I got a seedling of a phal schilleriana in October, and at the time that I
got it, it had 3 leaves, now it's got only one leaf left. I am kind of
worried that it's going to call it quits. The leaves turned red when they
wilted and not yellow, I assume that this is due to the phal schilleriana's
foliage pigmentation being different. If this were your seedling, what would
you do to try to keep it alive? I assume that since it is a very young
plant, one that is not flowering size yet, it's more fragile and thus being
in the shape that it is in now, it's chances of survival are not good? The
only other orchid of mine that is barely hanging in there has actually
improved a bit (it grew new roots, and even though it's leaves are very dark
and wilted looking, they have not been going worse recently), so I think
that one might make it, but this one, I suspect that I shouldn't hold my
breath. Am I being too pessimistic about this?

Joanna

Hi Joanna,

Hey, so long as you have roots your doing great! I had a seedling I
ordered off of ebay and I didn't know at that time how to take care of
it. It got root rot and almost died. It had two tiny leaves, I took it
and put it in a paper towel suspended in a glass. Each day the paper
towel dried out and I rewet it. It responded by putting on roots and I
repotted it. It's very happy now a year or more later and is getting
bigger - about six inches across. So see so long as you have roots your
doing great. Keep up the good work......Burr

Now that's an original idea worth pointing out again.

wrote in message
...
Hi Joanna,

Hey, so long as you have roots your doing great! I had a seedling I
ordered off of ebay and I didn't know at that time how to take care of
it. It got root rot and almost died. It had two tiny leaves, I took it
and put it in a paper towel suspended in a glass. Each day the paper
towel dried out and I rewet it. It responded by putting on roots and I
repotted it. It's very happy now a year or more later and is getting
bigger - about six inches across. So see so long as you have roots your
doing great. Keep up the good work......Burr

Burr,
Thanks for the encouraging thoughts. I won't give up hope yet.
Joanna

wrote in message
...
Hi Joanna,

Hey, so long as you have roots your doing great! I had a seedling I
ordered off of ebay and I didn't know at that time how to take care of
it. It got root rot and almost died. It had two tiny leaves, I took it
and put it in a paper towel suspended in a glass. Each day the paper
towel dried out and I rewet it. It responded by putting on roots and I
repotted it. It's very happy now a year or more later and is getting
bigger - about six inches across. So see so long as you have roots your
doing great. Keep up the good work......Burr

My experience has been that schillerianas are not easy to grow unless
they get exactly the conditions they want, They like it much warmer
than other phals, so you might want to put it in the warmest area of
your growing space. My first schilleriana died after a series of
60-degree nights, which is warmer than the nights get in it's native
Luzon, so go figure. (Mine now get 65-80 degree temps.) Also, they want
to put out thin, flat aerial roots, so make sure that the seedling
isn't buried too deep in media. They like their aerial roots misted
daily. BTW, I've also discovered that mature plants do best in bark,
but a sick seedling may need moss. (This is one plant that I can't grow
in S/H.) Also, these plants tend to put out kikis on spikes and at the
plant's base.

Your red leaves might indicate too much light. My schillerianas' leaves
are mottled green/gray green. Are you growing yours under lights?

If you can get this to grow, you'll be rewarded by lots of blooms on
multibranching spikes. If your seedling croaks, Oak Hill Gardens can
supply you with a good replacement.



J Fortuna wrote:
I got a seedling of a phal schilleriana in October, and at the time
that I
got it, it had 3 leaves, now it's got only one leaf left. I am kind
of
worried that it's going to call it quits. The leaves turned red when
they
wilted and not yellow, I assume that this is due to the phal
schilleriana's
foliage pigmentation being different. If this were your seedling,
what would
you do to try to keep it alive? I assume that since it is a very
young
plant, one that is not flowering size yet, it's more fragile and thus
being
in the shape that it is in now, it's chances of survival are not
good? The
only other orchid of mine that is barely hanging in there has
actually
improved a bit (it grew new roots, and even though it's leaves are
very dark
and wilted looking, they have not been going worse recently), so I
think
that one might make it, but this one, I suspect that I shouldn't hold
my
breath. Am I being too pessimistic about this?

Joanna

Ah! Well we did have a colder spell around the time when this leaf started
to turn for the worse. And up until a moment the schilleriana was in a
colder part of the apartment (close to a big drafty window, far from the
thermostat). I have moved it now into the bedroom -- where I always ensure
that it does not get too cold (my cold temperature tolerance is quite a bit
warmer than the minimum temperature for Phals, 60 degrees brrrr).

It also is possible that it had a bit too much light, with the window and
the artificial light. I have now put it in a darker spot.

I may repot it into moss (it's currently in bark). But I am hesitant over
it, since it's root system seems to be doing ok -- it's the leaves that are
ailing. I can see quite a lot of healthy roots. And I don't want to upset
the young plant any more by the stress of a repotting and medium change. So
I will wait on that.

Thank you so much for the input into schillerianas!

Joanna

"OrchidKitty" wrote in message
ups.com...
My experience has been that schillerianas are not easy to grow unless
they get exactly the conditions they want, They like it much warmer
than other phals, so you might want to put it in the warmest area of
your growing space. My first schilleriana died after a series of
60-degree nights, which is warmer than the nights get in it's native
Luzon, so go figure. (Mine now get 65-80 degree temps.) Also, they want
to put out thin, flat aerial roots, so make sure that the seedling
isn't buried too deep in media. They like their aerial roots misted
daily. BTW, I've also discovered that mature plants do best in bark,
but a sick seedling may need moss. (This is one plant that I can't grow
in S/H.) Also, these plants tend to put out kikis on spikes and at the
plant's base.

Your red leaves might indicate too much light. My schillerianas' leaves
are mottled green/gray green. Are you growing yours under lights?

If you can get this to grow, you'll be rewarded by lots of blooms on
multibranching spikes. If your seedling croaks, Oak Hill Gardens can
supply you with a good replacement.



J Fortuna wrote:
I got a seedling of a phal schilleriana in October, and at the time
that I
got it, it had 3 leaves, now it's got only one leaf left. I am kind
of
worried that it's going to call it quits. The leaves turned red when
they
wilted and not yellow, I assume that this is due to the phal
schilleriana's
foliage pigmentation being different. If this were your seedling,
what would
you do to try to keep it alive? I assume that since it is a very
young
plant, one that is not flowering size yet, it's more fragile and thus
being
in the shape that it is in now, it's chances of survival are not
good? The
only other orchid of mine that is barely hanging in there has
actually
improved a bit (it grew new roots, and even though it's leaves are
very dark
and wilted looking, they have not been going worse recently), so I
think
that one might make it, but this one, I suspect that I shouldn't hold
my
breath. Am I being too pessimistic about this?

Joanna