Barb You sound like you've done this sort of thing before, so I'm curious why you would want to put the keiki into wet sphagnum? I know that's how orchids come from the growers, but I also know that if you leave them in that sphagnum instead of putting them into a bark medium, they always rot and die. Why not put the baby directly into bark?
Because you need to keep the baby moist...The roots will quickly grow over the sphagnum and you will never see it. Most people, if thee roots have grown around the first pot, they don't even take it away. They just add the pot to another pot with the correct bark. Or you can crack the pot and only take part of it away. Makes no difference to an Orchid. I guess there are many ways to do this but the main thing is that babies shouldn't dry out and if you know most die from lack of humid-did-ity.
You are quite right Barb, this is my moth orchid about 10 minutes ago, growing in moss which I spray,[not drench] about every second day and they love those slitted pots, being able to' see' the roots means that they are not suffocating. I don't think it can be clearly seen,this plant has 2 spikes and will flower in about 3 weeks time. Sorry about the quality of photo but sun is shining and making too much shadow. Jewell...yours are beautiful! Orchid growing in spagnum moss ( photo / image / picture from chocolate's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from chocolate's Garden )
Hi chocolate..... Yes there are many different kinds of Orchid pots Orchid Pots You know, You don't just have to spray them. I used to dip them in a bucket and then let them drain... that will wet them enough to absorb water till next time. Again, I will say that there are so so many different ways to do things.. I like to hear all the ways..
I'm thrilled to receive so much information about orchids in general, and the planting of baby Stewkei in specific. Thank you very much for the varied perspectives and experience. As Barb says, there are so many different ways to do things to achieve the same result and I'm just tickled that you've all provided a variety of options.
Plants have a "great will to live". If something is not done exactly, perfectly, correct they don't care...they will try to survive anyway. Remember we all need H2O.
You've all given me great suggestions, and I've done some research on each one of them to be as fully informed as possible, wondering which method I'd end up with, and hoping I wouldn't offend some of you by not doing what you suggested. But then I got to thinking. The orchids I have now are doing well. Doing great actually, as two have begun flowering again after several years of just sitting there doing nothing, and then that one has given us Stewkei. There must be something right about their growing conditions for that to happen, correct? So I just figured I'd duplicate as closely as possible the growing conditions of the ones I have, simply based on that being successful for them. They're grown in bark, are in little green plastic pots with many holes in the bottom but none on the sides. I have those ugly pots sitting in decorative ones, and I remove them to water them, by sitting them in the sink, misting their leaves and stalks, pouring orchid food water through the pot and letting them completely drain out before putting them back in their pots. That's what's been successful in my environment, so that's what I'm going to follow as closely as possible when planting Stewkei. I'll do pictures along the way just so I can document, for myself, how I did everything and then ultimately how it turns out. Happy to share them if you'd like.
Well, you see, that should work wonderfully. The sink and shower is the key. Looking forward to photos. PS You know you could get a "crack pot". They are pretty and have slots or holes. We were always told that you break it to get the orchid out when transplanting but I never did that. http://www.goodsforthegarden.com/PDFs/B ... tEvent.pdf You should be able to find one at select garden centers.
I really like your idea of following what has been successful for you so far. We all have different gardening habits so finding what works for your style of gardening makes perfect sense. For myself I can tend to over water so I treat my orchids like I treat my succulents I am sure this would not work for anyone else, but it seems to work for me. Can't wait to see photos of your flowering plants.
Ok, I did it! Little Stewkei has now left the nest.......er...stalk! He currently resides in an ugly green pot (just like the one his Mama is in) which I first sat in water to hydrate him, then I placed that a decorative pot, also just like his Mama, with his roots and the little bit of stem covered with the special orchid potting mix I bought at my favorite nursery. He's sitting on the window ledge soaking up the sun and warmth, just like his Mama did before she birthed him and the lovely flowers that she graced us with. Fingers crossed!
I just noticed that the bark mix looks really wet in those last couple of pictures. I don't know why. It was damp, but not soaking like the pictures make it look. Well, just put it down to crappy cell phone pics, I guess.
Yippee! Stewkie has it's own place to live! Looking forward to watching it grow up and give you even more beautiful flowers.
