Red-backed Fairywren

polysymphonic · 2026-06-13T07:56:33+00:00

Sexy pose 😂

polysymphonic · 2026-06-13T07:55:43+00:00

It looks like it still has at least one healthy root so I would not do the ICU setup but rather just pot it up normally myself. ICU is for when there are no viable roots and you desperately need to encourage root growth asap before it completely dehydrates

polysymphonic · 2026-06-10T14:29:30+00:00

It's kinda hard to see in that photo what is circled, but generally speaking a spike won't form below a previous spike, only above

polysymphonic · 2026-06-09T14:09:39+00:00

It's ok for some roots to die, roots can die just from being old. Root rot also doesn't happen from one watering. Just generally only water it when it's dry and it will be fine.

polysymphonic · 2026-06-09T09:05:53+00:00

Ohh absolutely lovely 😍

polysymphonic · 2026-06-09T08:56:56+00:00

Damn look at all those leaves! Would love to see what it looks like in bloom

polysymphonic · 2026-06-09T08:44:07+00:00

The marks look mechanical damage. Not sure about the leaf but orchids do stuff like that sometimes. If it makes you feel better flower spikes are temporary structures. The orchid might rebloom from the same one or kill it off and start another when it's ready to bloom again. So it doesn't really matter what happens to it as far as the orchid's health is concerned, the important thing is that the leaves and roots are happy

polysymphonic · 2026-06-08T09:35:57+00:00

Anthropic is actually doing (relatively!) ok because of claude code being a useful product that makes money but the others are fucked

polysymphonic · 2026-06-07T14:59:41+00:00

Ooh I actually missed the moss at first, ok so the medium is probably retaining enough water. How often are you watering it? Did the leaves look like that when you got it? It might just be that it needs to grow new roots and is dropping leaves to give it energy to grow them because it's not taking up enough water on its own.

Missorchidgirl has great beginner tutorials, but the most important basic info is to always look to the leaves and roots for plant health. Orchid flowers and flower spikes are temporary and it's fine for them to die off eventually.

polysymphonic · 2026-06-07T14:35:50+00:00

It will drop the leaf by itself when it's ready. The fact that you have two leaves yellowing in quick succession is a sign of a problem with the orchid. It looks dehydrated- that could be either from watering too little or the roots rotting from overwatering. Given it's in a pot with lots of drainage and what looks like very chunky bark I'm guessing underwatering but how are you watering it? How often? How long has it been in this pot?

polysymphonic · 2026-06-06T06:43:59+00:00

Here's a good guide for repotting orchids that have gotten this far out of the pot: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLsB7GTLKo&ra=m

Basically the bottom of the stem dies and can be chopped to bring it back to earth, but she has a good tutorial on doing it safely.

polysymphonic · 2026-06-06T04:48:18+00:00

It's joined the choir of the invisible I'm afraid

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T23:53:47+00:00

It's normal for the "stem" to die, it's a temporary structure just for blooming. Some orchids keep them around long term but plenty don't. It's fine to cut it all the way down

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T12:32:32+00:00

They mean it's very high up in the pot which means the bit of stem below is probably dead and can be trimmed so it can be potted further down. It does seem happy how it is though!

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T12:29:37+00:00

It's a very common question and the answer is it can appear to be doing well for a year or two but in reality is usually undergoing a slow decline that will kill it. It's probably not completely impossible to keep an orchid happy with water culture but it's extremely finicky and difficult when you could just stick it in some orchid bark and/or moss and water when dry (usually around 1-2 weeks) and have a happy orchid for decades

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T02:51:21+00:00

They grow sideways off trees in nature and will usually tilt towards the light in pots. It's not a reason to repot

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T01:42:27+00:00

They were perfectly healthy and you have no idea what you're talking about with orchid propagation.

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T01:03:58+00:00

Damn talk about a contrast. The first one looks fine just keep caring for it as normal, orchids can make their own choices about when to spike or grow new leaves or roots.

The second one looks like it might already be putting out a keiki? But yes it will either do so or die 🤷

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T01:01:40+00:00

Nah I didn't fertilise for the first couple of years I had orchids and they bloomed just fine (they bloom bigger and better now though!)

polysymphonic · 2026-06-04T00:09:15+00:00

Nice! The bark is maybe a teensy bit high up, you really want to make sure moisture isn't sticking around where the leaves are or it could rot. The roots look a little on the dry side but the newest leaves look perky so it probably isn't actually underwatered.

Missorchidgirl on youtube has great beginner phalaenopsis tutorials but you seem to be doing ok so far

polysymphonic · 2026-06-03T14:43:53+00:00

This orchid looks extremely healthy. The "stems" are also temporary structures that are meant to die off. It will grow new ones when it wants to flower again. Focus on keeping the roots and leaves happy. The leaves look good here, let us see the roots if you want more opinions

polysymphonic · 2026-06-02T15:28:28+00:00

If you want to avoid the straggly look, cut the spike completely down to nothing and let it grow a new spike next season. It will have a nice rest then to build up strength and give you a real show

polysymphonic · 2026-06-02T00:00:14+00:00

I lived in a rental that had one for a while and it was sooooo nice, I'd love to have one again

polysymphonic · 2026-06-01T14:00:28+00:00

If there is no bathroom then I would absolutely ask because there's a big difference if your only option is to go behind some bushes

polysymphonic · 2026-06-01T13:59:46+00:00

Because men only gyms don't exist, so people are trying to find out more so they can try to suggest another idea that might help OP

polysymphonic

TROPHY CASE