Rearrangement

I’ve had a fairly directionless day, which led my mind to wander over to the glass box. This orchidarium otherwise seems unproblematic, and has been the pride of my cultivation history thus far, as it’s fairly self-sufficient, meaning that I can leave mounted orchids alone when I go on vacations to visit my family in the summer or wintertime. It would seem superfluous to monitor it too much, and I am often worried about striking a balance between rational attention and obsessive attention. The latter seems to be a forerunner to periods of burnout in which neglected plants decline. In this case, it was a good thing I checked. Not irrational at all. It’s important to always check on what is actually going on with the plants, even if your last impression was of unimpeachable health.

In this case, I found that the terrarium was too wet. It’s true, I’ve been misting more often to keep temperatures low, but the evaporation hasn’t kept up, especially now that I’ve replaced the top with a new polycarbonate lid. I figure that it’s wiser to use the black mesh top for now, which functions also as a kind of shade cloth.

The increased heat, humidity, and light have had positive effects on the growth of the phalaenopsis which I recently acquired—Phalaenopsis stuartiana and Phalaenopsis Mini Mark. I’ve also seen good root growth on the Vanda falcata, Paphiopedilum lawrenceanum, Phalaenopsis chibae, Trichocentrum stacyi.

I was happy enough with the Phalaenopsis progress that I decided to mount both of them, as I was tired of the Mini Mark being in a floppy, sideways orientation on the terra cotta pot I had originally placed it in. With the high ambient humidity, there’s no need to be overcautious with the potting; a mount, even without any sphagnum on it, should be good. The main point is to get the damn thing to attach its roots soon.

Bulbophyllum medusae and Tolumnia Jairak Firm ‘Mocha Spots’ were definitely too wet. They haven’t been harmed in any major way, but I like to see wetness and no signs of growth as a recipe for future death. The Tolumnia’s foliage was a bit suspect, getting a little too many of those extra black dots that might be sunburn or some kind of mild necrosis. Nothing visibly wrong with the roots though, or maybe a few old roots falling apart. I decided to hang it closer to the fan. It’s in terracotta, maybe it should be bare root, or in a net pot. I hope it flowers later this year, after which point I might divide it. I’m a bit mystified as to how I should best pot the Bulbophyllum, which has long been two separate plants. It would be great to mount it, but I decided to put it in a small net pot—I like the round growth of certain specimens I’ve seen in pictures.

Coryanthes macrantha has experienced good vegetative growth and what looks like a flower spike, but I think the medium is too wet, and maybe there are snails in it, because I keep on getting holes eaten in the flower spikes. I decided to put it in a wooden basket and hang it outside of the terrarium. I may do a complete reset of the medium, but I feel attached to how it is now, because I’ve put a good deal of sulfur pellets in it, so I know the pH is well-suited to the plant.

I’ve also got a set of little plants that I’m worried about: Angraecum rutenbergianum, Dendrobium subuliferum, Amesiella monticola, and Angraecum germinyanum. I think the latter two are in okay shape, just getting too wet, and the other two have hope, it’s just a matter of air circulation, really, and preventing them from getting too wet. These plants are all cool to intermediate growers, so I might have to wait until winter for them to grow more vigorously. When the wine cooler comes, I’ll consider putting the germinyanum in there! The rest could spend the nights in it. Generally speaking, I’m worried that the change of lid might have increased the light levels too much for some plants, that it may be too hot, and that it may be too wet. I’m going to stop the daily automated misting and do it by hand.

This has mostly been a post about worries and issues, but I want to emphasize one last time how happy I am to see root progress, especially with the new phals.—plants for which none of the roots looked particularly good when I received them. And in other good news, Epidendrum Thomas Ott is spiking. It’s one of the indestructible plants on my windowsill. And Trichocentrum stacyi is doing great.