Dracula Simia conditions

[greysister23]

I got a Dracula Simia for my birthday shipped from a nursery, and it came with a care sheet. So I know, good airflow, sphagnum moss to keep it damp because they like humidity, fertilize at 1/4 strength, it prefers low light.

How low light do these guys prefer? I keep trying to find a place it would do well in and then I think no, that's not good, they need some light/less possible direct light. The care sheet said "1200 foot candles are adequate" and I have no idea what that means.

I'm using a 20-14-13 fertilizer at 1tsp/gal for my other orchids. So, would I mix 1/4 tsp in a gallon for the Drac?

It says they should stay at 60% humidity. That mostly has to do with the roots in the sphagnum moss, correct?

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

[RandomGemini]

It won't spike if the air around the plant isn't humid. I don't know if just potting it in moss will be sufficient, but for some folks, in their growing environments, it is. Mine is too dry and I had to move my dracula into a terrarium.

I wouldn't fertilize much, if at all. Maybe once a month? I would also flush the pot regularly to keep salts from
building up.

Use only distilled water, not tap (mine gets cranky about tap water and sulks).

You might try growing these like i do my masdevallia. It should work since they're in the same family. I'll try this method next if my dracula doesn't get happy in the terrarium.

Pot it up in a clay pot with pure new zealand sphagnum moss as the potting medium. You want to make sure the pot is porous clay, not glazed. Otherwise, this method won't work to keep the root zone cool. Water when the top of the moss gets slightly dry. Set the pot in a saucer of water. Not enough water to wet the roots, but just enough to keep the pot wet. Don't let the pot dry out.

As far as light, lower is better. If the leaves yellow at all, it's getting too much light.

[greysister23]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

It won't spike if the air around the plant isn't humid. I don't know if just potting it in moss will be sufficient, but for some folks, in their growing environments, it is. Mine is too dry and I had to move my dracula into a terrarium.

I wouldn't fertilize much, if at all. Maybe once a month? I would also flush the pot regularly to keep salts from
building up.

Use only distilled water, not tap (mine gets cranky about tap water and sulks).

You might try growing these like i do my masdevallia. It should work since they're in the same family. I'll try this method next if my dracula doesn't get happy in the terrarium.

Pot it up in a clay pot with pure new zealand sphagnum moss as the potting medium. You want to make sure the pot is porous clay, not glazed. Otherwise, this method won't work to keep the root zone cool. Water when the top of the moss gets slightly dry. Set the pot in a saucer of water. Not enough water to wet the roots, but just enough to keep the pot wet. Don't let the pot dry out.

As far as light, lower is better. If the leaves yellow at all, it's getting too much light.

It was shipped to me in a plastic net pot in sphagnum moss and packing peanuts on the bottom? I still have to re-pack the moss, but is the plastic net an okay pot?*

I was thinking about putting it in my room which faces the west. My apartment is kind of built into a hill so I only get sunlight through my window in the afternoon if it's a really sunny day. Is that sufficient? I would choose this room because it stays pretty humid, being the farthest from the air conditioner, but has airflow by virtue of a fan that's always running. How can I tell if it's not getting enough light?

Another problem is that I live in upstate New York, so it gets pretty dry during the winter, but it's humid in the summer. Would that be okay for them, or should I keep it in a terrarium during the winter?

[RandomGemini]

Being close to the AC is fine for these plants. They like to stay cooler in temperature than other orchids. They can get down into the 50s and still be happy as a clam. You don't want to let them get much warmer than about 85 degrees. They don't like that.

The net pot is probably fine for now, but the clay pot I am talking about is just a cheap terra cotta pot. You can find them at the hardware store for like 2$.

If it's not getting enough light, the leaves will be a very dark green and it won't grow as much.

I would place this plant a few inches away from an east facing window, preferably one that has a blind so that you can control the light a bit better.

You may want to get a CFL bulb to put into a floor lamp to supplement light for this in the winter when the days get shorter.

[greysister23]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Being close to the AC is fine for these plants. They like to stay cooler in temperature than other orchids. They can get down into the 50s and still be happy as a clam. You don't want to let them get much warmer than about 85 degrees. They don't like that.

The net pot is probably fine for now, but the clay pot I am talking about is just a cheap terra cotta pot. You can find them at the hardware store for like 2$.

If it's not getting enough light, the leaves will be a very dark green and it won't grow as much.

I would place this plant a few inches away from an east facing window, preferably one that has a blind so that you can control the light a bit better.

You may want to get a CFL bulb to put into a floor lamp to supplement light for this in the winter when the days get shorter.

The problem with the AC is that it takes out the humidity.

I do have several terra cotta pots, what size would you suggest?

My room usually has a cfl bulb on for my bird, and I do plan to get the bird a UVB bulb because he doesn't get enough sunlight. So, between some afternoon light from one window and the birds UVB light, I could adjust where it sits in the room to a comfortable lighting area. About how long would it take for the leaves to exhibit signs of "distaste" for the lighting?

[greysister23]

It hasn't done all that well in the east facing window. It turned yellow at the ends of the leaves, so I moved it halfway across the room in the path of the air conditioner. I'm working on getting a terrarium to set it up in.

[judith_arquette]

Good luck, please keep us posted

[RandomGemini]

I'm so sorry! For some reason I didn't get an email that this thread had been updated so I didn't see your post with your question!

You can do a terrarium, my dracula lotax is very happy in my terrarium, but as I recall, dracula simia is a much larger plant than lotax. So it will need a much larger terrarium.

As far as the terra cotta pot, in terms of size, choose a pot that is maybe a half inch bigger than the root ball of the plant. Pot it in loose sphagnum moss and keep the moss moist. The goal is to keep the clay pot wet, so that it's constantly evaporating and taking the temperature around the root zone of the plant down.

It *should* sunburn quickly if it's getting to much light, my lotax does. If you see the leaves yellowing or turning white, move it. It seems to do best with indirect light. I have my dracula partially shaded under a chunk of grapevine in my terrarium.

[greysister23]

That's ok! I figured it was a technical error lol

The terrarium I would be getting it is 12x12x18. It should be alright for now at the very least. My plant is relatively small.

They did trim some of the leaves before shipping and the ends are black, should I be worried? I think the black area is expanding with the little sunburn.

[RandomGemini]

My Lotax had some leaves like that too. I had a hard time getting this plant to a happy place. Nearly killed at least once. I would just leave them be. Mine died back fairly quickly and began growing healthy leaves.

My terrarium is also 12x12x18. Here's a pic of it. My dracula lotax is on the right side. Looks like grass growing out of the structure.