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#1
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first orchid death :-(
Well, it's happened. Was bound to earlier or later. One of my orchids is
dead. It's one that was bought in mid-April at a show, and it looked like such a healthy sturdy plant then. It was a Phal, one of those multiflorals which have a lot of equestris in the hybrid. When I got it in April it had three flowering spikes. At the end of July I noticed that two of it's leaves had turned yellow, so I cut off all flower spikes to give the plant a rest, and I repotted it at that time. I noticed at that time how small the root ball was compared to the pot, so I repotted it into a much smaller pot. But alas, I forgot to put in styrophome peanuts with the moss, so the plant became water-clogged. As soon as another leaf turned yellow, and the moss would not dry out, I realized my mistake, but I guess it was already too late. I repotted it once more, using peanuts this time, in early August. But a week ago yet another leaf turned yellow, and it was down to two leaves. This morning as I was about to check whether it needed watering, the two remaining leaves fell off. They were still green, but the core of the plant was charcoal black -- is that what is called "black rot"? The blackness had not been visible from the outside, only once the two leaves and crown fell off, was it visible that the core was completely black. Anyway, I am tossing it in the garbage with regret, it was a very nice Phal when in bloom. I know that I definitely contributed to its demise, by water clogging it when I first repotted it. But even then it was already not doing well. Maybe it had bloomed too much for too long. And the previous owner had either potted it in too big a pot or the roots had shrunk already a lot by the end of July, and it just went down-hill from there. Oh, well. I guess most of you will say that this makes me a more experienced orchid grower, but I don't feel too good about that right now. Joanna |
#2
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1) Losing any plant sucks
2) You are not considered an "expert" until you have killed your weight in plants. 3) As you try more-and-more challenging plants (those not well suited to your conditions, but "what the hell...") you will kill more. 4) It's a good thing I continue to experiment (see 3, above) so I can maintain my status as the requirement for expertise (see 2, above) increases as I age! -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info! "J Fortuna" wrote in message news:IJiQe.15619$Bc2.14311@trnddc06... Well, it's happened. Was bound to earlier or later. One of my orchids is dead. It's one that was bought in mid-April at a show, and it looked like such a healthy sturdy plant then. It was a Phal, one of those multiflorals which have a lot of equestris in the hybrid. When I got it in April it had three flowering spikes. At the end of July I noticed that two of it's leaves had turned yellow, so I cut off all flower spikes to give the plant a rest, and I repotted it at that time. I noticed at that time how small the root ball was compared to the pot, so I repotted it into a much smaller pot. But alas, I forgot to put in styrophome peanuts with the moss, so the plant became water-clogged. As soon as another leaf turned yellow, and the moss would not dry out, I realized my mistake, but I guess it was already too late. I repotted it once more, using peanuts this time, in early August. But a week ago yet another leaf turned yellow, and it was down to two leaves. This morning as I was about to check whether it needed watering, the two remaining leaves fell off. They were still green, but the core of the plant was charcoal black -- is that what is called "black rot"? The blackness had not been visible from the outside, only once the two leaves and crown fell off, was it visible that the core was completely black. Anyway, I am tossing it in the garbage with regret, it was a very nice Phal when in bloom. I know that I definitely contributed to its demise, by water clogging it when I first repotted it. But even then it was already not doing well. Maybe it had bloomed too much for too long. And the previous owner had either potted it in too big a pot or the roots had shrunk already a lot by the end of July, and it just went down-hill from there. Oh, well. I guess most of you will say that this makes me a more experienced orchid grower, but I don't feel too good about that right now. Joanna |
#3
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J Fortuna wrote:
Well, it's happened. Was bound to earlier or later. One of my orchids is dead. ............................ ..................................... ............................................ Oh, well. I guess most of you will say that this makes me a more experienced orchid grower, but I don't feel too good about that right now. Joanna Joanna, I offer my condolences. It's always sad to see a nice orchid do that. I guess we all knew it had to happen eventually. You certainly have a better record than just about any beginning orchid grower that I know of, so I also offer congratulations for holding out so long. Buy an orchid, you know you will feel better. Steve |
#4
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that would be your pregnant weight too, btw.
