Angraecum sesquipidale outdoors in Massachusetts USA?

[gdupont]

I have a blooming size Angraecum sesquipidale, it's about 16 inches tall with about an 18 inch leaf span (9 inches per side).

I'm thinking it might like it outside in the summer but I don't quite understand the best conditions for it. I see some sources saying it likes high light because it grows on the top of canopies in the wild, but other places say bright light and partial shade. I'm pretty sure it's warm to hot growing, but then other places say intermediate.

Right now, daytime temps are around 78F and nighttime temps are around 55F. I have tons of direct sun that reaches into the low 90s on the hottest days right now. Those temperatures all shift up by about 5-10F on average in the heart of the summer. The summer is typically pretty dry – we don't water our lawn and it bakes in the heat and browns during July and into August.

I've seen Roberta on here saying it's a low-elevation plant and away from the coast so it likes heat and doe not like temps below 50F. Might 55F be a sweet spot then, or is it too cold?

Right now it's growing indoors where the temperature is constantly 70-75F. It's in a room with sky light windows, so it's bright in there but not direct sun and not bright enough to see a crisp shadow when my hand is 12 inches above the plant.

Thanks.

[Arne]

It will really like to be outdoors where you live. It likes a lot of light but direct sunlight will burn the leaves. Dappled sunlight is great. It likes heat but is very forgiving of temperature.

It really doesn't like to be repotted.

[gdupont]

Originally Posted by Arne

It will really like to be outdoors where you live. It likes a lot of light but direct sunlight will burn the leaves. Dappled sunlight is great. It likes heat but is very forgiving of temperature.

It really doesn't like to be repotted.

Thanks so much for this Arne.

I got it from OrchidWeb 2-3 years ago. It's in sphagnum moss. I'm tempted to repot it because some of the roots look dead, and also because I think growing with sphagnum outside is risky because the sphagnum can get too wet and stay wet for too long and get cold too. But I also have an Angraecum eburneum I've had for 13 years that just died on me when I repotted it for the first time in about 6 years! So I'm not sure what to do. Any advice?

[estación seca]

It grows from the beach, in palm trees, to pretty far up the mountains. Your summer nightly lows are fine. But in most of the places it grows in sun, there's always a strong onshore breeze to keep the leaves cool. I would suggest dappled sun most of the time.

And, just like people, you need to acclimate it to higher light in the spring/summer so it doesn't sunburn from a sudden exposure.

[Roberta]

I'd lean toward dappled sun/bright shade. Also, in nature it gets a lot of cloud cover, so even when growing in an exposed area it's not getting intense sun. (I did see it growing in Madagascar, it was a pretty shady area) Outdoor temps should be fine in summer... I'd bering in once nights get down to 55 deg F or so. Another thing to think about with regard to light, duration - your summer days are long (much longer that what it would get near the equator) So another reason to not overdo it on light.

I'd skip the repotting, just don't overwater. Once temperatures get really warm, you can increase the watering. Again, it grows in areas that are rather "mossy", and it gets lots of rain. So warm and wet is fine. If chilly, back off on the water.

[Keysguy]

Do NOT go to direct sun if it has been growing indoors.
Start with 2-3 hours of low angle morning sun (that's 6-9 AM now) for a couple weeks. You can add 1 hour every 2 weeks but I wouldn't want it in the sun past noon even fully hardened. Find a spot where you can get this exposure then be shaded but still be getting bright light. If you just throw it out in the sun for the day it will be toast by dinner time.

In New England my recipe works because the odds of getting 4 to 5 full sunny mornings in a row is about nil. In other places you shouldn't even do this.

You don't say whether or not it's potted so if it is and it has exposed roots or is just kept bare rooted Water the heck out of it every morning to help cool it and keep it hydrated. If exposed roots above/around the pot, figure out a way to do that w/o constantly soaking the media. If you do, the roots in the pot will rot because they're not getting enough air for that amount of watering.

It will also appreciate rain if it has been watered with anything other than that.

On the other hand if you can get some 60% shade cloth------ cover it and you can put it out on the beach for the day.

[Dalachin]

I live in central NY, similar climate… I had my two angraecum sesquipedales on an east facing porch in a partially shaded position for a summer, and they did okay. At that time they were in a spagnum/bark mix. After that I moved them to leca with a resevoir, and they started growing a much stronger root system. They do really like water, I keep the reservoirs full. I also think they like a breeze, outdoors they get that, indoors I have them near fans.

I recently wrote a blog post about the plant that bloomed for me this spring, there’s a link in my signature. Good luck it is worth it when they bloom- a tiny piece of Madagascar in your home!