New growths in strange position

[Cinderella]

These 2 new growths are way up on the existing fan. What is going to happen when roots grow?

 

[Cinderella]

I didn't upload this correctly.

 

[carrilloenglish]

This is a problem I tend to have with a few maudie plants I have kept. You will have to repot the plant soon and plant it lower in the mix -- right to where the two new fans have started. New roots won't show for a while so you still have time if it is in bud or flower (or expect it to be). Timing is everything. In the mean time you can place some loose sphag around the new shoots.

Christian

 

[smartie2000]

You could use sphag moss....
but I would repot it deeper into the pot. This one looks like a besseae type, they may climb

 

[SlipperFan]

Smarie's got it: plant it deeper, so that the new growths can send roots down into the media. Besseae is a climber, and so are many of her offspring.

 

[NYEric]

Or get taller pots. I'd peal off the dried old leaves too.

 

[Cinderella]

If I bury this down to the new growths, the old growths will be under pellets and would get water in the fan. Also it is in bloom. Help!

 

[NYEric]

You mean water in the leaves as if it were in a natural setting? OH NO!!!

 

[Cinderella]

well how come when that happened before it caused rot?

 

[Heather]

Debbie, don't listen to Eric, he's just being snarky.

Seriously, you can pot some of the old growths under the mix without it being much of a problem. However, you can also remove them. There is a post around here somewhere from Jason Fischer about this very subject. Let me see....
Here it is:
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1191

 

[NYEric]

Debbie, don't listen to Eric, he's just being snarky.

There are a couple of threads here about watering/ water sitting in the crowns. I change my whole watering technique due to this info. I wash the plants thru w/ water just as if they're in the rain. It washes dust and contaminants through also.

 

[IdahoOrchid]

There are a couple of threads here about watering/ water sitting in the crowns. I change my whole watering technique due to this info. I wash the plants thru w/ water just as if they're in the rain. It washes dust and contaminants through also.

I do this too if I can do it early enough in the day. One think I have learned to watch for is water sitting in old growths with cut off spikes. The old spike will retain water much longer that a clear crown. My charlesworthii got a little bit of rot because of this but I think I caught it in time.

 

[DavidH]

When I visited the orchid zone, most of the phrags were growing upwards. Terry said it was how they normally grew. They usually wrap sphagnum around the new growths for root development and when they get enough roots, repot the whole plant lower.

 

[IdahoOrchid]

When I visited the orchid zone, most of the phrags were growing upwards. Terry said it was how they normally grew. They usually wrap sphagnum around the new growths for root development and when they get enough roots, repot the whole plant lower.

Ah, good to know that. I have a bessae putting out a new growth right now.

 

[gonewild]

well how come when that happened before it caused rot?

Because your plant is in Leca you can bury the old growth deeper and it will not likely rot because of the extra air circulation within the media. You can also wait until it finishes blooming, the small new growths will be fine as is for awhile.

 

[NYEric]

I believe Jason Fischer was asking about distributing some tall pots that would be good for stolonous plants. But they aren't clear.

 

[smartie2000]

the most frustrating thing is when the root are too long and I need to plant them deeper!

 

[Cinderella]

OK, I am VERY confused about what to do.

Not only is the fan with the 2 new growths in bloom, but there is another fan on the other side of the plant which will probably bloom as well. I don't want to discard that either. Help!

 

[gonewild]

If you look at your plant you will see that this climbing habit is how the plant grows. The growth that has the two new growths also grew above the media level. It will likely do the same thing with the 2 new growths, so get used to it!

You can repot it deeper so the 2 new growths are at or just slightly below the media surface. If you repot using the Leca the plant is in now I don't think burying the other mature growth will hurt it or stop it from blooming. Just don't pack the media around the surface.

You could also bend the rhizome (not break, just bend) toward the other mature growth so that the two fans are parallel and then repot them so they point straight up. (Sort of tip the whole plant to the left in the picture). That would bring the two new growths down to the media surface and not bury ether of the mature growths. Kind of hard to put into words, do you understand what I'm saying?

 

[IdahoOrchid]

What Lance is trying to describe is to lay the rhizome (the part that the two new growths are attactched to and from where the roots emerge) along the surface and slightly cover it with media. Kind of like doing a ground layer if you know what that is.