Just when you thought it was time to throw in the towel...

[Leafmite]

Angraecum leonis. Granted, it was a small seedling when I bought it but how many years, I thought, did it take to reach blooming size? I finally have a spike!

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Sonya, if you have some genius with Masdevallias that I don't let me know! I've killed one and have two nearly dead ones. I am going to repot my veitchiana again, in hopes that this will save it, but my hopes for it are not high.

No, sorry, I don't - I mostly just think that it's happier when it isn't summer, despite that I believe it should be (at least somewhat) warmth tolerant. It did seem to fare better the first summer I had it (summer before last), but this last summer, it seemed that nearly every day was at least 90 degrees

Oh, and now that I am thinking about it, I have a Phal that completely crown rotted (but had good roots) about 5 years ago. It started a basal growth shortly after, and initially grew quickly, but after a few months really sloooowed, and until just a few months ago, never held more than two leaves at a time, After caring for it all these years, I'm hesitant to toss it, but don't know if it will ever bloom!

[The Mutant]

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

I like that story! Here's a pic of Paph parishii I found through Google image search. Wow. You've got some taste in orchids, girl!

It's absolutely gorgeous, isn't it? We'll see if I ever manage to flower mine though.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Maybe we should start a thread 'why are my Masdies so poor looking' I'm with you 2 in that department. I know my problem isn't to warm except perhaps in summer when the sun shines on the pots early morning.

I also have a couple of rescues on there way back. One phal my first ever keiki and a wilsonara. I hope to bloom them again some day, but it sure won't be soon.

[RandomGemini]

You should see what's left of mine. I went to repot it yesterday and discovered that it had already divided itself. It has 7 good roots and three leaves left. It looks pathetic in its pudding cup. I hope it surprises me like this mini Phal has.

This is what my masdevallia veitchiana looks like right now:

I have him sitting next to my dancing Groot in hopes that Groot will bring it good karma!

[My Green Pets]

Masdevallias need really high humidity don't they? Like eighty percent and up?

[RandomGemini]

I have one I am attempting to not kill in my terrarium and I have no clue why it's dying. It's doing the same thing that veitchiana did to me though, dropping leaves like mad. It's in 80-90% humidity really consistently.

[My Green Pets]

Could it be air movement then?

[RandomGemini]

I thought so, but I have a fan running in my office where the veitchiana was grown and a small one in my terrarium for air movement. I moved the erinacea up in my terrarium to get it a bit more air two weeks ago. We'll see what happens. The veitchiana looked like it was suffering from some kind of fungal infection that I could not get ahead of with Physan. I feel like I am cursed with Masdevallias. I should be able to grow them here. They like it cooler and more humid around the root mass. The grower I bought the veitchiana from told me he grows it like a paph, but with more light, but that wasn't wet enough. So now, I am trying the method I used with my bulbo. Pudding cup. Hydroton layered under peat, under chunky bark, topped with sphagnum moss to wick water upwards, without getting it directly on the roots. We'll see how it goes.

[bil]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

No, sorry, I don't - I mostly just think that it's happier when it isn't summer, despite that I believe it should be (at least somewhat) warmth tolerant. It did seem to fare better the first summer I had it (summer before last), but this last summer, it seemed that nearly every day was at least 90 degrees

Oh well, that's Masdevallias crossed off my list. It's routinely 120 here in summer.