Orchid Culture - Questions & Answers from This Month
by Sue Bottom, from the St. Augustine Orchid Society Newsletter. Email us with any orchid question. If we can't answer it, we'll find someone who can! Send photographs too!
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First Orchid - What's Next?
Q. This my first orchid. The flowers lasted a good while but finally dropped off. I don't know if I should cut the old flower stem back. I also don't know if these new growths are flower stems or roots that are growing vertical. If roots, then why are they growing toward the ceiling? Also, should I rotate the plant so the leaves don't all continue in one direction towards the sunny window? As you can see, I don't know much. Any advice will be appreciated.A. There are different schools of thought on cutting back the flower stem, some like to trim it back and hope for a few more flowers. I prefer to cut the stem back entirely and let the plant gather its strength for a great blooming next spring, rather than waste its energy on a few buds. The new growths are aerial roots, sometimes the phalaenopsis just likes to grow aerial roots and sometimes it suggests the potting media may becoming stale and need to be refreshed. Gently pick up the plant by the leaves and see if the plant is wobbly in the pot, if so it is time to repot it into fresh mix. Rotating the plant is a good idea is you have to grow indoors during the warm months, even better would be to find a somewhat shady spot outdoors protected from rain and let it summer in the fresh air, returning it indoors when outside temps dip below 60. Once the plant is in spike, you'll have to stop rotating it because the flowers will become twisted as they try to grow toward the light. We have assembled lots of tips for beginners. (Jun-26)
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Splotchy Spotting on Cattleya Leaves
Q. This Catt has these two infected leaves. Is it Cercospora? Should I cut off the two leaves? I sprayed a couple days ago with 3337F.A. That sure looks like one of the Cercosporoid fungi. I would remove the leaves to remove the sporing bodies from your growing area. The thiophanate methyl you sprayed should help protect the remaining leaves. (Jun-26)
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What's Chewing on My Orchids
Q. Does this look like rat damage? I did find rat poop in a pot where the bulbos were being chewed. There are fast food restaurants not far. What would I do if it's rats?A. Definitely could be rat damage. There are plastic box traps you can buy to put the rat poison in to keep pets away from it. There are also some poisons that have a low risk of secondary poisoning. Here's a link to an article about Orchids and Rats. We've had rat problems before and no fast food restaurants close by. Tthey ate the wiring in my carand it cost $6000 to rewire it. (Jun-26)