fischer was asking about distributing some tall pots that would be good for stolonous plants. But they aren't clear.


----------



## smartie2000 (Mar 31, 2007)

the most frustrating thing is when the root are too long and I need to plant them deeper!


----------



## Cinderella (Mar 31, 2007)

OK, I am VERY confused about what to do.  

Not only is the fan with the 2 new growths in bloom, but there is another fan on the other side of the plant which will probably bloom as well. I don't want to discard that either. Help!


----------



## gonewild (Mar 31, 2007)

If you look at your plant you will see that this climbing habit is how the plant grows. The growth that has the two new growths also grew above the media level. It will likely do the same thing with the 2 new growths, so get used to it!  

You can repot it deeper so the 2 new growths are at or just slightly below the media surface. If you repot using the Leca the plant is in now I don't think burying the other mature growth will hurt it or stop it from blooming. Just don't pack the media around the surface.

You could also bend the rhizome (not break, just bend) toward the other mature growth so that the two fans are parallel and then repot them so they point straight up. (Sort of tip the whole plant to the left in the picture). That would bring the two new growths down to the media surface and not bury ether of the mature growths. Kind of hard to put into words, do you understand what I'm saying?


----------



## IdahoOrchid (Mar 31, 2007)

What Lance is trying to describe is to lay the rhizome (the part that the two new growths are attactched to and from where the roots emerge) along the surface and slightly cover it with media. Kind of like doing a ground layer if you know what that is.


----------



## Heather (Mar 31, 2007)

Personally, I'd leave it be at this point. Wait until it is done blooming and then deal with it. Then, when you are ready to repot, pot the growths a bit lower. I used to worry about the new root growth but the new fans seem to do fine without me worrying about them too much.


----------



## smartie2000 (Mar 31, 2007)

I agree with Heather, for the moment let it bloom and don't worry too much. If you want you can wrap some sphag.


----------



## Cinderella (Apr 1, 2007)

Ok I'll leave it be for the time being. But as you all know better than I do.... these things bloom forever. Which is great except in this situation. I might also ask Ray if he has encountered this before. I don't want to do the bend technique, it makes me crazy so I would prefer to bury when the time comes. Thanks all!


----------

