Laelia alvaroana

[naoki]

This is my first attempt to grow rupicolous Laelia. But this one grows quickly and flowered! I got if from Olympic Orchids as a relatively small seedling with 2-3 bulbs, but it has 7 or so bulbs now within a year. Are other rupicolous Laelia species more difficult than this species? I'm thinking of getting more rupicolous Laelia species.

I don't think I'm using the typical rupicolous Laelia potting mix, but it seems to work. Repotting, which I have to do soon, could cause problems (I've heard that they don't like to get disturbed).

Growing condition: 2.25" deep pot, sphagnum moss, 3" between the top of the leaves and T5 HO, in a grow tent (so 100% artificial lighting), RH 65% day, 80-90% night, Temp: 60F night, 86F day, fertilize at every watering with 50-60ppm N (rotate Jerry's Grow, Grow More Urea Free, MSU) + KLN 2-5 drops/gallon, KelpMax 2tsp/gal every 2 weeks.

[euplusia]

Nice flower closeups of a seldom seen Laelia. Well done.

[s.kallima]

Great growing !
Pure sphagnum moss is not very often used for rupicolous but it seems to suit your conditions!
I grow mine in lava rock and expanded clay, some in a mix of perlite, bark and charcoal.
I have a good collection of these species and they grow well quite easily I find (aside from black rot attack I had) but don't bloom, they are too far from my T5 I presume (close to 10"). I am glad to see you can bloom one exclusively under T5, there is hop for me then if I put them closer...

[Bud]

Gorgeous flower. I love the vivid bright color and the ruffled lip....

[isurus79]

Cool!

[bethmarie]

Beautiful! I love the rupiculous laelias. I'd love to see a picture of your whole plant. Curious whether it's leaves are similar to either of mine. I'm trying my hand at L. lucasiana and Sophrolaelia Polestar potted in aliflor and a second Polestar mounted. Have had them only since late summer/early fall, though, so no blooms yet. Mine aren't fast growers...but I haven't seen them in the middle of their growing season yet.
I thought rupiculous varieties lost roots easily unless they dried pretty quickly after watering. I'm surprised they can do so well in moss. How do you care for yours? I might learn a thing or two from you

[WhiteRabbit]

Lovely!

[naoki]

Thank you, everyone!

S.kallima, I measured the light now, and it's getting 2000-2400fc 15hours/day.

Beth, at my condition, I water it every 4-5 days (just around the time when it completely dry out or slightly earlier than that). I'm attaching the photo of the entire plant. The first photo is 9 month ago, and the others are from last week. I'm amazed by the rapid growth.

[isurus79]

Your plant grew that much in 9 months?!?!? I've heard that rupiculous Laelias don't do too well in spag, but your pics seems to paint a different picture. You've obviously done some really good work with that plant! Congrats!

I do want to mention that the dark green algae growing on top of the media in the laters pics shows that the pH in the media is dropping quickly as it ages. You might want to consider repotting or adding some dolomite to the top of the media to bring the pH up a bit. Just my

[bethmarie]

Thanks for posting the whole plant pics, Naoki. Love to see them. I am blown away by how fast yours has grown!