it’s growin horns! - Orchid Board

tmoney · #1 03-18-2021, 03:08 PM

the taelianis is coming on! i love the way this flower is developing, these little horns are pretty cool and I hope it goes all the way. still not super confident in my orchid skills yet, but im thinking/ hoping after a year plus a another bloom cycle ill be feeling stronger. it’s like a wish and prayer right now!

Orchidtinkerer · #2 03-19-2021, 08:50 AM

why have I never noticed this one before.
Thanks for sharing tmoney, it looks interesting.
Apparently strong scented, is a miniature and grows well in cooler european climates.
If it wasn't bright pink I'd be looking for one straight away but pink not really my favorite color

IOSPE PHOTOS

Mr.Fakename · #3 03-19-2021, 09:29 AM

How are you growing your plant? Roots look dry-ish.

This Phal belongs to a very specific family of Phalaenopsis, and dry spells trigger them into deciduous dormancy.

tmoney · #4 03-19-2021, 02:04 PM

hey, well it’s still in the nursery moss/bark, and it seems to hold water a lot. it’s on the weekly water cycle with the rest and usually ill leave a tiny amount of water to evaporate for a couple days. also it’s been getting a mist over the top two to three times a week. so yeah, thanks for the tip tho, should I mist it everyday you think? and does this apply to the doritis group in general?

Mr.Fakename · #5 03-19-2021, 04:02 PM

If roots inside are not allowed to dry, it's the most important (IMO). I find them very sensitive to variations in humidity.

The answer to that question is probably more complex than you expected

the Doritis genus no longer exists, Christenson classified the affected plants in the Phalaenopsis genus; but in different subgenera.

Deciduous Phal are in the Aphyllae, Parishianae and Proboscidioides sections.
This link is outdated, but will give you a good understanding of the species: Phalaenopsis classification by Olaf Gruss & Manfred Wolff

They can be temperamental and you'll find lots of bad-ending stories about deciduous Phal, but they're pretty cool and not as hard as they're told to be.

tmoney · #6 03-19-2021, 05:12 PM

great, thanks for the link! so looking it up it looks to fall in the aphyllae sub. and when you say deciduous, it’s gone drop all its leaves every year? what exactly does a deciduous orchid do? thanks for the helpful info!

---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:05 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidtinkerer

If it wasn't bright pink I'd be looking for one straight away but pink not really my favorite color

IOSPE PHOTOS

hey! i meant to reply to you before, but this is the picture that is on the website so, I’m not sure what it will look like when it flowers exactly!

Doritis braceana

Orchidtinkerer · #7 03-19-2021, 05:49 PM

says on their website under the description that it tends to lose leaves in winter. Surely it can't lose all its leaves?
I'd give it a repot, I know it's the last thing you want to do as it will suffer repotting stress affecting the flowers.
If the roots are doing poorly in the pot though the consequences could be worse. Looking at one of the leaves it looks a bit dehydrated - you are saying the pot is very wet. This could be a problem but only you can judge that so just a heads up that roots could potentially be rotting in the pot if the plant is not getting enough water when it should be.

edit ps: If you are just underwatering then ignore my advice and spray it daily yes. The wrinkly leaf is the indicator it is slighly dehydrated.

Mr.Fakename · #8 03-19-2021, 06:25 PM

Take a look at this thread to see a deciduous lowii in action: How to water a deciduous Phal. lowii

They go dormant in reaction to lower temperatures, shorter days and drier conditions. It's no issue for them in nature, because the root system of adult plants is HUGE and they can photosynthesize without leaves.

Potted, you don't want them dormant because they'll just die.
Mounted, it's a good way of triggering blooms and get a bushier plant, as they'll often send several basal growths.

The plant you have probably is Phalaenopsis honghenensis, and not taenialis. Welcome to the wonderful world of taxonomy, revisions, bad descriptions, wrong labels and confusion.

tmoney · #9 03-20-2021, 01:01 AM

@orchidtinkerer, the exact thing u describe about totally rotten roots is sorta what got us lookin into orchids more cause we have pretty much lost one now (although it is still in the emergency room on life support), and thusly we have repotted pretty much all of the new ones we’ve gotten....except this one. mainly because it had the spike when we got it and i argued to wait till it’s done flowering. im torn cause I really really really want to see it, hahahha.

@mrfakename....thanks again for the super helpful links! im a science teacher and teaching taxonomy to middle schoolers is easier than understanding orchid classes, imho. certainly we don’t want any of them to die, so looks like it’s time for some more education!

it’s sort of ironic that all of this is covered on the website where we bought it??! i guess we should actually start reading those and stop buying based on pictures of flowers, eh? 😜🤷🏻*♂️

estación seca · #10 03-20-2021, 01:17 AM

Before buying a species I look it up to decide whether I have appropriate conditions.