I bought a bunch of Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' plants for resale. I have never been too good at growing them, but frankly, I'm not that "turned on" by them in the first place, so probably haven't tried that hard.

One - apparentrly - fell off of a bench and landed in an empty S/H pot on the greenhouse floor in a location I couldn't see very well. It rooted and spiked, and I didn't even know it until the flower peeked over the top of the plants on the bench.

So basically, it is established in S/H culture, getting watered along with everything else in the greenhouse, and is doing great.

I suppose I'm starting to take a liking to the plant, after all.

Funny, I think they "grow" on you...I never liked them and all of a sudden in the past year or 2 have collected 3 or 4 of them and enjoy them.

I think the yellows are pretty attractive but I'm scared of that species for some reason. Very intimidating.gb

If you understand that Psychopsis are slow growers, and you don't fall into the trap of thinking that you can hurry them up, you should be fine with Psychopsis. They are intermediate - warm growing, (they don't really like temperatures below 60 F for nighttime temperatures), and like indirect bright light. Psychopsis papilio is a sequential bloomer, and will bloom from the same spike for years.

You'll know if the plant is not getting enough light because the brown mottled markings on the leaves will fade to green. The pseudobulbs will also turn brown with adequate lighting.

To me, that little growth is another pseudobulb on the Psychopsis.

Yeah, and it does look like it is over potted as well.

Good thing you switched out the sphag for wood chips or CHC, (not sure what it's currently in). These do like to dry out between waterings. They rot very quickly if overwatered, (once the damage is done, it is very difficult to salvage because of how slow they grow).

It is fun to note that in order to tell the difference between the different species and/or hybrids of Psychopsis, it is all about the details, because at first glance, they all look alike...

Be prepared to bust out a magnifying glass and maybe even a ruler, 'cause you'll be looking at the plant from flower to vegetation. (Hint: Look at the appendages and dentition of of the column and lip, as well as the spike...)

Thanks for the replies. I put it back into the same pot it was in. I didn't want to re-pot but it was in sphagg and probably never dry out. Hopefully it won't hurt it. Thanks again for the help :)

Cheryl