A couple of surprise Orchid Blooms !

[Cindy Dicken]

Orchids in bloom!

[divingne1]

Beautiful.

[kinipela]

Are those flowers that you can put in tanks? Sorry new to this

[Cindy Dicken]

The Dendrobium hymenanthum is in a tank, and doesn't seem to mind tank conditions.
The Dendrobium pierardii is a cool climate grower, so it was grown outside.

[talanyth]

Congrats Cindy! Those flowers could not have picked a better care-taker

[Cindy Dicken]

Thanks!
Nothing like sticking your head in a tank and seeing an orchid 'smiling' at you!

[kristy55303]

those are very spectacular and striking. just beautiful. nice work.

[kristy55303]

do you have the first orchid that bloomed in the tank on the substrate floor or mounted? if so what did you mouny it to and how? kristy

[Cindy Dicken]

Kristy, it came mounted from the grower on a piece of willow. Corkbark and treefern are popular mounts for orchids. Typically the roots are packed in sphagnum, and then the plant is secured to the background material with monofiliment line (aka fishing line).

[kristy55303]

would mounting them with gardening wire work? i heard the sphagnum put around the will rot...what to say about this? i am getting into the thumnails now also. enticed hubby to invest in a website and more darts....what would you reccomend how and where to mount broms? kristy :!:

[metal benji]

If you mount the orchid using moss make sure it can drain away the problems with rotting are caused by constantly wet moss, also make sure water cannot build up in the crown as this will cause rotting too.
Spray any aerial roots regularly with water and trim off any brown dead roots, ideally they would all be big and green and plump.
Garden wire will work just so long as its not so tight around the plant it starts cutting in.

Bromeliads can be mounted several different ways, if you are thinking of mounting them epiphytically there are 3 or so ways:

1. Tying really best for driftwood etc.... all you need to do is drill 2 small holes so that you can feed fishing wire through and hold the plant in place

2. Pinning ideal for climbers ..... use small metal pins to hold new growth in placeuntil they have rooted and then remove the pin

3. Piercing good for solid backgrounds and driftwood again and ideal for airplants and broms with a nice woody stump.... all you do is drill a hole and insert the stolon into the wood, use a hot glue gun to hold them in place

with all of these you can use moss to pack the roots or stolon to help it roots quickly

all of these methods were shown by blackjungle and is the way i have been doing it for a while now, they all work nicely.... but there may be more ways of doing it

[kristy55303]

yeah..but my tanks are breeding tanks and i mist 3 times a day .....so they would get very wet. woldn't spagnum rot then? these are not tanks with juvies/subadults....these are full grown breeding tanks. even if i had an elaborate show tank.....i would have breeders in it. thats all i buy..breeders...usually...cuz i hate raising and waitimg till they beed

[metal benji]

yes if misting that much the moss may cause them to rot, you can use those methods without the moss and see how that goes just try 1 or 2 plants first and see how it goes

[kristy55303]

i'll give t a try....crossing my fingers it'll work lol. kristy

[Todd S.]

Nice shots Cindy!!!


How long have the blooms lasted ?

Todd

[Cindy Dicken]

Thanks Todd.
I think those blooms lasted for a little over a week or so.
I have a Phal Mini Mark 'Holm' that's getting ready to bloom.
I'll grab a picture of that and post it, when it opens.
Cindy