Bulbophyllum plumatum

[gnathaniel]

Gorgeous, Doc! Excellent photography, too, to capture such detail and sense of scale. I've got one of these that's a bit smaller than yours but no spikes yet--I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get as lucky as you this winter!

--Nat

[BikerDoc5968]

Nat, where did you get yours? And how are you growing it, i.e., bark, moss or mount?

[gnathaniel]

Doc, I got mine from Dwayne Lowder this past spring. It's in a teak basket filled with tree fern chunks and sphagnum with a little osmocote mixed in. Vegetatively it looks pretty similar to yours, so hopefully the blooms will be as nice too.

--Nat

[BikerDoc5968]

I'n sure they will, Nat. I got mine from Dwayne also but not til late in the year. It was his last one and only because someone changed their mind about the purchase..... better lucky than good! I like the basket thing. I have several Bulbophyllum currently in plastic hanging from the GH roof that I think would look much better in hanging wood baskets. I think I know what osmocote is but maybe I need a refresher course..... help me out, here.

[gnathaniel]

I'm glad to hear yours is from Dwayne, too! He's a great guy and many of my most unusual species are from him. Hopefully my plumatum will have similar blooms to yours when it finally decides to spike. I also got another plumatum from Dwayne that is younger and looks vegetatively pretty different (greener, more slender leaves). I'm wondering if that one could be the jacobsonii type of plumatum, or if I'm lucky even the closely-related Bulbo. thiurum. Time will tell...

I've had good success (so far) with most of my Bulbophyllums in baskets, net pots, and tree fern pots. These all allow for good moisture maintenance (if filled w/ sphagnum and similarly moisture-retaining materials) while still letting the roots have plenty of exposure to air and light. Plants with a more rambling growth habit can also grow all over the outside of these containers quite happily, though this makes repotting tricky later. My dad's large bulbos (of which many of mine are divisions) rarely get repotted, he just puts a little more sphagnum in around the roots if the old stuff has gotten too compacted. I've started using more non-biodegradables like styrofoam and LECA in my baskets lately to increase aeration and medium life. Stalite and perlite might be good options, too, if you want better water retention w/out rot.

I've got a few of my smaller bulbos mounted on treefern or cork, but I find that especially this time of year it's a chore to keep them happily watered, so anything new I get is going in pots or baskets.

Osmocote is a slow-release fertilizer made by Scott's that is usually available at Lowe's and HD around where I live. I've seen it in NPK-balanced formulas and high-N as well. The N sources are listed as ammonia and nitrate, so it seems like it should work well for epiphytes. It's not particularly cheap (I think around $12 for a quart of granules), but the way I use it (very sparingly) it should last me a long time. I read a post recently warning that Osmocote differs from Nutricote and the like in that OC's slow-release is somewhat temperature-dependent (faster release at higher temps), while NC and other brands just break down according to moisture levels. I think this is designed to be a positive feature, since most plants need more nutrients in warmer weather and less in cool, but I can see where it might cause problems in hot greenhouses. I grow in windowsills and inside temps rarely get over 80F in the summer, so hopefully my infrequent meager applications won't become a problem. Hope this helps, Doc!

--Nat

[Tindomul]

Wow, very nice I have to say. Gorgeous colour, nice long sepals!! And wow, thats a lot of leaves in one small pot. Nice growth habit. Congrats.
I think I have this one, but I keep it too dark.