My new Bulbophyllum Medusae - Orchid Board

HighSeas · #1 07-21-2013, 10:58 AM

Went to an orchid show in Tampa yesterday where one of my favorite nurseries had a gathering of vendors. I told my husband I wouldn't be buying any more until the Orchid House was completed....BUT If I ran upon something I couldn't live without....

I came home with 9 plants.

When does the madness end?

Anyway...getting to the point of this thread, I bought my very first Bulbophyllum! Slowly but surely, THAT obsession (sickness) is overcoming me. I can feel it as it grows....

I bought the Medusa and he came in a wee tiny little pot full of WETNESS (Sphagnum). That makes me nervous to begin with. I had read that they like to be wet. WET? I live in a very humid environment so my first instinct is to yank his toosh out of the moss and go with something a little reasonable with maybe Sphag on the top to hold in the moisture a bit.

Would there be anyone willing to share with me how they are successful with Bulbophyllums? Thank you so much!

Brooke · #2 07-21-2013, 04:55 PM

I grow in a g/h and keep my medusae sitting in a tray of water. This is my mounted one and the only time it hangs is when it is in bloom. The rest of the time the tree fern mount lays in a aluminum cookie sheet in water.

Bulb medusae JCL_1182 by kentucky4, on Flickr

This is my other one in a 6" plastic vanda basket and it sits in a saucer of water except when blooming.

Bulb medusae LUR_5427 by kentucky4, on Flickr

When they bloom they are watered daily.

Brooke

Leafmite · #3 07-21-2013, 05:47 PM

I have bulbo ambrosia and I grow it in a tray with sphagnum moss. In the summer, it is very wet, in the winter, my home is cooler so I let it dry to 'damp'. I kept worrying it would rot but it just keeps putting out new growths and looks happy.
Brook, that is a fantastic photo! It really makes me want a medeusa.

HighSeas · #4 07-21-2013, 07:59 PM

Brooke and Leafmite....thanks so much for sharing!

IN water? Like sitting IN water? Wow. That's so different from anything else I grow. What kind of medium are you using in the basket?

When you say laying in a tray of water....do you mean; to allow the water to wick into the tree fern? Do you have moss in there too?

Are you guys adding anything to this water such as is S/H? Weak fertilizer? Seaweed?

Sorry about all the questions but I just don't want to assume anything.

How old are your plants Brooke? Yours are MUCH bigger than mine. I do have two new growths on it and was told it grows fast. Do you find this to be correct?

Thanks for your help!

Leafmite · #5 07-21-2013, 09:38 PM

Brook would be the expert. I just have the one bulbo for now. Mine has very small roots so the shallow tray seemed perfect. I fertilize mine with the others, weakly, weekly. I wanted to try one last autumn and asked an OS member if he'd sell me a division.

TOMMYMIAMI · #6 07-21-2013, 10:51 PM

Brook, amazing piece, thanks for sharing pictures. i Live in Miami, and have 4 bulbophyllums now. My first 2 were shirley and medusae. Mine does not sit in the water, but it is hanging on balcony railing and I do water it a lot, like 4 to 5 times a week, keeping it moist pretty much at all time. All bulbs are doing great at my balcony, and they are actually blooming multiple times during summer. I wish my medusae will get to the point your's is, I guess I have to re pot it, mine is in small plastic orchids basket. Last week I got another 2, Rufinum and Sheryl Kurizaki. So they really do love water for sure!

Brooke · #7 07-22-2013, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighSeas

Brooke and Leafmite....thanks so much for sharing!

IN water? Like sitting IN water? Wow. That's so different from anything else I grow. What kind of medium are you using in the basket?

When you say laying in a tray of water....do you mean; to allow the water to wick into the tree fern? Do you have moss in there too?

Are you guys adding anything to this water such as is S/H? Weak fertilizer? Seaweed?

Sorry about all the questions but I just don't want to assume anything.

How old are your plants Brooke? Yours are MUCH bigger than mine. I do have two new growths on it and was told it grows fast. Do you find this to be correct?

Thanks for your help!

Yes they sit in water. The tree fern mount is in a disposable cookie sheet type pan. I put water in the pan daily so the tree fern is very wet. There is also moss covering the front part of the mount.

The one in the vanda basket has p'nuts in the bottom in a mound. I then added seedling bark to the mound and sat the rhizome on the mound, clipped it into place, put sphag over the roots and sat it in a container of water.

Almost all of my potted Bulbos are potted this same way, regardless of what type of net pot I use. Most Bulbos love the moisture but will want air to the roots. There are a few Bulbos who need a dry-er winter but this is not one of them.

I have had the mounted Bulbo for several years and the potted one was a couple of old bare pbulbs off a friend of mines plant. I don't find the medusae to be the fastest growing Bulbo but it isn't the slowest either. I fertilize them a couple of times a week.

Tommy your medusae is gorgeous - it will be your favorite.

Brooke

HighSeas · #8 07-22-2013, 10:05 PM

Thank you so much for sharing with me Brooke! It's always so nice to actually talk to someone who has experience with a plant that's new to me!

Are you saying that you had the bulbs (only) from a cutting off of another plant....and it grew off-shoots from the bare bulbs? That's interesting!

I really like this Medusae and hope that it can survive my inexperience with Bulbo's.

I hope you don't mind if I ask you another question....These roots are SO fine! The plant just looks so fragile to me! I'd like to mount mine and since it's actively growing, I thought now would be a good time. With such fragile roots....how did you do it?

TOMMYMIAMI · #9 07-23-2013, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooke

Yes they sit in water. The tree fern mount is in a disposable cookie sheet type pan. I put water in the pan daily so the tree fern is very wet. There is also moss covering the front part of the mount.

The one in the vanda basket has p'nuts in the bottom in a mound. I then added seedling bark to the mound and sat the rhizome on the mound, clipped it into place, put sphag over the roots and sat it in a container of water.

Almost all of my potted Bulbos are potted this same way, regardless of what type of net pot I use. Most Bulbos love the moisture but will want air to the roots. There are a few Bulbos who need a dry-er winter but this is not one of them.

I have had the mounted Bulbo for several years and the potted one was a couple of old bare pbulbs off a friend of mines plant. I don't find the medusae to be the fastest growing Bulbo but it isn't the slowest either. I fertilize them a couple of times a week.

Tommy your medusae is gorgeous - it will be your favorite.

Brooke

Thanks Brook
it is growing pretty well, and it did have I believe 5 spikes that opened last year. I will have to re pot it, and as I read your comments also fertilize more often. I do water it pretty much every day once a day, or at least 4 -5 times a week, but they are not sitting in the water. I do admire your huge plant, so I will try to get mine to that size as well. Yes, it is one of my favorite orchids, once I saw picture 2 years ago I just HAD to get it no matter what:-) And i did.

Brooke · #10 07-23-2013, 05:24 PM

Almost all Bulbos have fine roots and as long as you don't break off a ton of them, your medusae will be fine.

Yes they were old bald pbulbs with no leaves. Almost any orchid will sprout from the old bulbs because they have secondary dormant growing points in them. When separated from the main plant their first inclination is to reproduce itself. In nature, unlike when we grow and pamper them, bad things happen so the built in mechanism takes over.

Good luck - Brooke