Dendrophylax lindenii Winter Rest Care

[LokeLeaflessandPleuros]

Hello all! I am not new to the forums but have not had any luck accessing my old account so I am back under a new account. I have been growing orchids for 25 years since I was a kid and the ghost orchid has always captivated me, as I am a Floridian and I read the book "The Orchid Thief" back in the late 90s. I have also seen this species in situ on two separate occasions.

I have a good bit of experience with Dendrophylax lindenii but I am hoping for some more detailed information from experts on how to care for this species during the winter rest period? Is such treatment even necessary to keep the plant healthy? Wikipedia has some excellent information on cultivation of this species and the entry states that blooming is prompted by winter rest conditions. Please help me out here. Let's get as technical and pedantic as we can. Thank you and I am glad to be back.

-Loke

[LokeLeaflessandPleuros]

I would like to add that for this ghost orchid project the planned habitat will be a tall, wide, glass cylinder with a glass bottom. The bottom of the cylinder will have a layer of live sphagnum moss in distilled and/or rain water and the water in the bottom will be changed periodically so it doesn't get microbial growth and rot. I had good luck with Pleuros in those small hanging glass tear drop shaped bulbs with a bit of live sphagnum and water in the bottom.

The orchid and its mount will hang far down into the cylinder with the bottom roots resting just above the layer of live sphagnum moss. I am going to check out The Container Store here locally and hope to find a tall and wide glass cylinder (like 18" tall and 6-10" wide". If I am unable to find a glass cylinder like this I will opt for a tall fish tank. I plan to use a slab of glass from a picture frame to partially cover the top to further control the humidity and of course I will mist and water the plant as I did on my last attempt with a mix of distilled, rain water and Icelandic bottled water (Icelandic has some dissolved goodies that are helpful to the ghost orchid).

I will fertilize the plant with MSU fertilizer 1/4 strength on every third watering or so and will give the plant a dose of the mycorrhizal mix that has been mentioned on here before. My parents now live in Port Charlotte so I may take some bark samples from trees on their property, as well as a Tillandsia recurvata and introduce these materials to the orchid to hopefully inoculate it with the mycorrhiza that are present in and near the ghost orchid habitat.

As for what I plan to attach its current cork bark slab to, I will be looking for a 6" x 8-12" slab of hickory bark or a cypress slab if I have no luck with the hickory (I have already found a source for the hickory bark and I will glue multiple pieces together to get a piece with the correct dimensions if I have to.

That leaves the question of the environment the glass habitat will be placed in. I live 180 miles north of the nearest native ghost orchid, so the climate, temperature-wise is not all that different. As such, I will likely keep the ghost orchid and its glass terrarium outside year-round and bring the cylinder inside when the low temperatures are forecast to be below 40F and the highs will be below 55F. I may bring it in on every third day where the high is below 65F, to simulate the higher winter heat of SW Florida versus the Orlando area. I keep my bedroom between 75-80F year-round.

[LokeLeaflessandPleuros]

My ghost orchid project:

According to the vendor, I will be receiving a different plant than that I originally posted a photo of, but the good news is, this plant is slightly larger, appears to have more plantlets and has lots of root tips in active growth (see photo one).

The orchid's cork bark mount will be made thinner by removing a layer of the back of the cork bark (Dremel tool will be used) so the plant can be mounted closer to the hickory bark log the plant will be mounted to. I have ordered a hickory bark log from Etsy and I am excited that I was so easily able to find the perfect mount for my new Dendrophylax lindenii (see photo two). I will cut the log in half or possibly into a third so that the length is 12" and the horizontal width of the bark surface is 6".

The orchid and its hickory bark slab will be suspended so that the bottom of the log rests just above the surface of the water layer in the bottom of the base of the glass cylinder terrarium. The purified water in the bottom of the glass cylinder terrarium will be full of live sphagnum moss (photo three) to increase the surface area of the water and increase evaporation to boost humidity.

