DavidLMO said:FWIW - ALL types of Delphinium are hard to grow from seed AND short lived. I gave up on them a couple decades ago.

Plants you know, do respond to humans - really. They also like classical music, not heavy metal. And they like to be talked to.

I have never tried plant threat but will give it a try.

David ...

You've got me laughing again ...

With roses, many of us who are addicts often have plants that do no thrive in our climates. To make space for other roses, we shovel prune them. The very best "threat" for a rose is just to put a shovel down next to the rose. Many, to my amazement, seem to perk up and really start growing ...

Lyn

Heh.

Some times I give plants a second chance. Others, I just toss them in the compost heap.

My Seuper bloomer is looking verrrrrryyyyy sad. Will give it a couple of weeks and see what happens.
Hey - you can always stick with the delusion "oh well, it will likely come back from the roots". Which is BS I have found in general, but particularly house plants. I waited and waited on my Lady of the Night. That one dying really ticked me off.

My plant body count is starting to get alarming for this year. I did not mention above that I had two orchids pass away on me this year. Oh well, just make ME more of an Expert!

I have always maintained that I learn more from my failures than from my successes. I have "learned" a lot over the last 50 years!

So very true, Ken.

On the other hand, I am often totally amazed how some plants, not weeds, are determined to grow against all odds.

This is a post I made years ago about one of those plants.
http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Smiles,
Lyn

I do not have problems growing hardy plants for my zone or tender succulents. It is tropical and my house plants.

I have killed ever orchid that comes into my hands. But I buy one or two every winter. The flower last for three months. They live through the summer then about Spring of the following year they start to die and are dead before summer

Plumeria had two for five yrs never bloomed. Threatened to leave them ourside and let old man winter have his way with them. They still did not bloom the sixth year I kept my promise. So theats do not work for me.

Cinta, tell me about your (non-blooming) plumeria. What are they (if named), how tall, are they branched, and what are the size pots. How often do you re-pot (up-pot)? Are they now "deceased"?

What are your growing conditions for your houseplants and what houseplants do you grow? I assume the only orchids you purchase are those "moth-orchids" found in big-box stores. If you have tried another genera than Phalaenopsis, what genera have you tried?

Cinta said:
I have killed ever orchid that comes into my hands. But I buy one or two every winter. The flower last for three months. They live through the summer then about Spring of the following year they start to die and are dead before summer.

From my experience and research, the two biggest factors in killing Phal orchids is poor watering or crown rot. I water my Phals every 10 days or so in winter and a bit more in summer. I dip the pots in old butter containers - one pot with food and another with a combo of Superthrive & RapidStart (root stimulant) - 50/50. 3 - 5 minutes per container and I use a turkey baster to spray the media from above.

Another major factor is the media at purchase time. 9 out of 10 times this is super compressed moss that is absolutely soaking wet. So I almost always quickly repot after purchase.

WRT Crown rot - prevention is the best thing. Never allow water to sit in the cup area at the top of the plant. If you get water/food in the area when watering, dry it with a paper towel. Another thing I do is a couple of times a year soak the containers in Physan or Consan.

The final thing I do is mist every few days with a Foliar spray.

By doing all the above, I have some Phals over 3 YO. I typically lose one per year on average and maintain about a dozen Phals and a couple of Catalayas.

Good advice. Position your Phal. so that they are growing at an angle. That's the way they grow in nature, not vertical. That way, any water that gets to that crown area will tend to run off rather than keeping the crown wet. Cattleya don't have this crown-rot problem.

It took me awhile to understand Phals, my oldest one is going 5 years old. Some growers have success with sphagnum moss..I don't like them, just so hard to gauge if it is still wet at the center part. Then it finally dawned on me, the roots being thicker can really take longer periods of dry time, so more air at their root zone is needed or they just do it themselves, they go aerial. Giving them good air circulation after watering is something I finally understood later on too. So even in winter time, I run the ceiling fan for a few minutes right after watering.

