Coffee roaster/Engineer from Oregon! Platystele species? - Orchid Board

grant23 · #1 10-12-2017, 04:04 PM

Hi everyone!

I'm a mechanical engineering and materials science student from Oregon. I also run a little coffee roasting operation on the side. Will trade top notch coffee for orchid specimens

One of the coffee shops that I frequent had this incredible specimen of some micro orchids that I suspect were of the platystele variety, and I've been hooked on the idea of caring for them ever since! I've come here in search of tips on how to plant and care for micro orchids. I have only minimal green in my thumb, the extent of my experience is watering my ridiculously hardy house plants.

Initially, I want to purchase a couple platystele jesupiorum species to take care of. Ideally, I'd like to display them in conjunction with a bonsai tree I will also be starting. What are your thoughts on mounting mediums? Is there a certain kind of wood that would work best, or is it just any organic material that can hold some water for them? I saw someplace that someone mounted their micro orchids on a piece of cork. Maybe a raw strip of bark from a cork tree would be cool! Also, are there common moss species that play well with these orchids? I'd love to get a nice carpet to display with them.

So excited to learn about these lil guys, please share ALL the knowledge. I apologize for the monster of a first post, please bear with my eagerness.

Dollythehun · #2 10-12-2017, 04:13 PM

Great to know who were talking to, no apology necessary! Can't help with your request, but glad you are on board (,pun intended). You'll get more than enough information here.

grant23 · #3 10-12-2017, 04:46 PM

Thanks Dolly! I always appreciate a good pun

I found out that platystele jesupiorum is an epiphyte, and a link to epiphytic orchid care. I assume I can apply the same principles to micro orchids. I tried to include the link but I got a warning message, will try to edit it in.

EDIT:

looks like I won't be allowed to post links until I'm no longer a newbie

Dollythehun · #4 10-12-2017, 04:47 PM

Probably need 5 posts to add it.

Leafmite · #5 10-12-2017, 06:33 PM

Hello and welcome!

To get started with orchids/bonsai:

When growing different plants together, it is important to make certain that the conditions for both types of plants are met in the environment you plan to offer. The orchid in which you are interested likes cool-intermediate conditions and comes from a cloud forest. The tree you select for bonsai should require similar conditions.

If you simply find micro-miniature orchids fascinating, there are many that are more tolerant of lower humidity and a higher range of temperatures. Andy's Orchids is a great place to get started. Andy is really good at recommending orchids and explaining how to grow them.

Moss: When you buy mounted orchids, most of them come with moss and it will spread nicely on a bed of NZ sphagnum moss. I have no idea what the name of it is.

Wood for mounts can be found at pet stores. It is usually prepared for reptiles and amphibians so is already safe for plants.

Here is some information concerning the Platystele:
http://www.ecuagenera.com/Platystele-jesupiorum/en

Pattywack · #6 10-12-2017, 06:54 PM

Hello and welcome to the board! Leafmite gave excellent information and Andy’s is a wonderful vendor to help you select your miniatures.

I have a lot of miniature orchids and a few Platystele, they are so stinking cute and tiny! Platystele stenostachya is my favorite with its micro mini flowers. Platystele umbellata is an amazing little plant as well.

Andy’s has a very helpful search engine to check all conditions required for each plant. Have fun looking, also check J&L Orchids as they have a nice selection.

stonedragonfarms · #7 10-13-2017, 03:07 AM

Hello fellow Oregonian...
Platy. jesupiorum I've not grown, though I would guess it's culture is approximate to Platy. misera which I have; namely intermediate to cool temps, high relative humidity, ample water (with low dissolved solids) and great airflow...they grow best in a wardian case type set-up though I could see growing them in the greenhouse as well, provided they were either near the swamp cooler for the summer or you had either a sunken section of the house, were growing on the coast/at altitude or were cooling a section of the collection.
I'll answer the questions you laid out the best that I can:
1. Mounting: you could definitely grow on cork, but as these little guys like to stay moist, I'd opt instead for tree fern--it may not last as long (at which point you'll just mount the mount to a larger piece of tree fern and carry on), but it's more retentive of moisture and mosses grow very well on it. Compared to cork it is relatively expensive, but as you are growing micro-minis, you won't need much...
2. Moss: as was noted, spores usually abound, especially on established mounts--perhaps doubly so on things that grow in very humid conditions. If you want to jump start, there are three routes you might go; a. grab moss starts from one of the dart frog supply houses (ie Josh's Frogs, Black Jungle Terrarium Supply, etc.), b. beg some cuttings off a grower with moss on mounts; some growers love the stuff, some hate it, c. use collected (and quarantined/disinfected moss)--the easiest way to get collected moss free of pests is to tie it to a rock and drop said rock into a container of distilled water (don't use tap water) overnight...anything insect/sluggy will drown (though you may have to contend with eggs of said pests down the line, but I've not had problems...you could also probably place in a sealed bag and flood with co2 for effective pest quarantine)
I'm not sure how well these would display with bonsai--I'm not really envisioning them as workable kusamono...then again, I could see them being mounted to something with similar cultural needs and used as an accent (perhaps one of the epiphytic azaleas...)
Something to bear in mind with culturing these guys with live moss is to be pretty fastidious in trimming moss on mounts--some mosses will grow at a much faster rate than your plant.
I see Andy's was mentioned in the source notes above, I would also check out J&L Orchids, Columbian Orchid Imports and, when you get a bit of experience under the thumb, Ecuagenera.
Other things to consider: lighting, maintaining required humidity (in the house a terrarium/vivarium/wardian case is pretty much an essential, even if it's just a 10g aquarium with a tight fitting lid), some form of air circulation (CPU fans and controllers are awesome) & automated misting (trust me, once you invest in it, you'll wonder why you didn't earlier...)
More questions? We'll all try to help.
Good growing,
Adam
PS: Where in OR is home? Portland here.

Leafmite · #8 10-13-2017, 05:33 PM

Probably the first thing you should do is decide if you want your project to be based on the orchid or the tree then select the other to be compatible.

With your interest in coffee, a coffee tree might be a fun choice (they are very easy to grow and look nice as a bonsai). They like high humidity, too, which would go nice with your orchid selection.

I have not tried bonsai but I have a bunch of trees/shrubs 'dwarfed' by the size of the container and pruning. Good luck with your endeavor and please keep us informed on the progress. This seems like a fun project.

estación seca · #9 10-18-2017, 02:44 AM

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

I would suggest learning to grow miniature orchids alone and bonsai trees alone before combining the two. And realize many miniature orchids prefer cooler temperatures, and less light, than coffee might prefer.