The glass cylinder itself is 30" tall so even the very top of the hickory log will be approximately 15-16" below the rim of the cylinder so humidity will not be a problem. The glass cylinder is pictured in photo four. This cylinder is much taller than the one I used previously so I feel it will effectively maintain stale, humid air in the bottom half of the cylinder. Most of the time I will have a circular piece of aluminum screen kept on top of the terrarium to keep out pests such as slugs and snails and the cylinder will be set on top of an upside-down pot that is positioned in the middle of a plant saucer full of water to create a moat to keep out pests such as aphids and spider mites. I also have malathion on hand which I may use as a preventative once a month or so at a very low concentration just in case. Since my location is not that far from the habitat of the ghost orchid, I will keep my ghost orchid outside unless temperatures go below 45F.

As for water, I plan to use distilled water, rain water or Icelandic (as mentioned before since Icelandic bottled water has a high pH and some beneficial minerals while having a low concentration of dissolved solids. I will either use a 50/50 mix of rain water and distilled water or a 50/50 mix of Icelandic and distilled water. Due to what I anticipate will be high humidity, I do not anticipate having to water more than once per week during November - March and I might mist my plant every day during the remainder of the year. I will fertilize with MSU orchid fertilizer every other watering from April-October and once per week during the cooler months (photo five).

So, that is my plan to hopefully have success in cultivating and blooming a ghost orchid. This technique worked for me before for a good four months but due to a personal crisis I stopped taking care of the orchid and it died. I am confident that with diligent care I will have success this time. From what I have read, the plant I will be receiving is near blooming size so I may have a bloom in a year or two. I realize this explanation is a bit dry and pedantic but I feel it provides a useful explanation of what I feel to be a simple and low cost method for successfully keeping the ghost orchid. I will post an update when I get everything setup.

Lastly, what I am least certain about is the ideal amount of light that is required for Dendrophylax lindenii. I plan on giving it roughly Phalaenopsis light but I would be grateful to hear others on the forum give advice on the appropriate light levels for this species.

-Loke

[WaterWitchin]

Can't give any advice, as I don't grow the plant. But Welcome to Orchid Board! I do know some folks here grow it.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by LokeLeaflessandPleuros

My ghost orchid project:

According to the vendor, I will be receiving a different plant than that I originally posted a photo of, but the good news is, this plant is slightly larger, appears to have more plantlets and has lots of root tips in active growth (see photo one).

The orchid's cork bark mount will be made thinner by removing a layer of the back of the cork bark (Dremel tool will be used) so the plant can be mounted closer to the hickory bark log the plant will be mounted to. I have ordered a hickory bark log from Etsy and I am excited that I was so easily able to find the perfect mount for my new Dendrophylax lindenii (see photo two). I will cut the log in half or possibly into a third so that the length is 12" and the horizontal width of the bark surface is 6".

The orchid and its hickory bark slab will be suspended so that the bottom of the log rests just above the surface of the water layer in the bottom of the base of the glass cylinder terrarium. The purified water in the bottom of the glass cylinder terrarium will be full of live sphagnum moss (photo three) to increase the surface area of the water and increase evaporation to boost humidity.

The glass cylinder itself is 30" tall so even the very top of the hickory log will be approximately 15-16" below the rim of the cylinder so humidity will not be a problem. The glass cylinder is pictured in photo four. This cylinder is much taller than the one I used previously so I feel it will effectively maintain stale, humid air in the bottom half of the cylinder. Most of the time I will have a circular piece of aluminum screen kept on top of the terrarium to keep out pests such as slugs and snails and the cylinder will be set on top of an upside-down pot that is positioned in the middle of a plant saucer full of water to create a moat to keep out pests such as aphids and spider mites. I also have malathion on hand which I may use as a preventative once a month or so at a very low concentration just in case. Since my location is not that far from the habitat of the ghost orchid, I will keep my ghost orchid outside unless temperatures go below 45F.

