Help with a few oddballs

[MAli]

Hello,

I have some plants that I would like to ask a few specific questions about and google is not doing it for me. I am growing these inside paludariums so if anyone has kept some of these plants any input would be greatly appreciated. Getting information directly from someone who grew a plant is truly the best. I am mainly concerned with how close to the lights to keep them and just how moist they like their mount to be. Other things like flowering and any special needs would also be appreciated. OK enough talk here they are :
- Oeonia oncidiflora
- Dichaea muricata
- Dryadella edwallii
- Bulbophyllum contotisepalum
- Trichcentrum longicalcaratum
- Lockhartia oersteolii
- Chiloschista segawai
- Dendrobium dockrillia

I know it's a long list but I'll take what I get. Pictures say a thousand words

Thank you

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Trichocentrum longicalcaratum does well in high humidity situations. In lower humidity, they tend to have a difficult time thriving, particularly if you got them from Ecuagenera, where most of the specimens most likely have a poor root system - if they have any living viable roots at all. This one is an intermediate to warm growing Onc relative. I have had difficulties with this one because they almost always come in with horrible root systems. This is a South American species that most likely has a distribution range of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Dichaea muricata is probably one of the more difficult ones in your group of orchids. They need high humidity, and are intermediate to warm growing. Low humidity situations hurt them a lot. Large swings in humidity also do them in. They like it a bit more stable. Moderately bright indirect light is good enough for them. It's quite possible that they experience seasonal year round moisture - (it's difficult to describe, but my best explanation is moist during falls/winters, and even more moist during springs/summers). Best mounted. Do know, many Dichaea species are extremely difficult to grow in cultivation in the long run. Probably from areas within Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Chiloschista segawai is like many other Chiloschista spp., a pain to get the watering correct. Too wet and they rot. Too dry and they become desiccated. Too low a humidity and they slowly pine. What makes it worse is that they have a seasonal rain pattern. Year round moisture, but less during the fall/winters, more during the springs/summers. It is easy to kill them off during the fall/winter by over watering. I prefer not to use moss on the mounts with these. I have tried to grow these with moss on the mounts and they've all died as a result. They are easier to grow than the true Ghost Orchid, however, but only by a fairly small margin. Chilioschista are from tropical Asia.

Dendrobium dockrilla is actually an inhabitant of the semi-arid deserts of Australia.

I would imagine Bulbophyllum contortisepalum is like growing many other types of Bulbophyllum. I recommend growing mounted with some moss on the mount. Moderate to high humidity. Intermediate to warm growing. Likes moderate to good air circulation. Bright shade to moderately bright indirect light. This species of Bulbophyllum is from tropical Southeast Asia.

Dryadella edwallii would require even year round moisture, intermediate temperatures, moderate to high humidity, and shade to bright shade. I'd grow them mounted. If you've never grown any kind of Pleurothallid mounted before, it could be a bit of a learning curve.

[MAli]

Thank you for your response. I was beginning to give up on this thread. I really appreciate your help.

You are right about the Trichocentrum longicalcaratum I did get it from Ecugenera I haven't checked out the roots because it was flowering when I got it and I did not want to disturb it. Well it decided to shoot another spike and there is a third just starting So why move it right ? I have a thing with plastic pots in my tanks and I can be a bit obsessive with this stuff. If it's going in one of my tanks it needs to be mounted. That's why I am asking help with and you have delivered. Thanks again

I have another Dichaea but it's a NOID. Looks identical but the guy who gave them to me said it was different. He had them for at least five years but never flowered them and thought they might prefer my tanks instead of his greenhouse. So far I'm not sure he was right. Thanks for the info on this one too.

The Chiloschista segawai I have two of one on tree fern and the other on driftwood both no moss. What a coincidence as I totally guessed about the moss. I reall can't tell how these buggers are doing. Could be alive and happy or could be dying or already dead. I cant really tell.

The Dendrobium Dockrilla I actually have it right at the top close to the lights and in a dry spot. Good ??

With the Bulbophyllum I figured as much but I wanted to make sure it didn't need any special needs. This little guy was quite expensive.

The Dryadella edwallii I have mounted on a tree fern (above the Chiloschista segawai) with sphagnum moss. So no drying out between watering ??

I was warned about a couple of these that I might not find any literature on them. I do want to ask about lighting. When something is described as " bright indirect light" , is that considering the fact that I'm using T5HO as opposed to natural sunlight ? Would I have to put it in a "brighter" spot in the tank to make up for the lack of real sunlight ??

Sorry if I'm not making sense

Anyways...... come on people I know you go more for me

Thank you

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by MAli

Thank you for your response. I was beginning to give up on this thread. I really appreciate your help.

