maxillaria tenuifolia

[chloroplast]

A friend gave me his Maxillaria tenuifolia which is a large plant (15+ bulbs) growing in a 3" square plastic pot filled with a medium grade orchid bark that appears to be decomposing.

I've read a lot of conflicting literature on the cultivation of this plant.

Would anyone successfully cultivating this plant please share their experience with potential potting mixes, watering, and light levels this plant desires?

Thank you,

Ken

[LauraN]

Hi Ken,
I am not an expert, but I'll share my experiences with Max's for you.
I have a tenuifolia that is mounted on tree fern and to be honest with you, either I haven't watered it enough, or it just isn't happy with the mount or something!
All of my orchids are grown in bright conditions and heavily watered through most of the year, due to our Florida conditions.
I have 2 variables, one is mounted and is doing ok. The other is potted and sounds a lot like your potting mix, pretty degraded; however, that is the best growing and most flowering Max that I have!! It has been in constant rebloom for the past 4-6 months! It is so happy at this point that I refuse to change anything about it!
I have several others that are both potted and mounted, it seems in my orchid room, they prefer to me in pots, and I am considering moving all the mounts to pots.
I hope that some of this helped you out!
Let us know where you live and what your growing conditions are and maybe we can help further.
Laura

[cb977]

I tried mounting a piece of my tenuifolia and it just didn't seem very happy I wish it had worked out because I think it's a 'chid that would look great on a mount

Mine is now in a pot with just aliflor and grows very well. It gets pretty high light but not full sun and it gets misted daily in summer, every other day in the cooler months.

[CoolPhrog]

Originally Posted by cb977

I tried mounting a piece of my tenuifolia and it just didn't seem very happy I wish it had worked out because I think it's a 'chid that would look great on a mount

Mine is now in a pot with just aliflor and grows very well. It gets pretty high light but not full sun and it gets misted daily in summer, every other day in the cooler months.

I too tried to mount mine and it took a turn for the worse...I put it back into a pot but it hasn't had any new growth in while. Do you think it would do well in a s/h environment here?

[Tsuchibuta]

I have one on a mount that I brought back with me from Hawaii. It was growing good and had a bunch of new growth till a despicable mouse came along and chewed the heck out of it. I'm deeply saddened by this however there may be light at the end of the tunnel so to speak as it does seem to have a new growth coming on. Lets all hope for the best but my hopes are not up. As it is mounted I had to keep in a shallow tray of water though or it does dry out considerably.

[Leisurely]

I purchased my plant about eight years ago in a 5" pot and it was growing in treefern. It is still in the same pot and has never been repotted into a different medium and looks very well, considering. Imagine what it would do if I gave it a larger pot with fresh treefern. I think I will do that tomorrow. That is one of the nice things about treefern. It takes forever for it to decompose. I transferred about a dozen of my minicatts to 4" treefern pots and they are doing great. I had a second thought though after I potted them. I will never get them out of the pot because the roots ramify the fern roots and it is impossible to remove them.

[CoolPhrog]

I thought about that as well, Leisurely, but I bought 3 tree fern pots today...getting ready...

[chloroplast]

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. I think that I'll keep mine potted rather than mount it.

It seems like they don't mind degraded potting mix, so I'll keep it how it is...it seems happy so why fix something that isn't broken? Though my instincts are to give most of my plants a fresh medium every 2-3 years....

Let us know where you live and what your growing conditions are and maybe we can help further.

Of course, what was I thinking?!

I live in MA (zone 5) and I am growing all of my orchids indoors, primarily under fluorescent lights (1-2' below 160W daylight tubes, 16 h photoperiod). Humidity 50-60%. Temperatures 70-80F day, 55-65F night.

I'll try adding my location/zone information to my profile.

[Orchidnut]

Oh I am so glad someone else has problems with their max. also I have had mine for years and it does not bloom I have about 100 orchids and this one does not seem to like any thing special... it is potted it grows well It is now in a greenhouse that is mised a few times a day,,,I have tried it in a south window watered 1 time a week I have tried it in cooler conditions still no flowers it is watered with the rest of the orchids I have.It makers me crazy I have thought of getting rid of it... Any suggestions I have read the other posts the greenhouse is new to me we finished it the end of the summer so I am praying this will make it happy....

[Leisurely]

Check out this link. A lot of water seems to be primary. Maxillaria tenuifolia - Maxillaria Orchid - Orchidaceae