epidendrum care/question sorry its long!

17 years ago

I was recently given what seems to be a "Reed Stem Epidendrum." Its being held to cork bark by a wire. It was originally a pretty well growing Keiki off a mature Epi.

It was on the brink of falling off the host orchid when my friend carefully removed it and attached it to the cork bark for me. It had two stems, one with about 4-5 leaves on it, the other one bare. The roots are plentiful. I brought it home and placed it in the same area I keep my other orchids (successful phals & dens). Well since then (about 3 weeks) a few of the leaves have browned and fallen off. Im down to 2 leaves. The roots still look fine and other than the browning and fallen leaves the plant seems to be ok, but who really knows.

I thoroughly water it once a week giving ample time for it to dry in between waterings (plus the cork doesn't really absorb much water). Ive fertilized once lightly misting it with diluted 20-20-20 (as recommended) after a good watering. The Epi sits in an area where it gets pretty nice warmth and sunlight in the morning hours but definitely not enough to be burning the leaves (besides i was told they're very tolerant of the sunlight and sturdy orchids in general). I heard some orchids when changed from an environment they may be acclimated to already can go into a sort of "shock" and die? Is this true? or will it just take some time for it to get used to its new area?

Basically I just want to know if im doing anything wrong, what you guys recommend AND how exactly do Epi's grow?

Do they sprout new stems from the base, perhaps out of the existing stem? Any signs i should look for that i should be aware of? Any signs that its starting to grow better?

p.s. God bless everyone and anyone who took the time to read this entire thing! You ROCK!

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Comments (7)

petite_orange
17 years ago
I think you might be too cautious with this plant; these babies tend to grow like weeds, eventually becoming huge snarly messes with very little apparent connection to the pot or mount they started out on. They can grow from the base, or keiki or branch anywhere along the reed. Since it is on a mount, you might want to start dunking it in the sink daily, or twice daily if your home is not humid.
There are a couple of types of these, one tends to sprout roots pretty much everywhere, the other mainly at/near ground level. When you see new roots, your plant is happy.
Though my suspicion is that it wants more water, and lots of it.
Cheers - Nancy
sambac
17 years ago
I am in Zone 10,mine are outside in full sun and planted in soil and seems to be thriving- inspite of the cold weather!
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orkid15
Original Author
17 years ago
Well im down in Miami, although its cold this weekend it should be warm and pretty humid (AS USUAL!) soon.

When i water it i pour an entire clean never used coffee pot of water slowly over it drenching it. I do this once weekly but ill start to heed your advice on dunking in in water.

How long do I leave it submerged for??

p.s. Thank you BOTH very much for helping me out here! I GREATLY appreciate it. Ill try to get a picture up of my Epi as soon as i can
arthurm
17 years ago
If you have a common garden variety reed stem epidendrum you do not need to fuss over it at all. Garden variety is what they are here, just garden plants, common name crucifix orchid. Some people collect different colours.

I like Nancy's description of huge snarly messes. That is what you you will get if the plant is given too much shade.

There is a clump down the backyard. Almost full sun. Annual temperature range 1 to 40C.

I have some better ones where orchid breeders have reduced the plant size somewhat and improved flower quality. They are with my Cattleyas in a shadehouse.

My Phals are in the house, they would not survive "outside"
jank
17 years ago
Growing outside in Miami with semi-shade, mine do best with several waterings a week when established in baskets with bark or in clay pots with rocks.
I would agree with Nancy that they need more moisture to get established on bark.
They are like weeds when they take off.
Good luck!
Jan
orkid15
Original Author
17 years ago
again, thank you all so much. Ill post pictures if any are interested!
orchidguyftl
17 years ago
sounds like you need to water it more and put it in a medium. i water mine daily in aliflor.