Reed Stemmed Epidendrum Basket

[Cjcorner]

I've been kinda bumming around, watching a few phals bud out (sort of like waiting for water to boil x 10). After looking over this basket I thought I'd show some nice pic's of it even though there aren't any blooms yet. I started this basket off of about 5-6 cuttings from various plants a nursery was kind enough to share with me. I tried to imagine what kind of junk would be on the ground for these and threw a bunch of junk throw off stuff from plants that died various ways. I topped the heap off with a few shells, some have sunk into the mix....but originally they were holding the stems down on the top of the "mix" so the new roots would take hold easily. Usually it sits on a metal chair out in almost full sun...you can tell from the stems that these are of different colors. I have never seen them bloom, and as large and healthy as the new growths are I'm hoping for blooms soon. They don't even seem to catch bugs as the mix was not sterilized before I reused it and some had held some sicko's with root rot, and all sorts of bugs. I just laid them across the basket and kept them evenly moist with an occasional serious drying out.
Hopefully one of these days they'll decide to bloom like crazy so I can see what color they all are. If they don't though, this basket is so pretty I won't mind too much.
Connie

I started with a few like this (minus the keikeis).....



A year later the basket looks like this....



Down into the middle for a look at some new fat keikei's and my version of a "humus type mix".

[Brutal_Dreamer]

That is great, Connie. I hope it blooms for you soon!

Cheers,
BD

[bench72]

wow, they are looking great connie, great job.

if they are reed stemmed epis then give em a bit more light... here in Sydney, Australia, these plants are grown as common garden plants and many are subjected to full sun during the day... i wouldn't recommend the full sun treatment but certainly the plant can take quite a bit of it.

[Cjcorner]

Where they usually sit, out front....they get almost full eastern exposure. But I keep them just under the front porch awning so they get a break from our hot afternoon sun. Even in winter, most plants cannot handle full sun here. As soon as our nighttime temps get back up another five degrees they'll be back out there. And I kinda figured that they were considered weeds somewhere as they grow like one! lol

[Gin]

Looking good !very healthy . Gin

[ischel1]

Good job Connie. Looks great.

[bench72]

hahaha... well they are only weeds if they are not wanted... as it is, they are just a very healthy, well grown plant! Fingers crossed they bloom soon... sometimes it is just that thing about being patient till they mature right... but i'm no good when it comes to waiting... so giddy-up already

[Cjcorner]

Honestly, I get tickled when I look at this basket. So many of my plants have been a struggle. I appreciate these for growing so nicely for me when I've done so little to get this sort of results. Maybe I should neglect the others too...lol!!

[wetfeet101b]

Looking good Connie.
My reed stem epi's definitely thrive on neglect. The only time I remember to check on them is when we are expecting serious cold spells.

Looks like you got the compact varieties. Although "compact" is relative when it comes to reed stems
Those will fill out the basket real nice without having too many leggy stems.

If you want a good flower show, hold off on too much light until the basket has filled up with as many growths as you want. Then slowly move it to brighter light.
This way, all mature stems will bloom at the same time.