Zygopetalum Murray Bridge

[tuvoc]

Well done.

Kim

[Susie11]

Absolutely beautiful! I love the lip and the petals!

[silken]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments!
We have been at our cabin all of August and just pop home every now and then for a few hours to do chores and water orchids. I hauled this one to the cabin with me so I can enjoy the fragrance and blooms. Below is an update of all the blooms open. There are 11 of them and they are still looking great, but I have no idea how long these are supposed to last.
Nutgirl, I grow it in the greenhouse with everything else. It often gets quite a lot of sun and I never let it dry out. I got it planted in pure moss in a net pot, so when I re-potted a few months ago, I just used fresh moss and a larger net pot. It has a huge set of roots. Our greenhouse goes down to about 55 in the winter at night and 65F in the day. In the summer it gets pretty warm such as 85F and down to maybe 70 at night. I did put it outside in semi-shade for a while this summer till the buds were quite developed and I didn't want to risk losing them. Then it came back into the greenhouse near my new swamp cooler so it got fairly cool and moist air. When I got it, it had lots of spots on the leaves and Paramount said I would have to treat it to keep them under control. But all the new growth has been very clear and good looking and I haven't treated it for nearly a year now, before that growth even existed. Hope that helps.

[nutgirl]

Thank for your info. I've been struggling with Zygopetalum Mackayi for 3 years.
There has been slow improvement but I'm still trying to grasp what really makes these guys happy.

From your comments I'm guessing my conditions are hotter and dryer than they really like. (summer especially)

Thanks again,
Maureen

[silken]

I understand that Zygos don't like hot weather which is why I put mine out when it got real hot. And they also don't like to dry out from what I've read and my own limited experience. Maybe those changes will help.

[Wynn Dee13]

Very pretty Silken!

[silken]

Originally Posted by Wynn Dee13

Very pretty Silken!

Thanks Wynn Dee! This continues to look fresh and lovely and is extremely fragrant all morning!

[bethmarie]

Your pictures just made me fall back in love with my own Zygos. I'm fighting something on them, maybe mites, and still trying to get their watering right. I think I tend to let them get drier than they like because I'm rot-paranoid. I've been grumbling at them, because mites make me very unhappy, but your pics renewed my commitment to get them healthy and flourishing. Hope to be posting their blooms one day!

[flexdc]

Such a beautiful and good looking plant. I need to get back into growing these!

[silken]

Thanks bethmarie and flexdc. Good luck to you both in growing these. It's my first attempt at them and it makes me want another! I have a tiny plant that is supposed to be a Z. mackayi but the leaves are so thin that I can't see how it can be. And it just hasn't grown much in about 2 years. Still way too small to bloom so I can find out what I have!