Haraella retrocalla or odorata or.. ? Roots and water confusion - Orchid Board

KE8ICR · #1 10-07-2019, 07:39 PM

I am brand new to the orchid world and have loved orchids but never really had a place to grow them. I have a small inset window at my office facing west. I wanted some plants and got a tiny Haraella retrocalla that is mounted . I started reading about how to care for it. I dont know if I am overwatering it or not. The air in my office is dry, and the moss dries out fast so since my window sits behind my desk chair, I have been misting it when it gets dry with distilled or rain water. Everything I have read says they dont like to dry out. Despite my frequent misting, it continued to dry out. I added additional spagnum moss to keep it moist, and it is growing and made a little kiki. It has three bud spikes with buds. I checked the roots though and found a couple of the roots turned black at the proximal part of the root , while the rest of the roots look ok, the little kiki came off and I removed the bad roots. Now I took off some of the additional moss thinking it was too wet. So it seems to be either too damp or too dry. I bought a little fog machine thinking the increased humidity would help. I just dont know if I am giving it proper care , I feed it weekly with an orchid spray fertilizer. So....any comments or advice would be appreciated.

Roberta · #2 10-07-2019, 08:59 PM

You picked a difficult system to maintain as your first orchid. Mounted orchids in general do like humidity. Consider getting a little "mini terrarium" so that you can maintain a more humid environment around this little plant. Something like one of these https://www.amazon.com/slp/mini-terr...xrshjrbp2dw4e9 might help a lot.

KE8ICR · #3 10-08-2019, 01:50 PM

Thanks So Much for your reply. I might have to try the terrarium, but I don't think it would work in my office window. Thanks again

aliceinwl · #4 10-09-2019, 01:06 AM

I have no idea if this would work, but could you mount it with minimal moss and then soak the whole mount for hour or so and then let it dry? Maybe put a tray under it to catch drips? This could give the plant an extended period to take up water while still allowing it to dry out.

If the keiki is viable maybe try to set it up in a terrarium like Roberta suggested at home as insurance while you try to find a workable growing strategy for the parent.

Ray · #5 10-09-2019, 09:10 AM

Consider a cylinder glass vase as an enclosure. Put some decorative gravel in the bottom, add some water, and hang the mount from an edge. An inexpensive piece of clear plastic covering 75% of the top will certainly trap the humidity well enough.

Shadowmagic · #6 10-09-2019, 05:21 PM

This is my how I keep my haraella retrocalla

Haraella retrocalla or odorata or.. ? Roots and water confusion-img_4201-jpg

ps ikea vase and 5 x 2cm holes for ventilation seems ideal although with a dry office you might need only 4 holes - always best to monitor. As you can see I have a humidity sensor in mine and it stays at 80% with a little bit of water in the bottom. When humidity drops I water it.

ps2: cling film works well to keep humidity in if you don't want to make a lid. Avoid spagnum - as you can see I have none, spagnum serves to increase humidity but a mini greenhouse will do that so never use both together or you will get rot.

KE8ICR · #7 10-09-2019, 09:34 PM

Wow! So many good ideas....thanks for all your comments. I will try to post pics as soon as I figure out how to do that.

---------- Post added at 09:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 PM ----------

The kiki looks great and has some nice healthy roots. Two sets of leaves. I might try the terrarium with it as you suggest. I actually made a tiny willow basket and gathered some maple bark from a tree in my yard and was going to put it in the basket with the bark (which I cut up into tiny pieces) soak the bark, place the kiki and put a little bit of moss on top to help keep in the humidity. If it shows any signs it doesn't like that, I am going to try a small glass terrarium.