Quote:
Originally Posted by Optimist
Hi orchid whisperer are the warm growing wetland bog like jewel orchids or are they cool growing like masdevlia? I'm wondering because I am trying to build a cool masdevallia environment.
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1. Jewel Orchids do not necessarily come from bogs.
Many of the commonly grown Jewel Orchids come from wet forests - not bogs.
There are many in-situ photos of a few Jewel Orchids. Notice they are not sitting in water. Sure, they grow in wet areas, but they are also places that are very airy.
They grow on
forest floors as terrestrial or lithophytes with their roots often buried in
leaf litter.
2. Masdevallias don't grow in bogs either. Some are cool growing. The majority are intermediate growing. A few are warm growing. They do not all grow in the same type of environment. Some grow drier, while some grow wetter.
You need to research what kinds of Masdevallias you're interested in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdupont
Hey all! So, I was at a local nursery today and noticed a tag that said habenaria, pretty cool! Anybody know anything about this species, or genus? I don't have much experience with NA terrestrial orchids. Thanks!
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Platantheras are generally difficult to grow at current.
Much of their habitat information is rather poorly described and may not be particularly accurate. Each Platanthera grows in specific environments. Even growing them out of seed using in-vitro asymbiotic methods are difficult, because from what I've been told, each species has specific needs in order to get some germination at all.
One thing is for certain, they are terrestrial orchids.
Platanthera blephariglottis may not come from bogs. It may be that these are growing in wet grasslands.
The soil may be seasonally wet, but no standing water may be present.
I don't know too much about what the proper potting media should be, but I can tell you their life cycle.
1. They start growing during the spring.
2. They continue to grow during the summer.
3. They bloom in late summer to fall.
4. The leaves start to die back about 1 month after blooming.
5. They start producing new tuberoids.
6. The tuberoids will continue to mature until the older portion of the plant dies back completely.
7. The plant is completely dormant starting late fall - early spring.
8. Do not water thoroughly during dormancy. Only water sparingly to keep the tuberoid hydrated.
9. Slowly resume watering with the onset of new growth during the start of the new growth cycle.
They can rot easily if you over water them, but they shrivel easily if they're under watered. It is better to underwater slightly than to over water and rot the roots/tuberoids out.
The name of the game is to not rot the tuberoids out before it's their time to naturally die.
They grow in moderately bright indirect light as per Oncidiums.
Make sure the potting media retains moisture and drains freely.
If you wanted to grow an easier Habenaria, your best bet would've been to start off with
Habenaria erichmichaelii - (green dorsal sepal/lateral sepals/petals with pink lip),
Habenaria rhodocheila - (green dorsal sepal/lateral sepals/petals & red-orange lip),
Habenaria xanthocheila - (completely yellow), or
Habenaria roebelenii - (completely orange), and there is a completely pink form of "Habenaria rhodocheila".