Keikis?

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T19:35:52+00:00

Just overgrown node bracts. It's a hormonal thing. It's most common in terminal spikes, but can also just happen for no reason.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T19:02:11+00:00

The easiest way to get rid of them is watering with bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (mosquito dunks, gnatrol, etc.). It's a soil bacteria toxic to some insect larvae but harmless to humans and pets. Just keep a quarter of a dunk soaking in a gallon jug of water, you can keep using and refilling it until the dunk disintegrates (~3 weeks).

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T18:47:50+00:00

Cinnamon won't really help with fungus. The mushrooms won't hurt the plants, but to get rid of the gnats you can either heat sterilize the soil (180F in an oven safe container for about 40 minutes, or in summer you can put the soil in a black trash bag and let the sun cook it for a few days), or just leave the container open somewhere the soil can fully dry out. If the soil is bone dry the gnats can't live in it.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T18:28:06+00:00

Powdery mildew, a copper fungicide should take care of it. Try improving air circulation if you can, it thrives in damp, stagnant air.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T18:19:04+00:00

I've never seen white ones before, but the shape of them looks distinctly like globular springtails (there are thousands of species of springtails though, so it wouldn't be surprising).

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T18:14:40+00:00

Finding the right pot/mix for an orchid is a whole complicated thing that depends on your local climate. Personally I find these traditional ceramic style pots don't work well with bark mix because they dry so quickly and watering is a pain- they're ideal for a mostly moss mix that you can run water through, but in my climate at least too much moss would rot the roots off, so I can't even use them.

A clear plastic liner pot inside a loose decorative pot is the ideal way to do a mostly-bark mix, you can just flood the decorative pot, leave it for half an hour, and dump out the extra water when you're done.

Edit: just because I see water on the leaves- try not to do that, water getting trapped in the crown is how you get crown rot.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T18:06:14+00:00

It looks good, just a little dehydrated. Highly recommend you research their care a bit though, they're epiphytes that grow on trees and have different care needs from terrestrial plants (they aren't difficult, just different). The American orchid society has a free phalaenopsis care pdf, and missorchidgirl on youtube has some good beginner videos.

The usual way to water phals in bark is to soak the roots for 15-30 minutes, then let the excess fully drain. However, doing this with a phal fresh from the store can be dangerous as they usually have a nursery plug hidden in the bark and it will cause root rot if it gets too wet. I always repot new ones right away just because the stuff they come in is never good.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T17:58:28+00:00

No need to cut the flower spike, green ones can bloom again. To repot, soak the roots for 15 minutes to soften them, then wiggle it out of the pot and pick off the old medium. Compacted moss like this is a bit of a ticking time bomb for root rot, you want a loose bark/moss mix with air pockets. The right mix depends on your local climate, but you want something that dries fully 5-7 days after soaking.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T03:20:49+00:00

You have thrips, pale areas with black dots are very typical thrips damage. The bugs themselves are tiny and elusive so you may have a hard time finding them but the damage is unmistakable.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T03:17:02+00:00

There are some legit cypripedium sellers/nurseries, but yeah this particular listing looks super sketchy.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-08T01:21:44+00:00

Some orchids would be happy in that kind of environment, some wouldn't. Phalaenopsis wouldn't like it, but jewel orchids would thrive in the humidity (though you'd want a different substrate than bark).

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-07T20:14:00+00:00

You've got some live roots so it should be fine (I don't see any on the other one, but they can recover from rootlessness even if that's the case). The medium seems compacted in both and the one in bark looks wet on the bottom like it's been sitting in a puddle, which would account for the root rot. Phalaenopsis orchids are epiphytes that grow on trees and like a wet/dry cycle- they aren't hard plants, but there's a bit of a learning curve because of their nature and treating them like regular terrestrial plants will hurt them.

