Orchid Rescue

There doesn't seem to be much wrong with your plant. I often get plants given such as yours pictured here.

If you are growing in a greenhouse I would recommend the following. Remove the plant from the rotting compost and dip it into fresh warm water with a touch of dissinfectant, swill all the loose debris and hang it in a net type basket or similar with a little fresh shagnum at the bottom. Keep out of direct sunlight, ensure good air movement and spray the roots daily until you see new roots forming or the old ones developing green tips, when that happens and the roots are of a reasonable size 3 to 4 inches, repot into a recepticle with good drainage with your prefered compost.

If you grow your plant in the house, the advice is as above, but root growth will take longer to establish, but do try and supply air movement which is important. Hope this helps.

 

I use a tiny drop of sodium hypochlorite (bleach) in a large bowl of warm water, I don't know what brands you have available in the USA so can't reccomend a specific one.

 

Hi Seidenfaden.
Your above advice sounds very good to me ...
Will it also work for Stanhopea backbulbs to sprout ?
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Thank you.

 

I am not able to advise you on Stanhopia backbulbs. Does your plant have any leaves? I have two plants of Coryanthes and have been suuccessful in growing and pollinating them and producing seed. One of my plants lost it's leaves, and I've been trying to produce new growth, without success.
One thing is for sure, I still have the five leafless bulbs (for five months) in sphagnum just waiting for some action. I am waiting for the longer daylight hours, when I will place the bulbs in a clear plastic bag with fresh sphagnum in the bottom. Blow in the bag to expand it, then tie a knot and hang it up in the greenhouse away from direct sunlight. This has worked well for me on various genera over the years. (Not always guaranteed success).
Hope this helps.

 

For the backbulbs I use a clear plastic 4 inch bowl with sphagnum at the bottom misted with fungicide and a quart zip lock bag over the top also indirect light. I have found that Stanhopea do very well straight in sphagnum in a mesh pot or basket, regardless it takes quite some time either way. I have read they do not like to have their roots disturbed and have found that to be true.

 

(a) Stanhopea plants :
I do not have difficulties to grow & flower my complete adult plants, which sit in Chile sphagnum.
However, 'left-over bulbs' (after dividing) should sprout but they very² often do not ...
That 'plastic bag trick' everybody repeats over³ again is useless.

(bi) Coryanthes plants in the forest have evolved to grow sympatric with ants.
Those ants build theit 'carton type nest' around the roots of the Coryanthes plant. The Coryanthes plant
regulates humidity & temperature within the ants nest (see literature), while the plant draws nourishment
from the nest material, which consists of different organic matter collected by the ants, including faeces.

(bii) Coryanthes plants in cultivation do not have the benefit mentioned above.
Hence the cultivator must supply the nourishment the plant requires, and this requirement is LARGE !!
If the cultivator fails to spray large amounts of fertilizer, the plant will shed it's leaves and consume it's
bulbs, one after the other, until nothing is left but some ugly sheaths ...
Also, Coryanthes plants need warmth (min. 20°C) and relatively much light.

(c) I still need better advice, if possible, on how to coax my back bulbs to sprout (LOL) ...

 

( quote) " I am not able to advise you on Stanhopea backbulbs, does your plant have any leaves?"
The reason I asked if your plant had any leaves was to try and establish your problem.

Coryanthes do have an interdependent relationship with ants (symbiosis) which is benificial to both species.
As I mentioned in my previous post I have had some success with the plastic bag proceedure, but I failed to mention that the fresh sphagnum should be moist, which when the bag is inflated and tied, creates a humid environment. I have not previously tried this procedure with Coryanthes backbulbs which I think deserves a try.

I too, would be pleased to hear of anyone having success with initiating new growth from leafless backbulbs of Stanhopea or Coryanthes.

 

You wouldn't believe it, with the stanhopea/coryanthes topic being discussed I decided to check on my plant with a view to placing it in a clear plastic bag. The image posted shows a new growth. It must have been six weeks since I last watered it. Maybe the difference with the start of the new growth is the number of psuedobulbs?

 

Yes it is, I lifted the bulbs out of the old moss, which was dry, friable and powdery, and placed them into fresh green moss, to help the new growth.
The moss used is sheet moss and very green, I will leave it in this tray until a leaf starts to form and the roots develop,The plant will then be placed in a wire basket with fresh moss. I usually have a tray or two of sheet moss which I find excellent for newly deflasked seedlings.

I will take a picture of a basket of seedlings in this moss which were deflsked at the end of January,....... Should I add the image to this post or submit a new post?

 

To summarize on this thread 'Backbulbs' Stanhopea and Coryanthes growth intiation, for my part in the future I shall ensure that there are as many backbulbs that can be divided from the mother plant as possible, also to try and have at least one bulb with a fully mature leaf.

 

Hi Marni : I apologize for having 'hijacked' this post; not on purpose though.

Hi Seidenfaden : this is a flower spike, not a leaf shoot.
The eminent Mr. Gunnar Seidenfaden, who is in orchid heaven, recommends you to now regularly spray
fertilizer 10-50-10 upon all bulbs - at times when the temperature of your micro climate is above 17°C.
>This flowering, unfortunately, may be the plant's 'flowering-of-last-resort' ... after which the plant might succumb to starvation; despite the pristine-looking photograph ...

 

Hi Stanhopeus,
Thank you for your information, I do hope that your idea of “flowering-of-last-resort” is not applicable to my backbulbs.It is my understanding that the inflorescences of both Stanhopea and Coryanthes are sharply pendulous and emerge through the root ball normally from the base of the most recent pseudobulb.
However for my part and whatever the outcome, I will be happy to have acquired more knowledge of these fascinating genre.

 

Hi Stanhopeus,
I would like your help with the current Coryanthes image attached. There are several roots showing, is this normal when a 'flowering of last resort'
is forming, or is it a new growth?