As for water, I plan to use distilled water, rain water or Icelandic (as mentioned before since Icelandic bottled water has a high pH and some beneficial minerals while having a low concentration of dissolved solids. I will either use a 50/50 mix of rain water and distilled water or a 50/50 mix of Icelandic and distilled water. Due to what I anticipate will be high humidity, I do not anticipate having to water more than once per week during November - March and I might mist my plant every day during the remainder of the year. I will fertilize with MSU orchid fertilizer every other watering from April-October and once per week during the cooler months (photo five).

So, that is my plan to hopefully have success in cultivating and blooming a ghost orchid. This technique worked for me before for a good four months but due to a personal crisis I stopped taking care of the orchid and it died. I am confident that with diligent care I will have success this time. From what I have read, the plant I will be receiving is near blooming size so I may have a bloom in a year or two. I realize this explanation is a bit dry and pedantic but I feel it provides a useful explanation of what I feel to be a simple and low cost method for successfully keeping the ghost orchid. I will post an update when I get everything setup.

Lastly, what I am least certain about is the ideal amount of light that is required for Dendrophylax lindenii. I plan on giving it roughly Phalaenopsis light but I would be grateful to hear others on the forum give advice on the appropriate light levels for this species.

-Loke

I found this delightful article written by a successful grower in the Chicago area. (I mention his location purely for the latitude.) There is mention of light levels in it that are different than what you are planning.
A Ghostly Success in a Most Unlikely Place: Another Ghost Story

[LokeLeaflessandPleuros]

Thank you all for your responses and for the article Dusty Ol' Man. That is very helpful and I will put that in my favorites and keep everyone up-to-date on my project.

One other plan I have is to take bark, moss and lichen samples from my parent's yard in South Florida and inoculate my orchid with these to help hopefully give it beneficial fungi to help it do well even though I have read that this is crucial in young plantlets.

-Michael

[tmoney]

well, best of luck with your project! i had 2 true ghost orchids in the terrarium, both very tiny that i paid almost 10 each for. they were doing great all summer and i thought all the talk of killing at least 10 before you get one to go was just talk. well, about 2 weeks ago i noticed they were looking a little pale and week, and less than a week later both were completely dead. nothing about the conditions or care changed, so im not sure what happened that caused both to die abruptly at the same time, but whatever small change occurred they didn’t like it and now i have 0 ghost orchids. i was particularly surprised at how quickly they died and that they both did it exactly on time together. makes me think that our water supplier changed something in the water supply for winter or something. oh well, following your project to hopefully do better next time!

[camille1585]

Welcome back to Orchidboard!

Accounts are automatically deactivated if there is no activity on it for a certain period (I think it's 1 year). If you'd like, send me a PM with your old username and I can reactivate it for you and merge your 2 accounts. If you forgot the password of your old account I can also reset it for you.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by LokeLeaflessandPleuros

Hello all! I am not new to the forums but have not had any luck accessing my old account so I am back under a new account. I have been growing orchids for 25 years since I was a kid and the ghost orchid has always captivated me, as I am a Floridian and I read the book "The Orchid Thief" back in the late 90s. I have also seen this species in situ on two separate occasions.

I have a good bit of experience with Dendrophylax lindenii but I am hoping for some more detailed information from experts on how to care for this species during the winter rest period? Is such treatment even necessary to keep the plant healthy? Wikipedia has some excellent information on cultivation of this species and the entry states that blooming is prompted by winter rest conditions. Please help me out here. Let's get as technical and pedantic as we can. Thank you and I am glad to be back.

-Loke

Here is a link to the Keith Davis article mentioned in the other article I posted for you. Another fun read.
Dendrophylax lindenii - The Ghost Orchid

[tmoney]

Originally Posted by Dusty Ol' Man

Here is a link to the Keith Davis article mentioned in the other article I posted for you. Another fun read.
Dendrophylax lindenii - The Ghost Orchid

well, wish i woulda read all that before trying to grow the ghost orchids! maybe we will try again with them in the future. thanks for posting the links...