Do you have an orchid, or a few, among your collection of houseplants?

I have had this one for a little over a year. So excited about the new about-to-be-blooms!



I have had this one for 5-6 yrs, its 1st bloom this year:


A couple of weeks ago, got a few more. I'll get around to taking pics of them soon. They are not Phals but I can't remember offhand which kinds they are.

If you've wondered what is in those "moss balls" of the hanging orchids @ BBS's, I wondered the same thing. The first two I purchased have been left in the condition in which they were purchased, but I did get another one a couple of weeks ago and dis-assembled it. The layers found, from the outside first:
twine
green thread
lots of green-painted moss
packing tape that the moss was stuck to, clear tape one would use to seal a box before mailing
more moss
more packing tape
green wire sphere
nasty wet peat moss under some sphagnum moss, packed all around the roots.

If this new one does like my other 2 Phals, these will be the last of the blooms until next year, but I don't mind waiting.

Phalaenopsis bloom only once a year but the flowers last 6 months or more.

In the kitchen window


On the kitchen table


In the office window

Thank you, that has been my experience with my older one too, blooming annually.

Those are so pretty! I especially love the kitchen table flowers!!

Hope Big Bill doesn't come here to scream at you for having one in water. I think I remember you mentioning something about this before, maybe some pics.

How long has it been like that? The last pic I put is the plant I extricated from the "moss ball." I put it so there is water covering some of the roots but the level of the water is below the crown juncture where roots meet plant, like the pics I've seen. How do you decide which roots to stick in the jar and which ones to leave on the outside?

One of my Phals in blooming phase too..just one more bud..





The others are in root formation or leaf formation growth or both..so I do not mind not seeing blooms yet for this year. As long as one of them blooms and the others remains alive I am a-okay with it...sometimes it rests quite awhile after such a long 6 month blooming period.




Rescued this one from my neighbor last year..she was ready to trash it...it took awhile to recover, looking good now..seeing active new roots.




I just let the roots grow any which way they want....I am more fearful if any of my furry babies suddenly decides to jump and play with them...so far, they are ignoring them...thankfully

I do notice since last year, when I added that top wick watering..the roots are not fast drying out. ..that has been my problem here..we get way too dry..and at times I am guilty of treating it like my succulents..so I forget to water properly...and I am remiss with fertilizers too. Thankfully Phals like to be on the drier side a bit.

My other orchids are dendrobiums..again letting roots grow any way they want, hit or miss if I get blooms..but just happy they are staying alive through the years.


This one is Dendrobium 'Jonathan Joy'
It is busy with keikis...so it is fun..freebies! I am still deciding if I will put back in the grow camp or just try for this year, to keep it indoors...so easy to fry my orchids outdoors with our excessive dry heat.





And lastly Eulophia petersii..it is indoors this time since I always overwinter it..it will go outdoors soon. This is the most succulent-like of my little collection, grown terrestrial on a very gritty/rocky media..no soil media. As soon as I get to clean outdoors..it will join its succulent friends..loves our dry heat here.

purpleinopp said:
Hope Big Bill doesn't come here to scream at you for having one in water. I think I remember you mentioning something about this before, maybe some pics.

How long has it been like that?

Yes, BigBill has screamed at me quite a bit about growing in water. I usually have 1/3 to 1/2 the roots in water. The only roots in water when I start are roots that were under bark but, all the Phals I have in water were rootless when I started. If you use a narrow necked vase or canning jar, the humidity from the water will allow the plants to grow roots. Then the roots put themselves in water. The yellow one is one of the originals so 5 or 6 years.

I have mounted 3 - 4 of them after they grew roots but I have never attempted to put them back in bark. This is one of the remounted Phals:



Luckily, this is the houseplant forum...

It looks like everyone chatting in this so far has the same yellow one with pink veins & pink "angel." Yes, we have very good taste. ; )
That's probably not the right technical term, but that's what that part of the flower looks like to me.

Tarev, those are very nice! I have similar trouble watering the ones I have often enough. I know it's necessary but they dry so fast. Especially love the pics of the keikis! Also saw some heart Hoya leaves in 1 of the pics. As always, your pots are so cool!! Never even heard of the genus of the last one you showed. Very interesting.

Daisy, I think you could call your GH "Orchidville." Amazing! Clearly the orchids like what you are doing.

I hope I didn't make a mistake by arbitrarily putting some roots in water. We'll find out soon, won't we? I'm not growing them to display at a show, but to satisfy my curiosity and enjoy the blooms whenever they pop up.

How does one obtain a rootless orchid?

I don't really understand any screaming in plant chat, but whatever. If I want to, I'll drive over my orchids with a truck, or throw them in the ocean, and I still don't think it would be appropriate to be screamed at, or to be told I can't do what I have done - especially when the person screaming has never done the thing in question.

If you turned around and looked the other way, you would be in Cactusville. My Eulophia petersii lives with the cactus. Both Tarev and my plant are years from blooming but its fun to have an orchid that acts like a cactus, especially when I grow both.

The most important thing to remember when transitioning orchids to water culture is keep them clean. Change the water often and cut off any dead roots fast. You get rootless orchids from people who have no clue how to take care of them. I rescue them, reroot and/or rehabilitate, get them to blooming again and sell them - this is an ongoing project as a fund raiser for my Orchid Society. We sold 6 or 7 of them at our annual Show and Sale a couple weeks ago for $15 - $20 each. We call them the "Second Chance" orchids. I also have an Oncidium just starting to bloom going to the Club meeting in a couple weeks (and hopefully 5 more Phals). I never repot them unless the roots are gone. There are a couple of us "gleaners" and "sitters" in the Club.

