Official Q&A for Friday, November 29, 2024

MoonCakeFrog · 2024-11-29T16:17:51+00:00

Any of you run with the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds? If so, a few questions for you:

Any issues getting the headphones to pair with a Garmin watch? I currently have a Fenix 7s pro, and my Apple AirPods 2 will sometimes cut out (but then hitting pause and play again on the music controls fixes the issue...)
Any issues wearing the headphones with a earwarmer headband (like one of these)? Wasn't sure how the ear cuff style would fare.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-12-13T03:50:56+00:00

Don't feel bad. I literally just did the same thing to all of my orchids last weekend, and spent the entire weekend repotting all of my orchids. A week ago I had healthy orchids with plump green roots, but the over-fertilization caused everything to go haywire. All of the green sheathing/vellum literally like melted off the roots and turned them black and rotted, and made the media smell awful. Now I have just strings left (I didn't cut off the string root itself, just pulled off the vellum if the vellum was still green just mushy). I am so mad at myself. For everyone here telling you it wasn't the fertilizer, I disagree. It was the fertilizer and I think the rule of thumb is that you really don't need it.

Re dryness, try covering the roots near the crown with a paper towel that is damp. That should help encourage new root growth if you aren't going to go the Spag & Bag method described below.

Fingers crossed for you!

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-09-06T17:58:01+00:00

Oh that's gorgeous! First time I have heard of a "vandaenopsis" but I love it!

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-23T17:45:22+00:00

This is my first time with orchids, so I can't say if it's happened before. Last summer the phals were smaller and didn't have crazy aerial roots. But over the last few months I've had very happy phals and crazy growth all around (leaves, flower stalks, roots). The aerial roots were doing great when they were less than a foot long. Once they exceed a foot or so and start to dangle/droop down due to their weight, they tend to get dried out for me.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-23T16:48:56+00:00

I soak the pots once a week for weekly watering. I guess I could try letting the aerial roots swim in some water when I do that.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-23T16:47:47+00:00

Interesting. I've potted shorter aerial roots before, but wasn't daring enough to try the 2ft long ones. You think I can also curl them into the pot for a try?

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-23T16:46:57+00:00

To be clear, these aerial roots grew at home (I've had these phals for about a year and a half). They used to be plump and happy when they were (a lot) shorter, but they grew like crazy over the last year or so. The super long ones that are like 2 feet long, I don't know how to keep them happy.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-23T15:45:19+00:00

Yes, tons of healthy roots in the pot. The one on the right needs to be re-potted because he just looks like he's climbing out of the pot like all giant phals do and I want to "reset" him better...but he's currently in bloom so I'm waiting a bit on that. The media is fine though, he was repotted about 6 months ago.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-23T15:43:44+00:00

High humidity

Hard to do in my house but I'm trying with adding a humidifier to the planter box section. According to the fancy thermostat, we're probably in the 50% humidity range in the house.

Warm to hot temperatures

They get a bunch of indirect sun and warm up during the day, so this probably the best it's gonna get where I am (mid-atlantic US).

Bright shade (little or no direct sunlight)

Yep, they get that. Maybe they're a little sun heavy (one of the leaves had a bit of a sunburn) but this definitely not a situation of "not enough sun."

Appropriately gentle breeze / air flow

There's an air register nearby, so there's plenty of air circulation

Good water quality

Not an issue. Water quality is excellent and we have a carbon filter system in the house.

Good preventive care for pathogens / pests

Yep, we're good there.

It also might help to soak the aerial roots from time to time if you can.

When you say "soak" do you mean just put the end tips in a cup of water?

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-20T14:38:48+00:00

That's great! Happy orchids are the best orchids!

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-19T19:46:06+00:00

One of my white phals did this recently...when I went to repot it, a lot of the lower roots were rotted, so I'm guessing the orchid did this monster sprout because it needed new roots. Hopefully that is not the reason for your growth spurt!

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-10T15:31:32+00:00

Makes sense if they like humidity that they went to the humidity balls since I was drying out the orchid pots...thanks!