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by MAli

You are right about the Trichocentrum longicalcaratum I did get it from Ecugenera I haven't checked out the roots because it was flowering when I got it and I did not want to disturb it. Well it decided to shoot another spike and there is a third just starting So why move it right ? I have a thing with plastic pots in my tanks and I can be a bit obsessive with this stuff. If it's going in one of my tanks it needs to be mounted. That's why I am asking help with and you have delivered. Thanks again

Mine are mounted. Have yet to grow roots.

Originally Posted by MAli

I have another Dichaea but it's a NOID. Looks identical but the guy who gave them to me said it was different. He had them for at least five years but never flowered them and thought they might prefer my tanks instead of his greenhouse. So far I'm not sure he was right. Thanks for the info on this one too.

Vegetatively speaking, some Dichaea spp. tend to look alike. The only way to tell 2 Dichaea species that grow similarly vegetatively is by the flowers. Since you and whoever you got them from haven't flowered them before, I can't say for certain whether your NOID is truly a different species from Dichaea muricata or not.

Originally Posted by MAli

The Chiloschista segawai I have two of one on tree fern and the other on driftwood both no moss. What a coincidence as I totally guessed about the moss. I reall can't tell how these buggers are doing. Could be alive and happy or could be dying or already dead. I cant really tell.

Since you're in the northern hemisphere, you're still in winter, which means they're laying dormant. It's difficult to tell what they're going to do right now. You will have to wait until late spring to know.

Originally Posted by MAli

The Dendrobium Dockrilla I actually have it right at the top close to the lights and in a dry spot. Good ??

I don't know what your growing conditions for the Den dockrilla is truly like, so I can't say yay or nay for certain. But suffice it to say, bright light and humidity of around 50% is good enough. From what I've seen in photos of them growing in the wild, they're lithophytic orchids that are usually exposed to quite a bit of light.

Originally Posted by MAli

With the Bulbophyllum I figured as much but I wanted to make sure it didn't need any special needs. This little guy was quite expensive.

I can imagine. They're still fairly new to the market.

Originally Posted by MAli

The Dryadella edwallii I have mounted on a tree fern (above the Chiloschista segawai) with sphagnum moss. So no drying out between watering ??

Dry to dampness unless you see the leaves shriveling. If you see the leaves shriveling, then increase the frequency of the watering.

Originally Posted by MAli

I was warned about a couple of these that I might not find any literature on them.

Dichaea spp. are notorious for not having any reliable information on them. That's part of the difficulty with growing these. You're probably better off growing Dichaea glauca, which I've actually seen quite a few in-situ photos of.

I forgot to mention...

I vaguely recall that Dichaea muricata or Dichaea pendula may actually be a lithophyte/epiphyte in the wild (not sure which species - forgot). It's been a while since I checked up on this, so you may have to investigate further to validate this info.

Your problem is also that not many orchid growers grow the species you mention. If they do, and they do it successfully, some will not outright divulge any information to you on purpose.

Originally Posted by MAli

I do want to ask about lighting. When something is described as " bright indirect light" , is that considering the fact that I'm using T5HO as opposed to natural sunlight ? Would I have to put it in a "brighter" spot in the tank to make up for the lack of real sunlight ??

My descriptions of lighting are based on approximations of natural lighting. With regards to lighting using light bulbs/tubes, I'd say that most of these fluorescent type lights provide adequate lighting without having to worry about burning a good number of your plants unless you place the more shade loving plants super close to the lights. I'd recommend a meter that gives you a numeric value in order to get a better grasp of the actual lighting situation of your tank.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Btw, I've never grown the other 2 species that you mentioned:

Lockhartia oerstedii
Oeonia oncidiflora

Can't really say much about their cultivation through experience, but I did find something in regards to Lockhartia oerstedii that may be of some help to you with this link:

Lockhartia oerstedii

I also found a photo of the environment that the Oeonia oncidiflora may be growing in in this link to someone's Flickr photo stream:

Mantadia National Park. Périnet. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[MAli]

The last two I have not been able to find anything more than photographs at best and I'm not sure if I've sen those pictures before. Either way I like them. Too bad what you said about some not wanting to share their success. I chose to stay naive and believe their are still lots of good friendly people out there willing to share their wealth of knowledge. That's just me though So far at least one person has proven me right.

BTW a few days ago I got to see a Dendrobium dockrilla flowering. The flowers were larger and more fleshy than I expected. Deep darker red in color and there were two coming out of the same spot. Pretty cool looking.

I will try to post pictures of how I am growing them and try to keep a record of progress made.

Thanks again