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Inherited orchids...

11 years ago

Hi All,

I inherited or acquired a ton (50+ orchids) seven years ago when we purchased a home in Hawaii. As I mature, I slowly have taken a liking to the orchids blooming and have decided perhaps its time to rejuvenate a few of them to their former pristine health.

I am enclosing a photo of an orchid that at times used to have 7 or 8 shoots of buds and bloom for a good 1-2 months, they were absolutely beautiful and received tons of compliments.

My question is, what do i do with the grey dried shoots and roots that appear next to all the green leaves and shoots. Do I leave them, cut them back, etc?

Any tips appreciated, and thank you in advance. Maybe, time permitting, I can lurk on this forum enough and learn a lot of things.

Aloha,

ardent

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Comments (8)

ardent
Original Author
11 years ago
Photo didnt attach, here it is.
ardent
Original Author
11 years ago
better top-down photo
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Welcome to the forum. Especially thank you for including the excellent pictures. They are very helpful. All your new orchids need attention in the near future, but the only one in actual trouble is Wedding Promenade. Take it out of the pot, remove the sticks and the spikes (the part of the plant attached to the sticks) down to about 1/2 inch from the plant. Clean off anything brown and squishy. If you post a picture of the root situation we can help you further with that one. Just set it in the empty pot. Orchids do fine with their roots exposed to the air. Don't trim any roots on any of the plants. Go to a garden center and look for orchid mix which is small fir bark, perlite and charcoal. Straight fir bark will work too, just not redwood or any of the mulch barks. This is not ideal for potting IMO but the easiest solution for you. Moth orchid #2 can be maintained with a little misting of the roots until you are ready to deal with it. Don't worry, we'll talk you through them all. If the plants are dry, take them to the sink and run lots of water through all parts of the pot, then don't water at all while we are figuring out what to do. If the plants are not dry, don't water them. They will not dry out and die while we are working through the first level of care. There is a FAQ here that will be helpful and while you are at the garden center look for the Ortho book "All about orchids".
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lisa_z5wmi
11 years ago
Is that in a pot? If so, it looks ready to be divided. Then you just cut off all the dead stuff and repot the living. If it is mounted on something then I am not sure what you would do. One benefit to dividing is you can trade for other plants and try new stuff. In your neck of the woods I would think there is lots to chose from.
ardent
Original Author
11 years ago
Yeah its in a cement pot. You are probably right. As for trading, never considered such, as I have 50+ orchids on the property (all potted) plus another 5-10 grown onto trees, etc and this is something 'new' I'm trying to get into.

Thanks for telling me to split it, my mother, who is much more of a green thumb than I, can do it when she comes in December.
ginnibug
11 years ago
Wow, dividing that thing will be a challenge! Since you say it's in a cement pot,you REALLY will have to soak it to try and get it out of that pot.Normally it's hard to get the plants out of a terracotta pot without busting it. You might need a hacksaw to get that cut apart too.

Maybe you should have some of us from the forum to come out and help your mother, you know, just to advise her. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to the plants! LOL! ginnibug
ianbrazil
11 years ago
There's nothing wrong with having large,old plants. Don't feel you have to divide them. These look a bit sunburnt and bug-eaten though. They'll thank you for some neem oil spray and a foliar feed when they get the new growth. - Ian.
orchidnick
11 years ago
The plant is full of buds. When in bloom it's viewed from the side, not from the top. One option would be to leave it where it is and just enjoy the view from the side. The other thing would be to hang it up so viewed from below, you only see a ring of healthy leaves and flowers. I would also consider digging out the dead stuff from the middle and filling the hole with coconut or whatever. The plant will start to grow into the space.

Nothing wrong with dividing it but it took 15 odd years to get to where it is so think twice before dividing it. Bid specimen plants like this, when groomed properly are spectacular and cannot be bought.

Nick
orchidnick
11 years ago
The other thought wold be to dig out the dead stuff from the middle, make a couple of front end divisions and plant them in your favorite medium in the middle. You'll then have new plant growth in the middle again for a well rounded plant a couple of years from now.

nick

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