Ludisia Discolor Never Rooted

[ThePlantAddict]

I purchased this orchid maybe over a little over a year ago from a vendor at the Miami Orchid Festival. When I brought it home to repot, to my surprise it didn't have any roots which would be fine if that was how it was advertised, but I was under the impression that I was purchasing an already established orchid. Anyway, I was told you can kinda stick these in some soil and they will grow; honestly I didn't do enough research on this one.

Since then, it has grown new leaves, but quickly dropped them, hanging on for dear life; poor girl! Finally today I pulled up the stems to find it still hasn't rooted; what a surviver! I'm going to do some more researching, but if anyone has some tips on how to get this poor baby that I have sadly neglected to root, I would appreciate your advice.

-Embarrassed Bad Plant Mama

P.S. I hope this is the best thread for this. I may also post in propagation.

[Arizona Jeanie]

Hello Plant Addict!
I'm not an expert, I'm sure you'll hear from others with more experience, but here's a little bit. I also had trouble getting Ludisia to root. What finally worked for me was learning that Ludisia normally spreads from stolons--like bermuda grass. Instead of putting the cutting up-and-down in the medium, I laid it down sideways, barely covered it, and kept it pretty moist in terrestrial orchid mix. It was still quite slow, but eventually rooted and grew. I now have a full pot, and lots of complements on those lovely leaves.
They do tend to lose the lower leaves on each stem, but I think that's normal. It was my fourth try that finally grew, don't give up on it!

[Ray]

Personally, I find they do best in sphagnum moss, apparently not caring about soppiness.

[ThePlantAddict]

This makes a lot of sense. It's a good example of how knowing a bit about how the plant behaves in its natural habitat can help with propagation. I'll give it a try. I found some YouTube videos of people saying they root it in water, so maybe I'll try one in water and one horizontally. Thank you for the help.

[Paul]

I don't do straight potting soil with these. In nature they grow amongst the leaf litter as I recall.

I have used straight, loose sphag, as well as fine bark with a bit of sphag, and even medium grade perlite+bark (larger grade as for catts or phals)+just a little bit of garden soil all with success. So they are pretty flexible with media. As was mentioned, plant the stems horizontally and shallowly.
Then try to be patient.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I agree with Arizona Jeanie, lay the stems horizontally, and somewhat shallow.

Covering with a cm or two of medium is fine. You can hold in place with a stone or two to keep the cutting in place until it roots.
I use a layered approach to potting medium, in a plastic pot. Go large on the pot, as L.d. has a tendency to spread and become more of a hanging basket plant. A plastic hanging basket actually works well. Bottom layer (1/3 pot depth) should be a material that drains well, I like 50% medium to coarse bark -50% styrofoam chips, roughly same size as the bark. Middle 1/3 of the pot, medium bark. Top 1/3 of the pot, an organic-rich potting mix (African violet potting mix, Pro-mix, or a seed starting mix, with added coarse sand or perlite, works well).

Keep it moist, and L.d. should grow well. Keep it on the shady side, I don't recommend direct sun. Mine blooms reliably each year.

[vlhart]

I just bought a ludisia discolor hybrid at a show in a similar condition--I didn't realize at the time I was getting a cutting/unestablished plant which is a bummer. For those recommending to lay the plant horizontally--is that because it will send out roots from the segments in the stem? Should it be cut in any way?

[Paul]

Originally Posted by vlhart

For those recommending to lay the plant horizontally--is that because it will send out roots from the segments in the stem?

Yes.

Also, by their nature, they are ramblers growing amongst leaf litter.

No cuts are necessary.