MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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I'm struggling to grow this orchid after picking one up at the London show in spring - at the moment it's mounted in sphagnum and misted each morning so is kept relatively moist, is in an E facing site so gets good indirect light. However the stems seem to be dieing off from the bottom up. Any ideas?
Someone is going to be along with a good answer and it wont be bullsh1t.
STW can answer anything.
From what I remember/am aware they like moderate and even temperatures, massively high constant humidity (almost constant rain), some air movement and indirect light.
If you have it in your house it is almost certainly very upset.
Wife swears by it, and weve got orchids coming out of our ears. (weve run out of plantpots) 🙂
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Aha - so if I put it with my [i]Nanodes medusae[/i] it should cheer up? I was wondering if it needed higher humidity than it was getting (it's in one of many tanks in the house).
they thrive in laundry rooms*
*so the maid tells me
However the stems seem to be dieing off from the bottom up.
My mum rescues neglected orchids from the bargain bins in B&Q, revives them then gives them to me so I can kill them, or more typically, keep them only just alive.
The only tip of hers that I can think of that might be relevant- is it in a clear pot? Usually their roots need light, they're normally sold in clear pots but people don't always realise thats important when they re-pot them
A common theme is to overwater them the roots do not like being soaked in water. An orchid pot has a lip for the pot to sit on for this very reason although they are not essential. My 2 orchids are in the bathroom and kitchen (east facing windows) and they get no misting or special food. They also only get watered twice a month. However my cactus and venus fly traps all die so not sure what I do wrong with them!
@maccruiskeen & others - thanks for posting but this isn't your typical Phalaenopsis/Cymbidium orchid that you'll see all over the place. You've all got good advice for those but this is a whole different beast & there's only sparse cultivation information on Google, hence the doubt as to whether STW held the answer (thanks Shackleton!) - each stem on this pic is probably 25mm long at most (my plant looks a bit less healthy).
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Where's it from? That might give you a clue. You might have to rig up some kind of automatic mister - that would be fun.
How can anyone kill cacti btw? Actually I know.. there is only one way. So just stop over-watering.