Ada Aurantiaca Culture?

[RandomGemini]

Just a question here... am I the only person on OB that is growing Ada Aurantiaca?

Mine is not thriving. I discovered that it needs a lot more water than I was giving it. It was potted in straight bark and I can't keep plants that like to be wet, wet enough in bark. So, I moved it to a mix of hydroton, bark and moss to help keep the roots damp and give it plenty of drainage so the moss won't compact. This is how I grow my masdevallia and bulbo. Then I set its plastic pot inside a clay pot, with some pebbles in the bottom of the clay pot to lift the plastic pot away from the bottom. I'm going to add some water to the saucer the clay pot is in to keep the pot wet, and hopefully help reduce temperatures around the roots on hot days this summer.

I'm not finding a ton about this species from other hobby growers and was hoping to find info about how someone else was successfully growing it in their home.

Thanks!

[Ray]

You're right about the water supply, but the biggest issue I have is providing enough light (cattleya levels), while keeping them cool enough. In their native habitat, they never get that high, staying upper-40's to mid-to-upper-60's all year.

The best success I've had is S/H culture in a clay pot, so the added evaporation cools things down, but it's still to warm in the summer.

[RandomGemini]

I have this sitting in a window next to my dendrobiums right now, but I wondered if moving it upstairs to join my oncidiums and cattleyas might not be a better move over the summer, because I can control the temperature better in there. The dendrobiums' happy place will get quite warm because that window is not shaded and light is not dappled at all.

I figured the important thing to do for now, was to correct the water issue and I could worry about light a bit later after I've determined if the lack of water is what was causing it to look so bad. Honestly, I'm surprised it's still alive. Fingers crossed the repotting works to get it to perk up. Once I think it's healthy enough to move upstairs, I'll do that and start acclimating it to my lights.

From what I have been reading about these, they're quite fussy, but it might do well if I move it downstairs next to the dendrobiums for the winter, and upstairs by my oncs and catts over the summer.