Project 2023 Spring Sarcochilus

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Grabbed a couple pics today of my Sarcos from the 2023 project...





Aaaand, still patiently waiting. Probably at least for another year.

Nice looking Sarcos!

Mine didn't flower either. I left it outside last fall until temps dropped dangerously close to freezing, but no spikes. Trouble is that if I put it in a sheltered spot on the balcony it sits in the shade all day. I'll have to think of a better solution for this year.

[WaterWitchin]

Yeah, I didn't pay enough attention to them needing a bigger temp drop last year than what they received. Thinking of sectioning off a little bit of space by hanging up a curtain so there's a chillier section I can put stuff requiring more chill than some of the others. Still having to tweak conditions almost four years later after moving everything upstairs to the sun porch and all sharing the same space. Still better than schlepping up and down flight of stairs from the former Batcave basement winter retreat!

[Blueszz]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Nice looking Sarcos!

Mine didn't flower either. I left it outside last fall until temps dropped dangerously close to freezing, but no spikes. Trouble is that if I put it in a sheltered spot on the balcony it sits in the shade all day. I'll have to think of a better solution for this year.

I had them on my balcony, sheltered from rain. My balcony is on NNE. They only got late evening sun. Left them outside until 10C, then brought all of them in.
My balcony isn't shaded by trees or buildings.
Both plants flowered.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Blueszz

I had them on my balcony, sheltered from rain. My balcony is on NNE. They only got late evening sun. Left them outside until 10C, then brought all of them in.
My balcony isn't shaded by trees or buildings.
Both plants flowered.

Good to know, thanks! Mine is facing NW. In the summer the covered bit gets evening sun, but in the fall nearly nothing since there's a pillar blocking it. I do have a power outlet outside so could put a waterproof grow light. Or build a mini greenhouse to put the plant in the uncovered portion that gets sun.

[Blueszz]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Good to know, thanks! Mine is facing NW. In the summer the covered bit gets evening sun, but in the fall nearly nothing since there's a pillar blocking it. I do have a power outlet outside so could put a waterproof grow light. Or build a mini greenhouse to put the plant in the uncovered portion that gets sun.

I have one of those foil covered "greenhouses" but secured it in case of a heavy storm. They work well. Keeps rain and most if the wind off them.
If I zip close it, I think there still is enough air movement to prevent mold etc.

I have a Netatmo outdoor unit (weather station) in the the tent and it's always about 2° warmer in it than the regular outdoor temp. The outdoor unit is calibrated.

One caveat though, sun will rise the temp in the tent quickly. That might give problems when outdoor temperatures are high already.

[Keysguy]

My plant looks great but did not bloom. I guess my wine fridge experiment failed. I'm thinking this fall I'll go to the kitchen fridge which is probably closer to the temp I need to get it to.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Keysguy

My plant looks great but did not bloom. I guess my wine fridge experiment failed. I'm thinking this fall I'll go to the kitchen fridge which is probably closer to the temp I need to get it to.

So educate me on this temp drop thing a little bit. You or anyone else in the know, please? It's obvious I just got them to join the project and did no reading or research. Just plopped them into SH and moved forward.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

So educate me on this temp drop thing a little bit. You or anyone else in the know, please? It's obvious I just got them to join the project and did no reading or research. Just plopped them into SH and moved forward.

The grower I got mine from said that in the winter they need night temps around 10-15C (50-60F). Anything higher than that and there are generally few to no blooms, and he couldn't guarantee that leaving them outside just in the fall would be sufficient vernalization. I didn't think to ask him about light levels.

[Blueszz]

Originally Posted by camille1585

The grower I got mine from said that in the winter they need night temps around 10-15C (50-60F). Anything higher than that and there are generally few to no blooms, and he couldn't guarantee that leaving them outside just in the fall would be sufficient vernalization. I didn't think to ask him about light levels.

Well, about temperature. After I took mine indoors, I had them close to the window, almost glued them against the window pane . Temperature 14-15°C during the day.
I didn't heat that room.

[Keysguy]

I got mine from Tim Culbertson. Tim was working with Fred Clarke at the time and has since started his own business, Oceanside Orchids.

Tim advised me that, at a minimum, they needed to get down to 40F every night for at least 2 weeks in November to bloom well. As the temp where I am hardly ever goes below 60F even in the dead of winter, I tried popping it into the white wine (45F) section of my wine fridge every night for a month.
I guess this year I'll go the my regular fridge which I can set to get down to 40 and we'll see if that's what does it.

I just started a bit higher than he suggested because the 40 kind of scared me a little. Plant looks great after spending 30 nights at 45 so I feel safe now going down to 40.

I had also asked him about what to do with it during the day and he said to just put it where I normally grow it during the day. If I was growing it warm, the better temp differential it would provide. Because m winter is warm, that was another reason I wanted to start at a little higher night temp than he suggested. So now the question becomes, is it the bottom temp that matters or is the the total degree drop that matters?

Hey, this project is an experiment, right?