A friend of mine just gave me a huge bunch of mother flasks of various
orchids and Polyrrhiza lindenii was among them. It is planted in very
skimpy media just a few mm deep and they are just protocorms with very
little root development. He says it is standard 1/2 strength Phytotech P668
with charcoal. He says this species for him never develop roots and
normally die as protocorms. They are nice plump and deep green at the
moment. A few have roots less than 1/4 inch.

I would very much like to avoid the same fate with these and was wondering
if anybody could tell me if it is the media itself that is the problem or
just the amount of media. I will probably try to replate these onto a
deeper media bed, and probably use a clear/charcoal-less mixture soon but
other than that I am clueless....

The reason they fail to thrive is that P668 is minimal medium that
is derived from Murashige and Skoog medium from back in 1963-1964,
originally designed for tobacco. However, M&S is way too strong, so it is
used at 1/2 strength for P668 (with a few modifications). Dropping this
back to 50% strength puts it at 1/4 strength M&S, which is more like what
is used for insectivorous plants- species that really can't tollerate any
concentration of nutrients.

In short, the medium is far too weak. There is also the
possibility (albeit remote) that the plantlets have developed some sort of
contamination that is either not visible or (even less likely) residing as
an endophyte.

Rather than perpetual subculture on something like 1/2 P668, try
something closer to 70% label strength O156 (PhytoTech) with ~8.5 grams of
agar for gelling. The difference between O156 and P668 is that the former
has banana powder + maltodextrin (a glucose polymer) added to it. You
raise the osmotic strength of the medium substantially, but the
concentration of sugars (from the banana and the maltodextrin) is what
they need. P668 is good for germination; O156 is good for replate.
However, O156 is way too concentrated, as it was optimized for
phalaenopsis hybrids by Ken Torres while he was at Sigma. Although it
works, it's too "hot" for most plants that don't grow as fast as phals, or
have roots smaller than phals.

Good luck.

Do not send email to the address in the header. Spam trap.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

I have a young ghost orchid also...we mist it daily here in NJ and
feed it often also....it seems you cannot give it enough light and
water and food.

Joe

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 15:35:55 -0400, "Al" wrote:

A friend of mine just gave me a huge bunch of mother flasks of various
orchids and Polyrrhiza lindenii was among them. It is planted in very
skimpy media just a few mm deep and they are just protocorms with very
little root development. He says it is standard 1/2 strength Phytotech P668
with charcoal. He says this species for him never develop roots and
normally die as protocorms. They are nice plump and deep green at the
moment. A few have roots less than 1/4 inch.

I would very much like to avoid the same fate with these and was wondering
if anybody could tell me if it is the media itself that is the problem or
just the amount of media. I will probably try to replate these onto a
deeper media bed, and probably use a clear/charcoal-less mixture soon but
other than that I am clueless....

Aaron/Al,

I just love it when you guys talk all the scientific talk.

Mick

well our only Ghost orchid is mounted on cork bark (nothing holding it
on) and laying horizontal with no media at all, i.e. bare root. We
mist it 2-3 times a day and otherwise keep the humidity quite high
which it loves (rots green). We also fertilize it (via a spray bottle)
about once a week. when we want to really soak it, we lay tissue paper
on top of it and then spray the tissue paper until soaked. the wet
tissue paper is laying on the roots and the roots get thoroughly
soaked. we do this perhaps 30 mins per day (all at once so to speak).
This ghost orchid is growly slowly and has been doing well for the 18
months we have had it.

I recommend you keep it at high humidity, i.e.put in a glass container
and wet tissue paper on hand on sides to drive the humidity up.
It will need fertilizing also to grow- we use Dyna-Grow, Superthrive
and Pro-Tekt (to adjust the pH). Our water quality is very good, i.e.
reverse osmosis with a TDS reading of 1-3 or so.

Hope that helps.

Joe
New Jersey

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 15:35:55 -0400, "Al" wrote:

A friend of mine just gave me a huge bunch of mother flasks of various
orchids and Polyrrhiza lindenii was among them. It is planted in very
skimpy media just a few mm deep and they are just protocorms with very
little root development. He says it is standard 1/2 strength Phytotech P668
with charcoal. He says this species for him never develop roots and
normally die as protocorms. They are nice plump and deep green at the
moment. A few have roots less than 1/4 inch.

I would very much like to avoid the same fate with these and was wondering
if anybody could tell me if it is the media itself that is the problem or
just the amount of media. I will probably try to replate these onto a
deeper media bed, and probably use a clear/charcoal-less mixture soon but
other than that I am clueless....

