Help//Caring for Renanopsis Lions Splendor?

[RobynMarko]

So, still a newbie, I went to the AOS show in Homestead, FL Thursday. I could not pass up buying the above orchid because it (as you all know) is unbelievable!!! I’m trying to find care instructions online without any luck. Anything you can share is greatly appreciated. Vendor says it’s a ‘Fireworks’ and to put it in a pot with coconut chips. Theirs were 10-12 feet tall COVERED in flowers. The one I bought is about 2 1/2 feet tall with new root buds coming out and has already flowered twice...so I thought it was a good choice. Thank you all for your help! 😊

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It is an intergeneric hybrid of Phalaenopsis and Renanthera, orchids from both genera tend to be intermediate to warm growing (18.3 C - 35 C/65 F - 95 F).

Since it took on more traits of Renanthera, it grows in moderately bright indirect to bright indirect light.

Moderate to high humidity, (70% - 90%), which you will not have a problem with since you live in Florida.

Renanthera should be grown like Vandas. They can be potted, but the roots like lots of air circulation. Use medium to large grade bark only if you are potting them up.

[RobynMarko]

And should I spray/mist roots with orchid food? Do you have a particular one you recommend? And how often should I water/spray/feed it? It’s a beauty, and I can’t wait for it to flower. Thank you.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'm not sure if you're planning on growing this orchid in a basket without potting media or not, but if you are, it is better to just hose it down. Dr. Motes from Motes Orchids posted a video on YouTube on how to do this.

Florida Orchid Growing: Part 1 Introduction to Orchid Growing - YouTube

You can fertilize with any brand of fertilizer that gets close to the NPK ratio of 20-20-20. It doesn't have to be exactly 20-20-20. As long as the nitrogen is not so much proportioned towards urea, but rather have a higher proportion of ammonium or nitrate based nitrogen, it should be fine. If the fertilizer contains some urea, it isn't going to hurt.

You can fertilize every week or every two weeks. You would have to adjust your fertilizer concentration according to your fertilizing regimen.

A pretty decent guideline would be about 1/4 strength the recommended dosage on the label for weekly applications. About 1/2 strength for applying once every two weeks. Recommended concentration once a month.

If you want to get technical, fertilizers are actually additional metabolites that the plant needs to help facilitate photosynthesis. The plant's actual food source are the sugars it makes during photosynthesis.

[RobynMarko]

So, I’ve put my Renanopsis in a basket with coco chips and have kept it under the umbrella on my screen-enclosed patio—with small amounts of direct sun (which Seller recommended). Now I have browning/yellowing leaf/leaves. Not sure that it’s necessarily black rot...don’t know what it is...lack of sun?...not enough water...fertilizer? Attaching pics. Please help, as I don’t want to lose this beautiful plant! Thank you.

[estación seca]

I can't see the photos very well. Are there fine linear wrinkles on the leaves? If so, you aren't watering often enough. I would expect this plant in that basket in your climate should be watered every day.

The spot could be sunburn, which is more likely if the plant isn't wetered enough.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Looks like the beginnings of sunburn. Do not put it under direct sunlight. Grow with indirect bright light. Some species of Renanthera are naturally dark pigmented, it can fool you into thinking it may need more light when it may not need to be blasted with light.

This hybrid took on the trait of dark leaves from its Renanthera heritage.

If it is grown with coco chips, don't water too much. 2 - 3 times a week would be sufficient.

[mollycart1]

Hi, I would like to share my experience on this particular plant. I bought one from a vendor at Tamiami show in January. Not knowing what the requirements were, I just planted in a ceramic pot with bark mix. And it sat in bright sunlight along with my other Vandas. Leaves started showing discoloration just like you posted. It also was not getting enough water. Leaves looked dehydrated. It was a hybrid of Vandopsis and Renanthera. You would think it could strive under the same environment. Nope.

In May, I visited Redland show and talked the vendor. He told me it LOVES to be potted in coconut husk or even peat moss and watered daily. In addition, it needs to stay out of the bright light. As you see roots, they are as fat as a humans index finger. It takes for a while to get soaked. Regular daily watering in an open basket for my Vandas is not sufficient.

[RobynMarko]

This is driving me crazy because I’m getting another yellow leaf about to fall off at the bottom! I found severe root rot (which, unfortunately, it came that way, being a newbie I didn’t know). I cut them and treated them with fungicide. I took them out of the coco chips and hung like a Vanda (as recommended), and giving it a few hours of sun a day with lots of water and fertilizer (as I’m told they are heavy feeders in the summer). The vendor said full-Sun all day to flower! (Attaching his sign). I’m so confused and irritated because everyone has different advice, and I don’t know which way to go to take care of this gorgeous orchid!

[estación seca]

You need to go with what the vendor said. The vendor grew those plants outside in the sun in southern Florida.

Vandas need far more water than most people imagine, and Renanopsis seem to need even more.

mollycart1 and I both seem to have spoken with people working for this same vendor, we both seem to have bought a Renanopsis from this same vendor, and we were both told the exact same thing. The plants were in excellent shape at the show. I saw the stacks of many dozens of these rooted cuttings; each one was in great shape, and none had rotting roots.

I told the vendor I would need to grow it in a sunroom due to outdoor summer temperatures here. He agreed 110 F / 43C and up was too hot. I too was told to plant this in coconut chips, and that bark would not retain enough water. The vendor suggested a pot big enough to hold the existing roots of the rooted tip cutting without bending them. In the case of the cutting I bought, that meant a 10" / 25cm pot. He said to water it every day.

I told him I could give the plant 3-4 hours of direct sun through a window, but not more. He said there was a possibility it would flower with this amount of light, but it might not be enough. He told me it would be preferable for the plant to have 6 or more hours per day of unobstructed full sun.

Why do you think your roots are rotten? How do they look?

Your plant is not in as good shape now as it was when you bought it. That will not decrease its water requirement. In fact, it will need to get more water to compensate for the roots now missing. Fortunately you have high humidity.

My plant was doing well with the vendor's instructions until it was eaten by rats, by the way. They seem to like eating the crowns out of Vandas, then working their way down the stem.