That IS hilarious! An orchid society sounds like fun.

Clean. Got it, thank you. I'll be changing the water at least weekly to make sure no wigglers hatch out. I'll be killing mosquitoes as a sidebar, bonus.

One of the Phal roots snapped instead of bending. It has been a few weeks and it still looks normal to me, but I don't know how long that kind of damage takes to manifest, if it is now damaged beyond repair.
Any predictions?

Sometimes, the root damage may just heal itself or progress on and that strand will just dry off..so just cut it off when that time comes.

I am lazy trimming roots..since I know it is our very dry location that accelerates it. Usually the velamen may go brown but not that brittle dry yet, but the root itself inside may still be viable, so I leave it alone..and let nature take its course.

Photo from my sister around the beginning of the year.

I only have 2 Phals remaining alive and only one in bloom. My husband gave this to me 3 or 4 years ago. It stays out on the pool deck year round as do all of my plants.

Excuse this horrid photo, seems the past few days I've had many technical issues. My laptop crashed yesterday and would not reboot so I'm using one of my hubby's old laptops while he installs a new hard drive in mine. My camera has been out of whack and not taking very good pictures the past week, or it could be the person behind the camera, or maybe a combination of both. This Phal isn't growing in that basket, it's in a plastic orchid pot sitting in the metal basket.


I've had the Orchid below for years but can't remember the name; it hasn't bloomed in many years but once blooms open, I will look through my photo files to see if I can figure out which it is. This one stays out on the pool deck year round too; spike is on the left.

You too are really hilarious!

If you are half the orchid growers that you think that you are, why not tell tarev how to get consistent flowerings from his Dendrobiums?! How about Dendrobiums and keikies? He could use your expert advice.

Hey Lin, does Schomburgkia tibicinis sound familiar or maybe Schomburgkia brysoniana?

These both may have been put in the genus Myrmecophilia.

BigBill said: Hey Lin, does Schomburgkia tibicinis sound familiar or maybe Schomburgkia brysoniana? These both may have been put in the genus Myrmecophilia.

I haven't ever had orchids labeled Schomburgkia or Myrmecophilia but the way names have changed over the years, it very well could be. Once my laptop is back up and running I will go through my photos of past orchids to see if I can find it but I will also post photos here.

The growth habit of that plant you posted is very Myrmecophilia like. They have 1, 2 or 3 leathery leaves. Pseudobulbs are broadest at the base and gradually get thinner or tapered at the apex. Many of them have a low growing growth habit which make them natural contenders for either mounted or basket culture.

I believe that the Schomburgkia genus is now the group of species that grow more upright, thicker, yet tapered pseudobulbs with the same, but larger 1-3 leathery leaves. And these species have the hollow pseudobulbs which are often inhabited by ants. Their flowers are densely clustered at the end of a long inflorescence. The smaller Myrmecophilia have the flowers spread out a bit more on a shorter inflorescence.

I got that orchid at least 20 years ago and I just found some old photos of what I think is the same plant but my old brain isn't certain. I don't remember where I got it, or if it even had a label on it at the time. Two of my pictures say Cattleya No ID and the other just says No ID. It's one that I planted into a metal basket some years back and the metal rusted out sometime I think around 2014, so I took the orchid apart and repotted it. These pictures show what a terrible plant caretaker I am. It's been sunburned, stayed too wet, allowed to stay too dry, knocked off of plant stands, blown around in the wind ... chewed on by squirrels.

These photos are from 2012

Lin, look at this new plant. Every single growth has but a single leaf. That makes it a unifoliate Cattleya. I think it has a good chance of being either a Cattleya hybrid with Cattleya quadricolor or Cattleya trianae in the background.
Look at the bloom spikes. They seem to have one or two flowers on a short inflorescence. Your unknown has a long, pointed spike, as you pointed out, and so far there isn't a single bud showing.
Look at all of the pseudobulbs on that guy in the basket. So many of them have 2-3 leaves that are much shorter in length.
You'll be able to tell a whole lot more when it blooms.

BigBill said: You too are really hilarious!

If you are half the orchid growers that you think that you are...

Bill, nobody claimed any expertise. Please do not bring insults and/or screaming into another discussion.

@Bigbill, I didn't remember the name Myrmecophila but after my husband got my laptop back up and running today, I went through all of my files and I found a folder labeled Myrmecophila 'Motes Long Shot' (grandiflora x byrsiana 'Orange Belle') If my mystery orchid is that one, this will be the first time it's ever bloomed for me.

I read that Myrmecophila bloom spikes can grow 4 to 6 feet in length! I took a yard stick and went out to measure the single spike which is growing fast and it's already at 16 inches in length. I have two old photos at this database entry Orchid (Myrmecophila Motes Long Shot) which shows the parentage as grandiflora x byrsiana and I now wonder if that's the correct database location for my photo since mine is labeled x byrsiana 'Orange Belle'; if it is incorrect, I'll have to ask admin. to move my pictures.

The lighting isn't the greatest but I just went out and took a couple of photos of the plant and the growing spike.


I had to turn this photo sideways to get the entire spike in view.