| Q Last
year I purchased a flowering-sized Odontocidium Susan Kaufman from
a Hawaiian grower. The plant then soon flowered. Since then, each
pseudobulb has been smaller, though they are produced in increasing
numbers. Originally, the plant was grown under a combination of sodium and
metal halide high-intensity lighting, but I since moved it to a cooler,
partially shaded south-facing windowsill where it has shown little
improvement. Do you have any suggestions how I might enhance the vigor of
the plant? A Many orchid plants have a hiccup when they come from an optimal nursery environment and have to be grown under lights. However, I would expect your plant to be settling down by now. A mass of ever-smaller pseudobulbs is indicative of possibly too high night temperatures or too little light, but the move to the windowsill should have corrected this problem. I suggest maybe letting (he first new growth produced on the windowsill develop but twist out the next several in an attempt to build up a larger series of pseudobulbs. Some orchids do not thrive under artificial lights, but your plant was selected in Germany and I have seen it growing well in Holland, where winter light is always at a premium. — Andy Easton |
Reprinted, with permission, from "Orchids" - The Magazine of the American Orchid Society, May, 2001.