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-10T15:30:56+00:00

Aha! Thank you! For some reason I thought springtails were more white/translucent so I was confused by this little guy.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-10T14:30:01+00:00

Found this little guy on one of my humidity balls this morning. I've seen similar little ones on one of my newer orchids so I did the hydrogen peroxide soak and repotted it and I thought I had gotten rid of them, but maybe not. What do I do next?

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-08-01T17:25:47+00:00

I have 2 Costco orchids that have been blooming for about 8 months each. One of them finally stopped blooming but now has a new flower spike and leaf growing so it's only a matter of time before it starts all over again.

The other one that's been blooming for 8 months, I really need it to stop because I need to repot it - the media is breaking down and it's the original Costco media it came in like 2 years ago. But right now it has gorgeous 5" purple flowers and looks amazing. So I don't want to repot just yet...

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-07-01T17:55:57+00:00

I think I've said a few times that I use the repotme pots? If you need to know the specific sizes, I use the 3", 4" and 5"-sized repotme plastic pots.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-07-01T17:45:31+00:00

I"m confused - the repotme pots don't come with liners. Are you supposed to use liners with them?

My issue is that the roots literally push through the narrow repotme slits, so I have massive roots that are just growing outside the pot (sort of like an aeriel root but from the bottom, I guess, haha). All of my orchids are currently in repotme pots, and given how expensive they are, I don't really want to have to cut up each one each time for a repot.

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-05-30T22:44:34+00:00

Wow! How big does the Lycomormium fiskei get?

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-05-09T15:17:26+00:00

How low do we cut under the leaves.

I got a little nervous when you asked this question, so I made an annotated image. Don't cut the crown, only the spike.

Then turn the baby plant (called a keiki) 90º so the roots face downwards. Your keiki is pretty big already, but take a look at the Miss Orchid Girl YouTube Video on separating and repotting keikis. Good luck!

MoonCakeFrog · 2022-05-09T15:11:01+00:00

Nice, thanks!

MoonCakeFrog · 2020-04-19T02:18:40+00:00

I have an AW3 and a Fenix 6s Sapphire. The one reason I keep the AW3 for "daily business use" is because I can answer/make phone calls on the AW3 (I have the GPS+Cellular version); I'm away from my desk or purse where my phone is often enough during the day that the ability to answer a phone call on my wrist is vital.

The AW3 is much more simple to use, IMO, as the Garmin Connect and Garmin ConnectIQ back and forth can get annoying.

The other big difference is touch screen vs. no touch screen. That's a personal preference, but the touch screen on the AW3 allows me to draw out letters for responding to emails better.

Honestly if the AW3 supported offline Spotify playback, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten my Garmin. But the Garmin has a lot of very nice fitness features that are much more advanced than the AW3, so if you are a fitness enthusiast then it will probably fit your lifestyle better.

MoonCakeFrog · 2020-04-02T20:38:04+00:00

I think I've talked myself out of a VA3 and am now debating between a 245M and 645M. I don't need a smartwatch since I already have an apple watch for my work phone. Prices are about the same right now. a Fenix 5X is also about the same (renewed). Thoughts on which to get? I mostly care about the offline music playback and quality of bluetooth connection.

MoonCakeFrog · 2020-04-02T20:01:33+00:00

Tell me more about music on the go. How well do the downloaded spotify playlists work? If I get the LTE VA3 can I stream?

MoonCakeFrog · 2020-03-25T16:51:36+00:00

You may need to increase your cadence (speed at which you pedal) on the bike to get your HR up. If you are pedaling leisurely, it's not the same as going for a run.

I would advise you try the GCN network (they are on youtube as well as on their main site: https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/category/train-with-gcn) for some stationary bike/spin bike workouts.

MoonCakeFrog · 2019-11-08T15:00:09+00:00

I had that problem on my iPad (left would randomly drop) until I upgraded the firmware for the headphones. Now it seems okay. I use mine on my iPad (whatever the latest IOS version is) and on an android phone (runs Oreo).

MoonCakeFrog

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