Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
Mike, do you grow concolor var longipetalum(josianae) and var. striatum? and at what temperature in the winter months?
Learning more about brachys
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Mine do fine with 45 degree nights. Not too many, only in the dead of winter and running the media dry but the humidity high. Paph. bellatulum that is.
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Good point.
Stone
Well-Known Member
No. I had a josianae but it died before I knew how to grow them.
Stone
Well-Known Member
I just checked myanmaricum and it is said to grow at 200-400m in the south which would make it a warm grower. I don't know how reliable that info is..
In Cx Canh’s talk that I was able to attend he said that concolor along with villosum was one of the special species that he has found at a ton of different altitudes. He did say the plants that grow at lower elevation have lighter green leaves. Not sure if that is cultural or genetic
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
Mike, when I tried to locate the article a little while ago, I realized that info I gave you earlier(@mid elevation) was for armeniacum.
Well, when I googled for myanmaricum, and that was what popped up w/o naming the specific sp....but it is for armeniacum. My bad.
You might be right, It well could be a warm grower. Lori(from Canada) posted her myanmaricum here and she said it is a warm grower.
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Stone
Well-Known Member
Yes 2000m puts in the Dendrobium nobile range which gets down to 5C and lower.
Stone
Well-Known Member
This map is from an article in Schlecteriana about concolor ssp chlorophyllum in Thailand.
It grows from 200 to 400 feet above the sea right on the coast. That would make it a hot grower. Similar to niveum!
It grows from 200 to 400 feet above the sea right on the coast. That would make it a hot grower. Similar to niveum!
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
Well, I bought a bag and tried it...next morning I saw salt crystal growing around the pellets. I flushed the pots, but the following morning I saw some salt stains on the surface of the bark mix....I am not sure how it will affect the orchids but I don't feel comfortable with this product...
Stone
Well-Known Member
Tom, Instead of triple super you should use regular single superphosphate. (it is 9% P and supplies S and Ca too. Part of the P is immediately available and the rest is slow release (probably citrate soluble) I would recommend grinding it into a powder and either sprinkling a tiny amount (maybe enough to cover a half of a nickel) and water it in or mix that amount with half a litre of water and apply that. I did this last week - just to see what happened. So far no problems and possibly a new root or two here and there.....I actually ground down about 2 grams and mixed into 8 litres of water. Some of it does not go into solution so I guess I ended up with about 1 gram of soluble P (including the S and the Ca) in the 8 litres of water.
Triple super is 20% P and all readily available. Hope you didn't use too much!
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
Mike, I used a couple of pinches of it for each pot(all my plants
), and I think it might be too much, so today I removed the remaining phosphate on the top including the stained barks. I am going to flush the pot again tomorrow...hopefully, it doesn't hurt the plants too much. It is a good thing that I have not used fertilizer for almost two months...Yes, it is my stupidity and I should have tested it with just a few plants first. If I use it again, I will use less.... It is a good idea to grind them into powder, then mix them with water....will try that next time. Thanks.
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pushing at this for the purposes of conversation....
i heard Alan mention that they loved to be repotted also... contrary to the experienced grower grapevine knowledgebase...
What are the chances that folks that are of the 'they don;t like to be disturbed' camp are that way merely because they disturb the root system more than Alan does?
i know my experience has been that if your not prepared for heavy stiff roots with a tenuous connection to the rhizome you often end up with some healthy (disconnected) roots in your hand... consequently i went the path of lots of inorganic mix in a pot i didn't plan to change for more than 5 years..... and now that its reaching that 5 year stage i'm honestly concerned about touching the pots...
thoughts?
I like the inorganic mix concept so that you can sort of pot on to some degree without playing with roots too much. But spring isn’t a bad time to repot as they do seem to root decently this time of year
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
@Rich, since you used a lot of inorganic materials in your growing medium, I don't think you need to worry about repotting even if it has been 5 yrs if the plants are growing well.(I expect they are growing well in your hand, like those niveums you have). Dr. Tanaka uses a lot of inorganic materials for mature Brachys and he doesn't repot his plants...Once my plants are big enough, I will try "mostly inorganic" mix.
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I heard Alan say that, and that might be true for him. And I had the same question.
While I am not sure my experience has been that brachys love being repotted, I have not experienced many set backs with repotting, especially with my leucochilum/goedfroyae, bellatulum, and concolor. I have grown large multiple growth plants of these species with no problem repotting every ~2 years using a bark based mix. The only adjustments I make are more of the larger bark, sponge rock, and oyster shell. My desire to know what going on in the pot keeps me from going fully inorganic.
I am mindful of the roots because I also experience easily broken roots. I place the pot on its side and gently squeeze the loosen the roots. Then slide the plant out supported by the repotting surface. Once they are out of the 2-2.5 inch pot, I have fewer issues with the root spontaneously detaching.
While I am not sure my experience has been that brachys love being repotted, I have not experienced many set backs with repotting, especially with my leucochilum/goedfroyae, bellatulum, and concolor. I have grown large multiple growth plants of these species with no problem repotting every ~2 years using a bark based mix. The only adjustments I make are more of the larger bark, sponge rock, and oyster shell. My desire to know what going on in the pot keeps me from going fully inorganic.
I am mindful of the roots because I also experience easily broken roots. I place the pot on its side and gently squeeze the loosen the roots. Then slide the plant out supported by the repotting surface. Once they are out of the 2-2.5 inch pot, I have fewer issues with the root spontaneously detaching.
