Bifrenaria harrisoniae

[unhappykat]

I just got this baby Monday and thought i would share the little flowers. It smells so delicious, something between jasmine and overdid perfume.


Does anyone who has this species have any problems with getting it to grow/bloom. From what i have read it likes to be warm and humid with about 2500 foot candles of light and a constant moisture at the roots. Anything else that might help it not die with me?

[lambelkip]

I got one of these last month, with 3 spikes. what I've heard is that it should never dry out completely while it is in active growth, but should be given less water when it is dormant. If you find out anything else, let me know. mine is a pretty good sized plant, and I'd rather not kill it.

[tuvoc]

Can't help with the culture, but that sure is a pretty thing!

Kim

[Frdemetr]

Congrats Unhappykat!

A beautiful Bifr harrisoniae semi-alba! (the 'type' is pink). These orchids are amongst my favourites, are are usualy easy to grow and bloom. I posted tips about Bifr inodora for "Spider" (same group of harrisoniae), and copied bellow. Have a good growing!

Hi Spider!

Well, I have it for at least 20 ys! This was my first inodora, and second Bifrenaria (the 1st was a harrisoniae, I posted the pics in the OB). Today I have dozens of these beuaties! Almost all Bifrenarias come from southeastern Brazil (when I live), for me the climate is "ideal"! Big-flowers Bifrenarias (harrisoniae, tyrianthina, inodora, calcarata, mellicolor, tetragona etc.) love hot & humidy spring/summer and relatively warm & dry fall/winter; even in the dry season the 'fog' during the night keeps the moisture, and during the day they dry; the 'secret' to bloom Bifrenarias is the difference of temps in the dry season: during the night the temp falls to 10-12ºC, and there is 'fog' formation, and during the day the temp rises to 18-25ºC (yes, this is our 'winter'!) and the plants dry completely. If you could 'copy' these climate, your inodora will grow and bloom happily! Use very fast draining media, the Bifrs loves moisture in the environment, not in the roots (except in the hot season, it's raining daily here now!). Fertilize as usual (like Catts and Laelias).
PS: small-flowers Bifrenarias (former Stenocoryne or Adipe), leucorrhoda, stefanae, vitellina etc. are much more hard to grow and bloom, even in Brazil

[SP2340]

Wow, beautiful, thank you!!

[Angurek]

That's a nice-looking plant.

[unhappykat]

Thank you very much Frederico

Can i keep it with my Bifreneria, stenocoryne, areofulva and my Maxillaria picta where i keep them warm and allow them to dry out between waterings? I dont know if i can give them 'fog' at night but i know that the humidity where i grow most of my orchids reaches 100% at night and the temperatures drop from around 39-40 Degrees Celsius to about 18-20 at night. Would this be acceptable for this particular species?

[dgenovese1]

Hi Edwin,
I can't help with culture on this guy, but wanted to say that it is beautiful...and your photos are superb!

Thanks for sharing with us.

[Frdemetr]

Hi Unhappykat!

In the winter, if you have almost 100% humidity in the air, I guess you can allow they dry between waterings; in the summer/hot season, you could watering them more (mainly the former "Stenocoryne"), even when the moisture in the air reaches 100%. But in any case they need fast draining medium! Bifr aureofulva is not demanding, but others "Stenocorynes" (racemosa, clavigera) prefer to be mounted (if potted, the roots could rot)

[unhappykat]

Okay thank you very much, I will put it with the other two but a little lower where it will stay a little more moist during the summer months.


Thanks David, i don't do anything special with my picture its just the cameras auto zoom and flash, love that technology sometimes...LOL