Bulbophyllum Elizabeth Ann 'Buckleberry' - am I doing it right?

[greenochre]

Hi! I'm an orchid newbie and recently bought my first Bulbophyllum - Elizabeth Ann 'Buckleberry'.
I put it in coco coir basket with orchid mix, but I don't know if it's the right thing. Should bulbs and roots be buried in the substrate, or rather be on top of it? What does the new growth look like?

I live in Barcelona - my air humidity is very high, the temperature at winter is 21-23 Celcius at the daytime and about 15 Celsius at night. I water it every 3-4 days by submerging the basket in the bowl with water + some fertilizer, this is enough to not let the sphagnum in the substrate become completely dry.

I don't have natural light at all, unfortunately, so I put it under the grow lights among other plants.

Advice is very welcome!

[Keysguy]

You've got the right idea but my opinion is that it's "over-potted". I think it will do better if you can get a smaller plastic net basket. Most orchids do better when they are tightly potted. Eventually it will crawl out of the pot and let you know when it wants to move up a pot size.

I grow my bulbo's in those plastic net pots. I also line it with coir but I pull it apart gently (think stretching the coir) so that it is porous yet dense enough to prevent the media from escaping through the net pot. Fine bark mixed with a little charcoal and sponge rock. If you want to mix in a little sphagnum you can but consider how often you want to water. The amount of sphag will determine that. More sphag, less often watering. Most of the bulbo's like to dry between watering so I'd go with just a few sprigs.

Suggest, if you haven't already done so, dig into your plants background and research its ancestral species habitat. That will help you understand what it wants.

Nice looking plant. Mine bloomed here in south Florida last month. Enjoy.

[Roberta]

I think it will be fine in that basket. Perhaps uncover the pseudubulbs, though. I grow mine mounted, outdoors (so winter lows 4 deg C/40 deg F) but days are warmer, most of the time 20 deg C/68 deg F or warmer. It would probably grow better a little warmer, but it tolerates those cool nights. Bulbos do like to stay pretty wet, so observe it, when it starts to get dry, water it. (Not by the calendar... by the needs of the plant) I think it will be fine as it is.

[estación seca]

Many people read about how orchids need to dry out between watering. No Bulbos! They have very short roots compared to most orchids. This means the top of the medium should not become dry, and they do well in very shallow containers. This one likes to stay very wet. You could water every day.

I might add - the bananas are probably not a good idea to keep near your orchids. Ripening bananas (as well as Rosaceae fruits like apples and pears) release ethylene gas, which is a ripening and flowering hormone for many plants. It might cause your orchids to behave unexpectedly.

[greenochre]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I might add - the bananas are probably not a good idea to keep near your orchids. Ripening bananas (as well as Rosaceae fruits like apples and pears) release ethylene gas, which is a ripening and flowering hormone for many plants. It might cause your orchids to behave unexpectedly.

I don't normally keep them there - it's just delivery brought me some really green bananas, and this was the only warm enough spot in my house for them to ripen, because I have a propagation box with the heating pad there

[greenochre]

Thank you all! I uncovered bulbos, but some roots now are also uncovered, is it ok?

[Roberta]

I think that it looks good. The important thing about Bulbophyllums is that they like to stay wet. The roots that are a bit uncovered not a problem if others are down in the medium. I also would not worry about the bananas... if the plant were getting ready to bloom, ripening fruit can cause buds to blast. But for yours that is just getting started (no flowers in sight) I don't think it's a problem.

[greenochre]

It's a new bulb, isn't it?

[Roberta]

Very likely! New growth is always good!