Dendrophylax Lindenii (ghost orchid) in bloom

[Calbears]

[naoki]

Originally Posted by TOMMYMIAMI

Hi everyone
question, WHERE CAN I GET ONE, I am now trying actually to collect Florida native orchids, and this one is on my list for sure, however no luck finding it online or somewhere to buy:-( I would love to have one so bad. Thanks for any info

Oak Hill Gardens has tiny seedlings. Spring Water Orchids (via ebay) occasionally have some. HBI is another source for flask: HBI, Producer of Fine Orchids in Flask There is another person who sells flasks via ebay.

[DaRealKevinGibson]

WOW!!! A ghost orchid!! You actually kinda did it!!! GO GO GO!!!! I hope it worked out for you!

---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

I must say again FINALLY someone who has SUCCESSFULLY made a Dendrophylax lindenii bloom!!!! You should post a guide Aaron for the rest of us!!!! You da man!!!!

[RosieC]

Really cool!

[kindrag23]

Originally Posted by TOMMYMIAMI

Hi everyone
question, WHERE CAN I GET ONE, I am now trying actually to collect Florida native orchids, and this one is on my list for sure, however no luck finding it online or somewhere to buy:-( I would love to have one so bad. Thanks for any info

This is so cool looking Im with Mr. Miami where are they available?

[aaronsaxton]

The only way to get one is to grow one. Not many left in the wild - and poachers are destroying what is left - they will die if removed form the wild, this is what poachers find out the hard way.

The sad thing is, if the poacher knew how to look after a Ghost Orchid and what it takes, they would know that taking one from the wild will be a certainty of 100% failure. Poaching is for the short sighted criminals who do not know how to actually grow the orchid anyway - as if somehow it will magically be all OK if they just remove it with part of the tree - it won't.

There are a few guides out there about the ghost orchid Dendrophylax Lindenii on how to grow them and I disagree with them all.

The reason I disagree with them is they are general instructions like the kind you may get with a car, but a car in cold, snow conditions does not drive like a car in summertime.

And the same is for the Ghost Orchid, you have to understand how it metabolizes and how it works as a species of plant to successfully grow it.

Super high humidity is great if you have it on cork - terrible if you have it on bark; this is just one example.

Another example might be great to have it at 90 degrees if you have 3,000 PPM CO2, terrible idea if you have it at 90 degrees and only 350 PPM.

I hope my point is very clear.

If you want to grow it successfully I can do a guide and I am certain you will succeed, but this will change depending upon your conditions so I have to factor that in.

The real question is what environment can you provide for it in terms of lighting, seasons, space & from there a guide could be written.

First and foremost I grew mine in an artificial environment that others may not be able to replicate due to space requirements, lack of CO2 injection ability etc. etc.

My Ghost Orchid is small, and has only just recovered from blooming, and now new roots are growing - they can and do die from the energy they use for flowering, so understanding how to recover it is vital as I know one other person who had it flower, then die which is tragic.

[GardenTheater]

For those of us without scientific instruments and equipment, here are links to people who have flowered Dendrophylax lindenii using pretty standard orchid culture.
Dendrophylax lindenii - Page 2 - Slippertalk Orchid Forum- The best slipper orchid forum for paph, phrag and other lady slipper orchid discussion!
Another Ghost Story
Oak Hill sells seedlings. I'm curious to see how long I can keep them alive with my happy Aerangis on my windowsill. My windowsill has pretty good humidity. They're alive 16 days so far. Lol. I'm trying to figure out how to give them more light. They all could die any moment. There are multiple plants on the mounts and some have died before arrival. Oak Hill will continue to propagate more. For me it was worth the money just to get a close look at them under a magnifying glass. I also enjoyed reading about all the different ways people culture them and have Everglade City weather updates on my iPad. It's the closest report I could find to where they grow in the wild. In that area, humidity can drop below 50% in the afternoon (gasp). Hope others jump in and try to grow the cultivated seedlings. It is fun and you might even come up with a new way to grow them. Worst case they die and you buy a different orchid or try again.

[aaronsaxton]

Remember while the humidity may drop off in the everglades, the bark behind the plant has absorbed moisture and is feeding those roots. This piece of information has been poorly understood in its actual context, meaning some growers of Ghost Orchids think they can have for half a day 50% humidity. But it is not true.

Moisture is trickling down the bark and up the bark internally providing moisture as the trees respire - they do this during day light hours.

If your seedlings experience low humidity like this, they will certainly die. Seedlings often are found nestled in crooks of the bark where moisture feeds the plant - and remember almost none of the Ghost Orchid Seedlings actually survive in the wild.

Do not worry about light - worry about the humidity - especially at night you need lots of it as in nature that is when the stomata open and CO2 absorption takes place. I will reiterate this, the Stomata are NOT open during the day! Many people fester over their Ghost Orchids during the day - but the stomata are closed! If it is not humid enough at night, the plant keeps its stomata shut to avoid moisture loss through respiration and breaths itself dry and dies.

Some people spray the orchid during the day, see the roots are green and think everything is OK - but not the case.

If you are growing your Ghost Orchids in a house that has temperature control, I would not bother, the A/C will maintain certain humidity levels and temp which the Ghost Orchid needs none of - it needs varying temps and high humidity.

Water it early morning, late evening is best.

I grew mine inside a house, but in a chamber conditioned - outside of the chamber, it would have died. For a period of 4 weeks I had it outside the chamber while I was doing fixes but kept it in the house - I lost 30% of my root mass in loss/death in a few weeks.

Most orchids have tolerances that allow you to grow them in a wide variety of conditions through slow adaptation and metabolism adjustments.

The Ghost Orchid is not one of them. At all.

[GardenTheater]

Aaron, thanks for sharing your knowledge. The humidity does rise in the window at night. I think the ghosts would be dead by now, along with the Aerangis, if we ran AC or heat all day. The climate is mild so we seldom use either. I'm located between an ocean and a bay and relative humidity stays pretty high. It's definitely not ideal culture, but it's pretty close to what the two links mentioned. Like I said, for me, it was worth the money to look at them under a magnifying glass. They will likely die and I will have enjoyed the experience. Oak Hill will propagate and sell more.

---------- Post added at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 AM ----------

Forgot to mention, I am taking periodic photos of them to compare over time. It's a good way to see growth or decline on something so tiny. Will post when I have a chance.

Aaron thanks again for the information. I'll definitely watch the humidity levels, particularly in the evening/night.

[bethmarie]

Spectacular! What a bloom!