Arachnis Flos-Aeris

[DavidK]

Hello Again ,

Here I am going mad again buying orchids that I like but don't know much about , this time it's the Arachnis (Scorpion Orchid) , I had been looking for one for ages and managed to get a cutting after bidding on ebay , the plant arrived , with good aerial roots & good color BUT ! now the bottom leaves are starting to turn yellow to almost half way up the plant , it's about 24 inches long .

I know the plant likes full sun & high humidity but it seems to be failing .

I do spray everyday with rain water which I collect in a large bucket which I use for watering my other orchids because I heard somewhere it's best .

As I spray the velamen turns green so I know it's absorbing the water OK .

I have the plant tied to a fiber pole in a Vanda basket , just because it didn't look right just hanging there .

This is the first "cutting" of an orchid I have tried to bring on , is there anything I'm missing doing ? or should I do something "extra" ? I promise I will try to find out more about what I'm buying next time ops:

Thanks for any tips on this one

As Always ... David

[Ray]

It could just be cutting- and shipping shock, but I'd guess you're starving the plant.

It used to be attached to other plants, so was able to get water and nutrition from them or the root system. Now it only has roots, and you're not feeding it anything in that rainwater!

I'd add fertilizer at a rate of 100-150 ppm N, and if you're going to continue with rainwater, use a fertilizer intended for pure water or the pH will be way to acidic without adjustment.

[DavidK]

Hello Again Ray ,

Thanks for your reply , I will try adding the orchid food to the water and see what happens .

Thanks Again ... David

[daemondamian]

David,
the first time I bought Arachnis cuttings [from Ebay also] I tied them up to a trelis thingy, stuck them out on the front porch in full sun and misted them down every now and then.

Slowly but surely they died

The second time I got cuttings I had them briefly in my hobby GH for a while but then turfed them out as they were taking up too much room and didn't appear to be growing at all.

I chucked them in a basket with a coconut fibre liner and filled it with sphag moss hung it on the fence.. if they wanted to live it was up to them

To my surprise when I decided to check in on them much later [weeks, months I can't remember] they were actually growing new roots!!!

I removed some of the sphag and added loose coconut fibre to provide more air for the roots.. I am going to move them into the lean-to that I plan on using for the winter and hopefully they will make it through the winter

Whether they ever flower or not though is not so sure

[littlefrog]

Is Flos-aeris the one that gets to 15' tall with stems the diameter of an axe handle? Pretty flowers, but I don't have the space for that one...

[daemondamian]

Originally Posted by littlefrog

Is Flos-aeris the one that gets to 15' tall with stems the diameter of an axe handle? Pretty flowers, but I don't have the space for that one...

I'm not sure.. I have got pics of mine in my OB gallery.. I really should get around to putting a link to my OB album in the gallery into my signature!

[daemondamian]

Done and doner!
Now you can check out my arachnis pics in my album in the OB gallery by clicking on the link in my signature.. aint technology grand!?