#1: first orchid death :-(

Posted on 2005-08-28 15:11:04 by J Fortuna

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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#2: Re: first orchid death :-(

Posted on 2005-08-28 16:07:22 by Ray

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" <joanna@REMOVEfortunabujard.com> 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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#3: Re: first orchid death :-(

Posted on 2005-08-28 17:02:05 by Steve

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

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#4: Re: first orchid death :-(

Posted on 2005-08-28 19:25:06 by AL

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" <raybark@firstrays.com> wrote in message
news:Gd6dnQ2r3fI7WozeRVn-vQ@comcast.com...
> 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" <joanna@REMOVEfortunabujard.com> 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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#5: Re: first orchid death :-(

Posted on 2005-08-28 21:49:01 by Diana Kulaga

[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

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#6: Re: first orchid death :-(

Posted on 2005-08-29 02:05:54 by V_coerulea

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" <joanna@REMOVEfortunabujard.com> 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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