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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Reed Stem Orchid - Epidendrum



Will you rescue an abandon plant?
I guess I'm a soft hearted gardener, cannot see plants thrown and leave out to rot and die.
This is the case of this reed orchid plant. The owner apparently decided to keep his orchid collection small and nice.

I cannot help myself and asked the ex-owner if he was really throwing it away (sometimes, they just remove the whole thing and leave it out - I don't want to be called a thief just for my passion, better ask then feeling sorry) And I was told that its not wanted & that I can take as much as I want. Believe me, I took more than I want. (and managed to pass some to my office mates)

After pruning and clearing (dried dead roots, dried leaves and all) I was surprise to find that the whole pile was not so big after all. If fact, it just fit nicely in three bunches, (tall, medium and small) After sorting them by their sizes, I had fixed them on the fence as I can keep (both of my eyes on them) to see their progress. I had left the roots exposed as I would able to to monitor the roots, don't want any root rotting to take place.

It did take a lot of my time and the whole garden time was totally devoted to this orchid setting.
I really hope to see this one bloom, not been very successful with orchids, except for pigeon orchids (they seemed to bloom own their own)

I had checked out from few websites concerning this plant, these are the few tips which I manage to get:

Care:
It is considered the most easiest orchids to grow (often suggested for Beginner planters)
Thank goodness for that first tip.

Its also a heavy feeder but it also depends on situation.
They need regular feeding (as recommend by manufacturer details) as they will put up denser flower spikes, well developed leaves & roots. Plants grown in lower light need less nitrogen. Lacking light and heavy feeding may cause elongated leaves and leggy growth.

It is said that its a heavy bloomer. If it doesn't bloom the cause could be lack of light. Relocation to better lighting position and fertilising regularly should fix the problem. (Hmmmm.... lets see)

I had checked once when a root trail down and had it grip on the water lily claypot, one of the tips and descended on the water and had rotted just at that part. The roots act like sponge, they change colour (from white to light green) when watered. But the roots need to be airy and exposed as do not tolerate soggy medium on them.

So, do not let it sit in water as it will cause rot root.




I can image that if these orchid bunches start to shoot out it flower spikes, it sure be a wonder to behold.... really hoping that it would bloom.
If you notice a tall big stalk, I got that few years ago from a Garden Festival (Laman 2006) It been almost 2 years and I haven't seen any bloom. But was very reserved about fertiliser as I got many bad experiences in overfeeding them and seeing all of them getting burned and dead.
I'm not sure at all what species is this, can only determine once it starts flowering. Hmmm...


3 comments:

Andrea said...

Hi James, it says in many literatures that Epidendrum is 'poor man's orchid', haha! Also it is the easiest orchid to grow! How come you cannot make them bloom. Even if i am not familiar with that kind of orchid, i can say that kind needs full sun. That means sunlight is from sunrise to sunset not under the eaves of your house. Besides, it looks like you mounted them not on a tree but tied them on iron post. Definitely it will be too hot when the sun is up. A lot of literatures discuss about Epidendrum, i think if you love your plants very well you will understand their requirements after sometime. Jacqueline has researched already about it, so why not read it. It's better because she is also from Malaysia,you have more or less same climate and conditions. http://www.jaycjayc.com/epidendrum-species-hybrids/

James David said...

Thanks Andrea, will follow-up on the matter.

Makarimi Abdullah said...

Hi James, this is not the epidendrum, this is arachnis (not so sure either hybrid or species). What Andrea says is correct. This type of genera need full sun, from your pictures, it seems the place you plant this orchid too shady for them. Clearly can see from the leaf and the cane, they are too thin and leaf between leaf is quite far to each other. Is better for them if you can stack to the wood not to the iron.

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My Malaysian Tropical Garden mainly focused on unique and colorful plants ranging from rare to common plants all around the tropical belt across the world. Ideal for inspiration for challenging areas in the garden space - indoor gardening, balcony gardening and small green spaces especially for ariods, bromeliads, begonias, edibles, cascading & vertical garden plants, succulents & cacti, orchids, together with both shade and sun loving plants.

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