Another thing I realized, sometimes when first time repotting, my initial mistake was having them planted rather too deep. I finally realized my mistake watching another orchid, the Dendrobium, which grows with such little media, and seeing that the base of the plant is just planted gently on top of the media, and just the roots are below. Realizing my Phals has roots already, so no need to really have them too deep, in fact have to raise them a bit and let them lean since that is their natural position. And after that, I saw better improvement in their growth.

Another think I realized, after Phals has bloomed, it follows a certain phase of resting. Have to wait for that rest to go through. Oftentimes, that is the point too that can drive a newbie to overwater. Got to see some indication of a new root or new leaf going, then resume normal watering.

As to misting the leaves, I just don't do it with my Phals. I think it really hates our tap water, but rain water is okay, sadly that is precious juice we do not have often. So I just use tap water only at the root zone. I have seen this problem too with some of my Oncidiums, just cannot shake those spots, and the only common thing I see is tap water, maybe the salt content who knows!

I have left them for about a month in Feb 2014 no water since we were out of the country. When we came back, the Phals and other orchids are okay. Temps are overall cool, so it is not too stressful for them I guess. But I did water them thoroughly before we left.

I use this Miracle Gro orchid mist fertilizer, I find the Phals really like them, compared to another one I used before, so that is the one I have on hand.

But I have killed some, either the ones I tried to rescue are just to sick to be revived, and the other one as I have mentioned was in that sphagnum moss, really felt bad about that, was able to let it bloom nicely for a several months, I was so afraid to repot, should have done it right away. So that did teach me a lesson to repot the plant as soon as I get it, so it can acclimate faster. Phals in bloom are more tolerant to repotting, compared to the other orchids, where better to wait after its bloom time to repot.

Then with the light requirement, Phals are low light orchids, but those blooms, they really seek better light, but still not direct sun.

Plumeria story..................

Okay Ken you want to hear this Plummie story. I think I posted it somewhere before because I tried so hard. I wanted to have a Plummie growing on my patio since I came back from Hawaii.

I do not know the name they were sent to me in a trade they were 12" long. I studied every thing to growing them. The first 3 yrs. I let them sleep through the winter. When they did not bloom I started keeping them growing through the winter. Purchased every fertilizer that was suggested I try. They continued to grow all these beautiful leaves and getting taller and taller. They were in full sun from morning until night the last 3 yrs.

Finally because they were taking up prime real estate on the patio and not flowering I used them as glad support. At least I had flowers.


Yr. 4 this is what one of them looked like and everyone said I was going to get a blooms soon.


Finally Yr 6 they were taller than me, about 6' tall and no bloom I pulled in all my tropicals and kept my promise to let old man winter have his way with them.

It could have been a couple of reasons. The lady said she had bread them from seed so they could be any color. The first 2 yrs I only had them in part sun. The third thing,,,,,,,they hated me for bringing them from Florida to North and the only way they could punish me was not to bloom.

Orchids................
Ken you are right I get them at the big box stores or Grocery store. Usually between Nov-Dec. I pick one that have buds that have not opened, They bloom for me until about March. The leaves look good. I have Orchid bark that I put them in and have very pretty pots to put them in because I display them all winter in the living room and great room.

Very careful with watering possibly under water could very well be the problem. I put them outside in the summer and they grow great. I bring them inside and they look good all winter. Then when Spring starts to arrive they start losing their leaves and I have checked the roots they look green and thick but the leaves start to die. The dying leaf continues until they are all finally gone. I will still have those thick green roots but no leaves. Then the roots start to turn brown and the plant is gone.

I have news and I have a theory, and I may be the only one in the world with this theory.

The news is, and I was told this by the "plumeria expert" on ATP and another one that befriended me when I started getting interested in growing them. The last expert is with the Plumeria Society of America. Anyway, I was told that seedlings will take 3-5 years to bloom and sometimes even longer. I am sure that's why I see so many people, just like you, who have said they had plumeria for years and never saw a bloom. With all the new plants out there, many of them are 1st year seedlings. Unfortunately, the seller doesn't often tell the buyer this.

Have you followed my thread "I just knew I would make history" and then "Seed pods" on the Plumeria forum? If so you know that I grew a seedling that bloomed at 15 months and had seed pods at 17 months. So, even the experts don't always know.

