B. medusae culture questions

[Johndeaux22]

I've had a B. medusae since about 2020 that has never seemed to thrive in my care. It is in a small hanging basket, potted in (admittedly old) sphagnum. I never allow it to dry out completely, and it is grown under intermediate-warm conditions with most of it in what I would describe as Phalaenopsis light. In the past I wasn't terribly great about fertilizing, the last 6 months or so I have adopted a more regular fertilizing routine, most recently on First Ray's k-lite @25ppm N every watering. It puts out what I would consider to be small new growths from time to time and is now somewhat rangey.

My thoughts are to repot (possibly divide, as the middle of this thing isn't looking so hot, and gives a good division point if the center is irredeemable), if I divide I'll likely mount half and pot half to see if one does better than the other. I'm building a space now to move the Cattleya types out of my grow tent. Once that's done I'll have plenty of space to play with, and will be able to get this closer to the light and heat. Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I'd love to get this blooming.

Pictures to follow shortly.

[Johndeaux22]

Pictures as promised.

[Roberta]

It doesn't want much light. I have a couple of these... in the greenhouse. Not as warm as they might like probably, but they do decently. One in a pot is just opening a single raceme but the other, in a 4 inch basket with practically no medium left - mostly growing in air - surprised me by popping 4 at once. The GH is pretty humid and it gets watered about every other day so it's wet. I don't know the light level quantitatively - never measured it - but the really happy one is hanging below a bunch of other things, and the whole GH is shaded by an avocado tree that has grown a lot over the years. So dim, but clearly sufficient.

Here's my "surprise". Note that all the blooming growths are just hanging in the air. The basket contains a few back bulbs but not much of anything in the way of medium.

[Roberta]

Looking at your photos, maybe just patience. Get it to where more of the growths escape from the basket.

[My Green Pets]

I would suggest warmer temps and brighter light. Mine grew biggest and flowered the best when grown outside under 60% shade in the hot, humid, wet summers in the southeastern US.