Not sure the species of spider orchid, its flowers have really long tendrils. i think its brassia. I checked my bezare botanticals book.



I was wondering is it an easy genis to grow? I saw one for sale $60, at my job and would like to know if its a good buy. What kind of light/ humidity/ ect do they need. Right now its in a pot much too small for it with no soil/orchid mix. Its my first time keeping spider orchids. when or if should I repot/ect.

Alex, that's a lot of money to invest in your very first orchid. Until I learned a lot more about orchids, I tried not to invest a lot of money in any one plant. Killed a few before I got the hang of growing them, as they're not at all like regular plants. Don't need soil, get most of their water and nutrients through the leaves etc.

Trader Joe's has a nice variety of orchids in the $12 range if you want to get started without breaking the bank. I recently bought my daughter her first orchid at TJ's in Salt Lake City. I sure hope she can keep the humidity up for that baby.

I personally haven't had much luck growing Brassia orchids, and I grow mine outdoors in Florida, good light, lots of humidity, a hundred other orchids around to keep them company. Go figure.

It would be foolish for me to try to advise someone so far away on which orchids they should grow. Your conditions are very different from mine. I suggest you find a local orchid club or a local grower and ask them. For me, Brassias are easy to grow and bloom. I agree with Elaine that paying $60 for a single plant is excessive, especially for a beginner.

Jim

I also would never purchase an orchid at a florist shop. Expect to (at least) double your cost when doing so and you can be pretty certain that their orchid plants were grown in "perfect", climate-controlled conditions before they got the plants in. It is hard enough for a seasoned grower to mimic those conditions, much less for a beginner. Just my opinion.

I like Elaine's Trader Joe's suggestion!

Okay I will order online at a cheaper place.


I live in zone 4, st paul, mn.

Would you be a windowsill grower then? How much sun will your growing area receive?

I have a t5 light with red and green grow bulbs

Also there's the 60 to 70% humidity thing, brassias like it humid. I emailed staff to see if I could rig up my humidifier in my room. if I cant no sense in getting that type of orchid

Pretty much all orchids like it on the humid side. In winter here when the humidity gets down to 30% or so I mist my orchid area during the day and hose the pavement to keep some extra moisture in the air.

Lots of folks use pebble-trays to raise humidity around their orchids or other tropical plants. That is inexpensive, easy to create, and fairly effective.

I got promission to do it in winter- use a humidifer, so its a go I ordered a hybrid varitey called 'witch doctor' Brassia. Its still pricey but I still saved over $20


It comes with a grow/care sheet. It should do well under my T5 lights. I have orchid fert I can try out with feeding and i will be able to emjoy the blooms.

If you are using T-5H tubes, be careful of their heat output. Regular T-5 tubes don't generate near the heat. It also depends on how many tubes you have in that fixture. I am using 6, T-5H tube fixtures and have to keep my orchids at least 2' away. Otherwise, they "sunburn".

Okay I will look at it, I grow many plants that sunburned outside but were just fine under the lights, money tree, chineses evergreen, philodendron just to name a few

You don't have T-5H tubes, Alex. So you don't have to worry about the heat. I can position my orchids within 3-4" of regular T-5 tubes. It is too bad you don't live close. I have six T-5, four-tube fixtures that I have replaced with those powerful T-5H, six-tube fixtures, and am probably going to just give away those six fixtures.

Ken, Have you ever heard of Craig's list? Put an ad on there and sell them.

yeah.... too bad.... anyway Staff say no more lights so this one will have to do.


All the plants seemed good on it until they moved outdoors then some of them got sun scauld.


I'm looking forward to growing this Brassia. keeps fingers crossed it works out.

I got witch doctor, that's the hybrid brassia. today at work I'm hopefully going to get a humidity tray and set it up/ it should be coming sometime next week. It gets shipped Monday,

I believe the correct name for your new orchid is Brassia Memoria Fritz Boedeker 'Witch Doctor', written exactly like I wrote it here. Here is a picture of mine:


Jim