Thank you to all who answered this question, both in public and in private.
I think I have the info I need now. :-)

"Al" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine just gave me a huge bunch of mother flasks of various
orchids and Polyrrhiza lindenii was among them. It is planted in very
skimpy media just a few mm deep and they are just protocorms with very
little root development. He says it is standard 1/2 strength Phytotech
P668
with charcoal. He says this species for him never develop roots and
normally die as protocorms. They are nice plump and deep green at the
moment. A few have roots less than 1/4 inch.

I would very much like to avoid the same fate with these and was wondering
if anybody could tell me if it is the media itself that is the problem or
just the amount of media. I will probably try to replate these onto a
deeper media bed, and probably use a clear/charcoal-less mixture soon but
other than that I am clueless....

Hi,

Start by contacting antec labs (http://www.ladyslipper.com/) and ask
them the queston abiut flasking conditions.

That said, here is how we handle our ghost orchid - our young ghost
orchid which was given to me by an orchid judge in south florida. We
have had it some 18 months and it likes high humidity, so keep it in a
small fishtank or something you can (largely) enclose. Hang paper
towels soaked in water on one side of the small fishtank and that will
keep the humidity high. My small tank is about 5" by 5" or so. I also
soak a tissue in water and lay it directly on top of the ghost
orchid's roots and let them get real green (about 30 minutes or so).
It does not like bright light and it does like to be fed weekly or so,
i.e. "dyna-gro" + "pro-tekt" + "superthrive". You can see photos of
ours by going to www.pottingsource.com, click on LINKS and then click
on HOW TO BUILD AN ORCHID SHELF and then scroll down to see a link for
the ghost orchid. Ours was small also but is definiely growing as I
see the roots getting longer over time. But keep in mind - High
humidity, they are found in the everglades where the humidity is often
near 100%. I try to keep mine abive 70% at a minimium. Also, avoid
direct sunlight - too bright for them - they like shade.

The photosynthesis happens in the roots and thus no leaves are needed,
just so you know.

Joe


On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 15:35:55 -0400, "Al" wrote:

A friend of mine just gave me a huge bunch of mother flasks of various
orchids and Polyrrhiza lindenii was among them. It is planted in very
skimpy media just a few mm deep and they are just protocorms with very
little root development. He says it is standard 1/2 strength Phytotech P668
with charcoal. He says this species for him never develop roots and
normally die as protocorms. They are nice plump and deep green at the
moment. A few have roots less than 1/4 inch.

I would very much like to avoid the same fate with these and was wondering
if anybody could tell me if it is the media itself that is the problem or
just the amount of media. I will probably try to replate these onto a
deeper media bed, and probably use a clear/charcoal-less mixture soon but
other than that I am clueless....

I've seen mentioned here that too little lumens/hr can be compensated
for by increased photoperiod. Does anyone have personal experience with
this? I am wondering if there is a limit, do orchids need a "nighttime"
in order to bloom?

I've grown other non-orchid species that grow very well vegetatively
under 24 hr light, but need the light cut back to 12 hours per day in
order to flower.

I've seen mentioned here that too little lumens/hr can be compensated
for by increased photoperiod. Does anyone have personal experience with
this? I am wondering if there is a limit, do orchids need a "nighttime"
in order to bloom?

I've grown other non-orchid species that grow very well vegetatively
under 24 hr light, but need the light cut back to 12 hours per day in
order to flower.

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:08:20 GMT, mg wrote:

I've seen mentioned here that too little lumens/hr can be compensated
for by increased photoperiod. Does anyone have personal experience with
this? I am wondering if there is a limit, do orchids need a "nighttime"
in order to bloom?

I've grown other non-orchid species that grow very well vegetatively
under 24 hr light, but need the light cut back to 12 hours per day in
order to flower.

One of our speakers said when she moved from TX to CO and from
growing outdoors to NO grow area, she put the plants in the
basement and ran the lights almost constantly. I don't remember
if she said 24 hours but I was shocked at the length of time she
had them on. There were a few things that were reluctant
bloomers. But there are things on a 12 hr schedule that can be
reluctant.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:08:20 GMT, mg wrote:

I've seen mentioned here that too little lumens/hr can be compensated
for by increased photoperiod. Does anyone have personal experience with
this? I am wondering if there is a limit, do orchids need a "nighttime"
in order to bloom?

I've grown other non-orchid species that grow very well vegetatively
under 24 hr light, but need the light cut back to 12 hours per day in
order to flower.

One of our speakers said when she moved from TX to CO and from
growing outdoors to NO grow area, she put the plants in the
basement and ran the lights almost constantly. I don't remember
if she said 24 hours but I was shocked at the length of time she
had them on. There were a few things that were reluctant
bloomers. But there are things on a 12 hr schedule that can be
reluctant.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Hello,

Isn't this Ghost sensitive to banana and cocos in the medium? Isn't normal P668 enough?