My theory is that plumeria seem to bloom the best when the plant is cut back. For me at least, it seems that this triggers something in not only the "mother" plant but also the cuttings that causes them to bloom more readily. Maybe its just me. As I said, I am perhaps the only one who believes this. I cut my plumeria back all the time and I have lots and lots of plants that bloom. I have some that are still in full bloom right now and are gorgeous. Two of them are seedlings and the oldest seedling is 2.5 years old. That one and the 1.5 year old one have been in bloom for over two months. Six of them are cuttings, taken either last fall or this spring. My plants, at least a lot of them, do tend to bloom a couple of months later than those who grow theirs in Florida.

On occasion I find and empty pot and wonder what was in here?? Or I go to look for that portulaca, orchid, or hoya I hadn't seen all year and don't find it. I would make the sign of the cross over the empty pot but I am not Catholic. But I not only mourn the loss of a plant I killed but also apologize cuz I ignored them and I didn't miss them sooner than I should.

I often refer to my plants as my "babies".

Most of mine ARE my babies since ~ 60 % of what I have was grown from seed or cuttings. Even if I "adopt" them from somewhere else, they are thereafter "my" babies.

@Cinta - sounds to me like you are doing most everything right. But if YOU are concerned with under watering, maybe that is the problem. I keep mine inside year round in my kitchen. They are watered/fed ~ every 10 days. I use see thru clear pots (many are inside some type container) so I can always look at the roots at each watering.

Leaves starting to die is often a sign of rot in Phals. In that case, one leaf falls off, then another, etc. Not always - sometimes they will drop lower leaves but make a new one above.

What kind of light and where placed - indoors and out?

Note that about every 6 months, rather than watering with fertilizer, I water them with Physan or Consan. This kills a lot of bad things.

Basically my watering is what is referred to as weekly-weakly, though I usually go with 10 days - not 7. I typically weaken the fertilizer by 1/2 (weakly) except when they start throwing a blooming stem. Then I go with blooming fertilizer at 100 % strength. Right now of 12 Phals I have 7 or so blooming stems showing. One is coming from a keiki whose mother is also throwing a bloom stem. Yes - I will take a pic. This is usually the time of year mine start throwing bloom stems.

Thank you David. I do have them in the clear pots they come in I just change the soil and put them in pretty display pots.

I was doing the weakly weekly. Of the seven I purchased last year four are alive. I do not see a flower stem so I purchased one last week. I need the flowers for the winter decor

You and I are in similar zones. Mine just recently started to spike.

3 out of 7 is a fairly high kill rate.

Typically Phals don't just die overnight. Some plants will go downhill quite rapidly. Usually the death of a Phal is fairly prolonged.

How many years have you had problems? Several?

Something environmental has to be the problem unless it is watering related. Indoors, Phals usually do pretty well - too much direct sun can be a problem.

I have been murdering them for about ten yrs. I am long time serial killer.

I was serious about buying a lot of them every winter. It is the most reliable flower all winter indoors. I entertain a lot in the winter and they impress my guest. Of course I do not tell them they will be dead by next winter.

You are right it is a slow death. I have admitted I do not like to water plants so it could be lack of water since it seems they start dying after I bring them inside after their summer vacation outside by March they are down to their last leaf.

Cinta, for me at least, I find Phal. to be harder to maintain healthy than pretty much any of my other genera, and I grow hundreds (lots of hundreds ) of orchids. To me the Cattleya alliance do the best, probably because they are more warm growers whereas Phal. are more coolish growers. Also, because our Lowe's and grocery stores have so many Phal. year 'round, I tend to shun them. I like the more "uncommon" orchids. I do grow one particular Phal. from flask/plug, though. It is the Phal. Hitomi Watanabe 'No. 15' (peculiar name but a beautiful, unusual flower for a Phal.). The Hitomi also does real well mounted since it is a compact grower, not so with other Phal. I have tried to grow mounted.

drdawg said:

Wow. The certainly is uniques for a Phal bloom. I have never seen one quite like that.

Ken - sometime when you need something to do ... ... could you make a post describing, elaborating growing Phals from flask/plug?