Myrmecophila to water or not

[Havoccity]

I just potted up a new Myrmecophila tibicinis that I received bare rooted. All the pseudobulbs are mature. I know these guys have a lengthy dry dormancy period, so do I keep it dry until new growth begins, or should I water now?

On a side note, are Myrmecophila as cold tolerant as Schomburgkia? Apparently Schomburgkia can take 2C night temperatures.

[Roberta]

Myr. tibicinis is one of the most cold-tolerant of the genus... others tend to be more intermediate or warm. My Myr. tibicinis lives on my patio, grows with the L. anceps so gets those low winter night temperatures.. It doesn't get a dry period (maybe it would bloom better if it did, but it does bloom pretty reliably). It is in a basket with little medium, so basically growing like a mounted plant (so it does dry out, but no more than its "companions". ) As I have noted for other genera (like Dendrobiums) I don't dry them out but they get a chill, and that may accomplish the same purpose, at least under my conditions.

The "other" former Schomburgkias (that are now Laelia)... some are more cold-tolerant than others. L. superbiens grows easily under my conditions. L. colombiana (Schom. walisii) also does fine. L. lueddemanii, L. moyobambae, L. splendida are marginal - some years do OK and I get flowers, others they survive but aren't happy, So like most genera, "it depends" ... Some come from warmer areas than others, some have a wider range than others.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Schom. grandiflora, thomsoniana, and crispa all grown in south florida in full sun on wooden mounts with a bit of spanish moss draped over them...i dont give them any rest but it does rain a lot less in the winter.


so these three are happy from 50-95 degrees

[estación seca]

I've found high humidity is important in getting them to root and grow.