Anguloa clowesii in Phoenix

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I previously grew a small seedling of this plant in a 2 quart/liter semi-hydro container, set in front of an evaporative cooler.



One can find information on the Internet from people growing it much warmer than it is said to like; they report it is important to give it very high humidity and good air circulation. Mine did very well despite my summer growing room temperatures routinely in the mid to upper 80s F / 27-30C, not much cooler at night. Then a rat ate it.

In July of this year I bought one from Ecuagenera. It arrived very much larger than I expected, with two very large leaves (almost 3 feet/1 meter long) on the most recent pseudobulb, but they were damaged by heat in transit. The extensive roots system looked fine, much like Cymbidium roots (it is in the Cymbidium tribe.)

I potted it into a 5-gallon standard nursery container with 90% extra-large chunk perlite and 10% potting soil. I set it in front of the evaporative cooler, and watered well. The leaves slowly turned brown, and dropped off in early September.



I watered the plant when a chopstick inserted in the medium came out mostly dry.

This morning I had a surprise. These were not visible yesterday morning. Believe me, I've been checking.



According to IOSPE, it begins growing in late winter to early spring, and makes inflorescences at the same time as the new growth. I guess my plant is a little confused.

Those of you with space for this plant, don't be afraid of the supposed temperature requirement, so long as you can give excellent air circulation and high humidity.

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My Anguloa clowesii grew, and grew again. I wasn't able to fertilize as much as I wanted this summer, but it still grew nicely.



The pseudobulb shown flowering in a previous post is the largest one you see here.



I took it out to photograph and noticed two new shoots at the bases of the developing growth. I suspect they are new growths, and not spikes. They aren't as tight as the spikes photographed in my earlier message here. We will see.

[smweaver]

It's great (and, for me, just a little bit fascinating) that you're able to grow this in Phoenix. Is that perlite or pumice that you're using--and is there anything else in the potting mix? Hopefully it will produce some blooms for you. Good luck!

Steve

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Thank you! That's #4 size perlite, with about 10% commercial bagged potting soil. I wanted a mix that was moisture retentive, airy and not too heavy to lift in a 5-gallon pot.

[smweaver]

I like to use inert moisture retaining media also. Unfortunately--and I'm not sure how--perlite always seems to travel around the house. I'll find small pieces of it in various rooms that are nowhere near the sunroom. Pumice is a bit heavier, but at least for me it stays put. I'll be interested to see how your anguloa continues to grow.

[Fredmax]

Good to see the ongoing progress from seedling, can I ask how low the temperatures can be subjected to in Phoenix?

I always read this is a cool to cold grower but my plant is quite large and declines badly in winter when the temps go below 10c/50f needing it to be put indoors, while in hot Summers it recovers well.

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I kept it outside for most of the winter, and it wasn't happy. I may have lost this year's flowers when they began pushing up in December. Lows were at or below 5C / 40F. It is making a new growth now.

Next year I will keep it above 15C in winter. It will probably get near 10C on a few cold nights.

[Fredmax]

Thanks it sounds similar to my experience, I'm wondering why this is so often referred to as a cool to cold grower. From what I can see, if I could provide it 30c year round it would thrive