¿¿¿will this work...???

[estación seca]

The 'coconut orchid' is Maxillaria tenuifolia, in the Maxillaria alliance. Encyclia is in the Cattleya alliance, not closely related.

Most Encyclias are very high light plants, even more so than Cattleyas. I have known a lot of people in southern California who grow them on mounts outside in lots of sun. Even more than Cattleyas, they need air at the roots, or mounting. That is why you see so many fantastic mounting ideas, which I certainly am going to steal.

A lot of Encyclias have strong daytime fragrances. If you search Orchid Board on Encyclia, you better get a drool bucket handy.

[epiphyte78]

Originally Posted by gumbii

how dare you give me ideas... LOL...


an encyclia is the same as a coconut orchid right...? i'm stlll a newb... anyways, i have these 3 huge coconut orchids right now, and might split one up... and my dad is coming from mexico soon.. haha... i might have to hit him up or some nice stuff... well, i do live in little mexico (los angeles) and can get tha stuff anywhere i guess.... i just want to be able to hang it..

Encyclias are pretty different than the coconut orchid. The coconut orchid is a Maxillaria. In my opinion, most Encyclias are better than most Maxillarias. The former are generally more drought tolerant than the latter. I've killed a lot more Maxillarias than Encyclias.

The coconut orchid (Maxillaria tenuifolia) is actually pretty drought and sun tolerant for a Maxillaria. I just divided a large clump that was mounted on a piece of cork bark. It was getting nearly full sun and twice a week watering at night during summer.

A couple other exceptions are Maxillaria picta and Maxillaria pachyphylla. I'm sure that there are other exceptional Maxillarias.

Chances are good though that if you visit people who've been growing orchids outdoors in SoCal for several years... you're going to see many more Encyclias than Maxillarias.

I see that estación seca has made me mostly redundant

[Jenascrich]

Not sure if this is a good idea for your type of plant, but I saw video where they filled the inside of the terra cotta pot
With wet moss to keep the outside slightly damp and cool where the orchid was mounted.


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[mtorchid]

How will you fertilize? If you put fertilizer in the pot with water, evaporation will cause a build up of salts/minerals on the exterior of the pot where the roots are. This would become toxic to the roots.

[gumbii]

Originally Posted by mtorchid

How will you fertilize? If you put fertilizer in the pot with water, evaporation will cause a build up of salts/minerals on the exterior of the pot where the roots are. This would become toxic to the roots.

i just fertilized the other day... i just sprayed the roots with fertilized water for a minute... the next day i soaked the whole thing in RO/DI water to eliminate build up...

plus, i don't fertilize with heavy stuff... i use fermented fish... hardly any salt buildup... i use it on my SH setups a lot...

[mtorchid]

That would work! You must have an OUTDOOR area for using fish emulsion fertilizer! ;-)

[gumbii]

Originally Posted by mtorchid

That would work! You must have an OUTDOOR area for using fish emulsion fertilizer! ;-)

when i used to grow peppers and tomatoes my neighbors hated me.. HAHAHA... i love that stuff... i don't mind the smell... i just won't use it for any plants indoors... no way..