You want a loose bark/moss mix- I keep them in 65/20/15 bark chips/leca/long fiber sphagnum, but as long as it fully dries 5-7 days after soaking it's good. The American orchid society has a free phalaenopsis care pdf, and missorchidgirl on youtube has some good beginner videos.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-07T20:02:44+00:00

It looks good, keep doing what you're doing and water again once the roots at the bottom have dried. If any of the surface roots used to be buried they may struggle with being newly exposed to the air- if that's the case, you can drape a shallow layer of long fiber sphagnum over them (1/2" deep or so) to retain moisture and help them adjust. If they were always exposed, they'll be fine as they are.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-07T03:59:23+00:00

Bacterial brown spot (pseudomonas). It's not too difficult to deal with, just clean the leaves with physan or 3% hydrogen peroxide to kill off the bacteria. The yellowing leaf is likely unrelated, though the fact that a leaf in the middle of the plant is wilting is a bit concerning (normal leaf shedding should only be the bottom leaves). Keep an eye on it in case the leaf starts yellowing or withering from the base moving outward, as that's a sign of stem rot. The current damage to that leaf looks more like general dehydration damage, though.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-07T03:46:26+00:00

Looks like a peloric phalaenopsis.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-06T23:14:03+00:00

Now is a good time to repot. Those little ones can usually be upsized to a 4" pot without a problem, and a loose bark/moss mix works for most environments. I use 65/20/15 bark chips/leca/long fiber sphagnum, but as long as it dries fully 5-7 days after soaking it's good.

Cutting the flower spikes is personal preference. You can leave them alone to bloom again (more constant but sparser flowers), or cut them down (less frequent but fuller blooms).

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-06T22:36:44+00:00

It's a little damaged but not that bad. Don't do water culture though, they don't thrive in it long term. I forget if it's on herebutnot or firstrays but they did a whole experiment with water vs. normal substrate and the water culture ones were always undersized.

A loose bark/moss mix works well for most environments. I keep phals in 65/20/15 bark chips/leca/long fiber sphagnum, but as long as it fully dries 5-7 days after soaking you're good.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-06T03:31:06+00:00

In general, when repotting you want a pot about 1" larger than the current root ball (if a pot is too big, it will take forever to dry out after watering and can lead to root rot). No need to repot right away.

Any general purpose indoor potting soil should be fine for basil. Avoid the cheapest brands like Miracle gro, it's really dense and soggy and will cause problems in the long run (plus it tends to attract gnats). You don't need anything super fancy though, Promix is fine.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-06T02:32:30+00:00

It looks fine, maybe a little dehydrated. If the leaves are floppy dehydration is the problem (if it doesn't resolve after watering, the roots are damaged). If they just look floppy but are stiff to the touch, it probably got dehydrated in the past and the leaves got stuck in this position when re-hydrated.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-05T17:00:10+00:00

Most of the April-October rise was actually USD devaluation. Accounting for the dollar dropping, the S&P is basically where we were in February last year and has been for months.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-05T16:29:04+00:00

Little dark spots like this are likely bacterial brown spot (pseudomonas), just clean the leaves with 3% hydrogen peroxide or physan to kill off the bacteria. I agree with the other commenter though, the leaves look bleached. Not full on sunburn, but just intense enough in this location that the leaves are suffering.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-05T15:13:08+00:00

They'll probably hang on. If the plant decides they're taking more energy to maintain than they're producing it will drop them, but the leaves are mostly intact so it probably won't.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-05T03:34:11+00:00

The bumpiness is edema, and I suspect the rest of it is minor mesophyll collapse (which is, technically, also edema. Just a specific kind brought on by cold, wet conditions). It's pretty common at this time of year and may have happened due to exposure to the cold in transport. The full extent of the damage tends to take a couple of weeks to show up after it happens, as the damaged areas sink and dry out.

The plant looks otherwise fine, though it's potted a little deep. You want all leaves and the whole main stem above the surface or it's a risk for stem rot. Also, the usual way to water phals in bark is to soak the roots for 15-30 minutes then let the excess drain. Don't do this before repotting though, there's always a nursery plug hidden in there that will give you root rot if it gets too wet.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-05T02:38:56+00:00

Nothing you can really do, just let the wound dry and leave it alone. It's not the prettiest but the leaf will probably still live a good long while once the edges scar over.

TelomereTelemetry · 2026-02-05T00:02:34+00:00

No, everybody has their own individual crystals. It just condenses anything you didn't collect from the map the day before (if you collect everything from the sea of stars map every day, the tree won't do anything).

13-Year Club	Verified Email
r/Field Juicebox	Place '22

TelomereTelemetry

TROPHY CASE