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March 29-30, 2008
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Encyclia ambiguia
This is another highly collectable orchid. It is a species I don't already have, and Encyclia is the focus of my collection. I was very happy to get it.
This came from an orchid friend. She had grown the plant for 3 years and had not succeeded in blooming it. It had seemed to be declining in health and she ask me to help it if I could.
Encyclia ambiguia grows at an elevation of between 3000 and 6000 feet in the mountains of Mexico and Central America. It is cool to hot growing and has a lot of flowers. They are fragrant, smelling like honey. The flower spike can be more than 3 feet tall.
The plant blooms in late spring and summer. In September it was clear that it was not going to bloom this year. The last time it had been repotted a lot of root had been lost.
All of the pseudobulbs except the newest were losing water. It is typical for an orchid to put all its energy into supporting the newest growth.
I trimmed most of the dead roots and potted it in gravel. It is now in the hospital and hopefully the active eye at the base of the newest pseudobulb (top) will send out roots and save the plant. Until it recovers, it will get low light and little water.
Move the mouse pointer over the small pictures at the top for more details.
This plant had once had a full root system. The last time it was repotted it lost a lot of roots due to over watering. Now the remaining roots are dead. This lets me know that the plant likes to dry out between waterings. It had been watered once a week, and for this plant it was too much. It needs a faster drying medium than tha bark mix.
The roots were not functional for providing moisture and nutrition. These short roots were left on to provide a little support for the plant in the pot. The survival of the plant depends on new growth providing new roots before the plant runs out of stored energy.
This plant came to me in the pot on the right. After I trimmed the roots, it went back in the pot on the left. Pots are chosen to fit the roots. On this plant there were none alive, with just a few left to hold the plant in the pot. The small pot is just large enough to allow for one years growth.