Help with Schomburgkia

[Dorsetman]

I grow half a dozen different Schombo' species and flower them successfully * in my UK glasshouse which also grows a whole range of other stuff ; hanging up as high as possible, so as to get the most light and also a little bit warmer up there ( but sweep fans continually drive the warm air down ). I find they love being heavily sprayed very frequently - as long as the temperature is well up.
But for identifying this one, those red tipped roots must be very significant ;none of mine have that feature. Maybe you can find that mentioned somewhere if you search the literature.
*- successfully does not mean the way they flower in the wild ! I saw a little "orchid show" in a village somewhere in Venezuela, when I was there on holiday 10 or 15 years ago, and all the plants were Schombos. I was stunned by the magnificent flowers. That's when I started growing them. But when I am very successful, e.g. with Scho. moyobambae or rosea, so that I produce say 20 or more flowers on a spike, they open in succession, rather than all at once , which is no doubt due to the cultural limitations here - where a temperature of 25 is high, not low !

[harvester2015]

I grow half a dozen different Schombo' species and flower them successfully * in my UK glasshouse which also grows a whole range of other stuff ; hanging up as high as possible, so as to get the most light and also a little bit warmer up there ( but sweep fans continually drive the warm air down ). I find they love being heavily sprayed very frequently - as long as the temperature is well up.
But for identifying this one, those red tipped roots must be very significant ;none of mine have that feature. Maybe you can find that mentioned somewhere if you search the literature.
*- successfully does not mean the way they flower in the wild ! I saw a little "orchid show" in a village somewhere in Venezuela, when I was there on holiday 10 or 15 years ago, and all the plants were Schombos. I was stunned by the magnificent flowers. That's when I started growing them. But when I am very successful, e.g. with Scho. moyobambae or rosea, so that I produce say 20 or more flowers on a spike, they open in succession, rather than all at once , which is no doubt due to the cultural limitations here - where a temperature of 25 is high, not low !

Hi! Doing some research on the Internet, these red tipped roots are normal, it's supposed to be something normal for orchids with red to purple flowers or because it's receiving plenty of solar light.

[PaphMadMan]

Hi! Doing some research on the Internet, these red tipped roots are normal, it's supposed to be something normal for orchids with red to purple flowers or because it's receiving plenty of solar light.

That makes perfect sense for plants like this that grow in very bright light. Pigments like that provide some protection from sunlight for delicate tissues.

[Dorsetman]

That makes perfect sense for plants like this that grow in very bright light. Pigments like that provide some protection from sunlight for delicate tissues.

And that is why I have never seen it - the light is not that bright in UK , or at least, not very often.

[harvester2015]

Hello! It's been 3 months since my last update. The orchid still looks fine, unfortunately it didn't bloomed (the sheath dried off and fell). The plant has been growing a lot of roots as you can see in the picture and it looks like it's starting to develop a new pseudobulb. I'm watering the orchid everyday because it's very hot in here and because I think it needs lots of wáter to support the root development and the new growth coming out (don't know if I'm wrong). My concern is if I should use some fertilizer and how.

[ksriramkumar]

Looks good. I think you should fertilize during the growth stages and would certainly help it

[Dorsetman]

The thing to watch is the green or brown or whatever tips to the roots.when you can see them, the roots aregrowing and the plantneeds water.when they disappear, the root tips seal over with thewhite valamen, water needs diminish or end. Schombo's have hard tough bulbs, designed to withstand drought - and needing it, to complete their life cycle.

[PaphMadMan]

Good going. It isn't easy to overwater a mounted plant with roots that exposed. Just make sure it isn't staying wet under the rhizome up against the mount. And yes, fertilize now. Keep posting the progress.

[harvester2015]

I have two types of fertilizer for orchids in my house, 25-5-15 and 20-20-20. Both of them say to use a teaspoon of fertilizer in 1L of water and use it once a week. With my dendrobium I'm using the fertilizer 25-5-15 at half of the strength (1/2 teaspoon per liter) but some websites recommends using a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20) even in the growing stage.

[harvester2015]

Hi! Here's some progress of my orchid. I noticed it grew a smaller pseudobulb (in comparison with the previous ones, even the new rhizome is short). Is there something wrong?