Lycaste Bare Root

[BikerDoc5968]

I attended the Illinois Orchid Society show this past weekend and purchased a number of Lycaste, Ida and Anguloa. All were bare root from Ecuagenera. I've put them in bark/CHC. What advise about watering? Wait until new roots grow????

[Discus]

I seem to remember quite a few of these go through winter dormancy - not sure where it their cycle they'll be if they've come from Ecuagenera - do they have leaves or are they just pseudobulbs at the moment?

I think watering the medium once and then keeping them in a reasonably humid place is probably your best bet.

[Louis_W]

Like discus said it depends on what stage of growth the plant is in. If it is activly growing then it will need quite a bit of water. If that is the case then planting it in an airy mix is very important because the roots are not adapted to the medium you are going to put them in so they may have problems.

If the plant is not growing or you dont know what stage its in yet then I would water minimally. Keep an eye on the bulbs for wrinkles and a clear pot would be good to keep track of the roots. You can gradually adjust your watering as the plant responds.

In my opinion its better to underwater than overwater because roots can rot very quickly but it can take years to kill a plant by underwatering.

[BikerDoc5968]

All of them have leaves (pic) but I did note most of the roots were dark and soft and I didn't see any light colored root tips.

Not sure what you mean by, "the roots are not adapted to the medium you are going to put them in....". I do not know what medium Ecuagenera grows their plants in.... guess I could ask.

Also, because they came from South America, might not their growing seasons be reversed or do they adapt to temperatures and day length?

Thanks... I did water after planting them up and will water sparingly for now.

[Louis_W]

What I mean by that is as each root grows it senses its surroundings and grows in response to them. When you take a plant out of its pot, you change its conditions, even if you put it back in the same medium. They will be a little stressed so you have to be a little careful with them.

[Tom-DE]

Howard, I would just pot them up and keep it on the dry side for awhile. Incease the watering when the new growths are about 3" tall.
75-90% of those old roots may die but the plant should be okay. Even if you have had the plants in your collection for few years, you can still lose a bunch of roots when you repot them...

BTW, you may lose some more leaves after repotting,

[smweaver]

I agree with Tom's advice, Howard. They should be fine if you water them sparingly and try to keep the temperatures moderate (maybe between 55 F at night and low to mid 60s during the day) and keep them in a relatively shady location.

What species did you get? They all look like nice plants. If you got either Sudermerlycaste ciliata or fimbriata, they should rebound quite well. I have both species and they're pretty resilient. Congratulations on your haul. I'm rather envious right now, looking at your picture.

Steve

[Stitzelweller]

Originally Posted by BikerDoc5968

Also, because they came from South America, might not their growing seasons be reversed or do they adapt to temperatures and day length?

Ecuador straddles the equator. Day length and temperatures fluctuate only a little throughout the calendar year. "Wet" and "Dry" define growing seasons.

[BikerDoc5968]

Originally Posted by smweaver

I agree with Tom's advice, Howard. They should be fine if you water them sparingly and try to keep the temperatures moderate (maybe between 55 F at night and low to mid 60s during the day) and keep them in a relatively shady location.

What species did you get? They all look like nice plants. If you got either Sudermerlycaste ciliata or fimbriata, they should rebound quite well. I have both species and they're pretty resilient. Congratulations on your haul. I'm rather envious right now, looking at your picture.

Steve

They are in the coolest part of the greenhouse. The list of what I bought follows. Question: Is 'Sudermerlycaste' a name change for 'Lycaste' or are they a name change for 'Ida'?

Anguloa dubia
A. ruckeri
A. uniflora
A. virginalis
Ida cinnabarina
I. grandis
I. locusta
I. nana
I. reichenbachii
Lycaste longipetala
L. marcrophylla v pincelada
L. schilleriana

[smweaver]

Although, in my opinion, Ida sounds nicer (and rolls a whole lot easier off the tongue), Sudamerlycaste (I misspelled it last time!) is the current genus name for the species that were formerly under the genus Ida. I believe all of the lycastes are still classified as lycastes (for the time being at least).