let us now when the orchid deaths mount up sufficiently and we will get your orchid addict card printed and mailed out. "Ray" wrote in message ... 1) Losing any plant sucks 2) You are not considered an "expert" until you have killed your weight in plants. 3) As you try more-and-more challenging plants (those not well suited to your conditions, but "what the hell...") you will kill more. 4) It's a good thing I continue to experiment (see 3, above) so I can maintain my status as the requirement for expertise (see 2, above) increases as I age! -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info! "J Fortuna" wrote in message news:IJiQe.15619$Bc2.14311@trnddc06... Well, it's happened. Was bound to earlier or later. One of my orchids is dead. It's one that was bought in mid-April at a show, and it looked like such a healthy sturdy plant then. It was a Phal, one of those multiflorals which have a lot of equestris in the hybrid. When I got it in April it had three flowering spikes. At the end of July I noticed that two of it's leaves had turned yellow, so I cut off all flower spikes to give the plant a rest, and I repotted it at that time. I noticed at that time how small the root ball was compared to the pot, so I repotted it into a much smaller pot. But alas, I forgot to put in styrophome peanuts with the moss, so the plant became water-clogged. As soon as another leaf turned yellow, and the moss would not dry out, I realized my mistake, but I guess it was already too late. I repotted it once more, using peanuts this time, in early August. But a week ago yet another leaf turned yellow, and it was down to two leaves. This morning as I was about to check whether it needed watering, the two remaining leaves fell off. They were still green, but the core of the plant was charcoal black -- is that what is called "black rot"? The blackness had not been visible from the outside, only once the two leaves and crown fell off, was it visible that the core was completely black. Anyway, I am tossing it in the garbage with regret, it was a very nice Phal when in bloom. I know that I definitely contributed to its demise, by water clogging it when I first repotted it. But even then it was already not doing well. Maybe it had bloomed too much for too long. And the previous owner had either potted it in too big a pot or the roots had shrunk already a lot by the end of July, and it just went down-hill from there. Oh, well. I guess most of you will say that this makes me a more experienced orchid grower, but I don't feel too good about that right now. Joanna |
#5
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[Insert appropriate sympathetic words here]
Look at the bright side, Joanna. Now you can start a "dead file" like Kathy has: a plastic pot containing tags from ex-orchids! And you don't want to know how many plants we Floridians lost *after* our hurricanes last year. Welcome to the club........ Diana |
#6
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I joked about it in a much earlier post. I'm not now. The first one hurts
the most. You'll recover and we'll all be still here. Good growing with the rest - and future ones. Gary "J Fortuna" wrote in message news:IJiQe.15619$Bc2.14311@trnddc06... Well, it's happened. Was bound to earlier or later. One of my orchids is dead. It's one that was bought in mid-April at a show, and it looked like such a healthy sturdy plant then. It was a Phal, one of those multiflorals which have a lot of equestris in the hybrid. When I got it in April it had three flowering spikes. At the end of July I noticed that two of it's leaves had turned yellow, so I cut off all flower spikes to give the plant a rest, and I repotted it at that time. I noticed at that time how small the root ball was compared to the pot, so I repotted it into a much smaller pot. But alas, I forgot to put in styrophome peanuts with the moss, so the plant became water-clogged. As soon as another leaf turned yellow, and the moss would not dry out, I realized my mistake, but I guess it was already too late. I repotted it once more, using peanuts this time, in early August. But a week ago yet another leaf turned yellow, and it was down to two leaves. This morning as I was about to check whether it needed watering, the two remaining leaves fell off. They were still green, but the core of the plant was charcoal black -- is that what is called "black rot"? The blackness had not been visible from the outside, only once the two leaves and crown fell off, was it visible that the core was completely black. Anyway, I am tossing it in the garbage with regret, it was a very nice Phal when in bloom. I know that I definitely contributed to its demise, by water clogging it when I first repotted it. But even then it was already not doing well. Maybe it had bloomed too much for too long. And the previous owner had either potted it in too big a pot or the roots had shrunk already a lot by the end of July, and it just went down-hill from there. Oh, well. I guess most of you will say that this makes me a more experienced orchid grower, but I don't feel too good about that right now. Joanna |
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