Thank you so much Diana! You gave me the exact information that I
wanted to know. Over the years, I have killed so many orchids that I
am gunshy of anything except phals. My hubby gave me this plant and I
want it to do well. (He brought home a Tahoma Glacier Green for a
valentine gift. Sweet hubby!!!) Because of posts that I have read on
this board, I have already repotted the onc. Clay pot with bark mix.
This orchid board has made me brave enough to grow other species than
phals. I have lurked and read hundreds of posts. I even know how I
killed many of my previous orchids. I have bravely (or foolishly?)
purchased a few other orchids. Some were in prime bloom and some from
the "we tried to kill this" table at HD and Lowes. I cut my old
spikes with kitchen fiskars. I have not yet had the pleasure of
having an orchid develop rot. Is it really common? If none of my
plants have rot, can one develop it out of the blue?


"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message thlink.net...
Pam,

First, spelling: Aloha Iwanaga. I have two of them; lovely flowers.

As far as species vs. hybrid, here's an over simplified quick explanation.
An orchid species is a plant that is primary, having developed in nature
without cross pollinating with another plant. Then, hybrids. You can have
primary hybrids, i.e. two species crossed. Frequently found in the average
orchid store is the hybrid that is a product of many cross breedings, as you
can see from the family tree that Ray posted. In any event, a plant can't
be a "sort of" hybrid; it either is a hybrid or it isn't, regardless of how
long the pedigree might be. Even if one parent is a species, once it's
crossed with something else it's a hybrid.

This particular plant likes warmth, (though it can tolerate some cooler
temps) bright but not direct light, humidity, and likes to be crowded in its
pot. I grow one in spaghnum moss, and the other in a coco husk chip mix;
both do well. In fact, one took a blue ribbon at a show last fall. They
will bloom several times a year, on new growths. (A caveat: I have had
spikes come from older bulbs, on the other side from the previous spike,
though that has been rare.) The old bulbs may lose their leaves; that is
not a problem as long as the bulb is firm. As far as size, they seem to
grow quickly for me, and I have divided one of them several times. The
ribbon winner I am going to let grow to specimen size, and though it will
expand laterally, it is not a tall plant, perhaps 8 inches from the base of
the pseudobulb to the end of the leaf.

Generally, I wait until a spike dries out before I snip it, but you didn't
hurt the plant by cutting off the old ones. When you cut anything off an
orchid, though, do use a sterile instrument. The easiest way to ensure that
is to use a fresh, single edged razor blade for each plant. Then, toss the
blade. When you have more orchids, you'll probably want to go to a clipper
and a different sterilization method, perhaps chlorine, but that's a
discussion for another time.

The fact that you have new growths is an indication that your plant is
happy; you might want to look at the medium to see if it needs repotting
(the best time is when new growth is occuring), but other than that it
sounds like all is well.

Hope this helps.

Diana