Project 2017: Rupicolous Laelias

[Selmo]

The crispata (flava) is blooming now. It has already started new growth for next year. And the gloedeniana is just hanging out. I do believe it is still growing, ever so slightly. Hopefully it will perk up a bit as the temperatures start to rise.

[Optimist]

So cheerful and sunny! It put a smile on my face when I saw it!

[SaraJean]

Oh that is just lovely!! My gloedeniana is kind of just hanging out as well. It has a new growth that has been maturing nicely and putting out roots over the winter but the two bloom sheaths have not done anything yet

[No-Pro-mwa]

well done.

[Selmo]

Here are a few photos of the gloedeniana, that is just hanging out. It is growing, as it has a new growth and the two growths from last year are maturing. One of those has a sheath that is still green and feels like a bud is still in there. Maybe the warmer temperatures and longer days will spur it on to bloom.

[SaraJean]

So glad winter is over!! It finally looks and feels like spring in the courtyard. All of my plants are starting to wake up and I have been repotting all week. The new growth that developed over the winter on the L. gloedeniana (far right side of the pot I'm holding) is coming along nicely. The new growth is not yet mature and it is already as big as, and fatter than, the previous growth. I also see two more growth nodes that are starting to swell (EDIT: make that 4 new growths popping out!). I was seeing the start of new root tips, so I had a chance to repot it after it came out of its pot over the winter. I kept it in the same 2" pot and used what I had laying around; filled it in with some tiny pieces of LECA and top dressed it with a thin layer of sphagnum moss (about 1" deep. I am hoping that those three can work together in keeping this little guy hydrated and cool over the summer that is rapidly approaching.

Still no signs of a spike. The two sheaths that developed are brown and dry so they might not produce anything. Who knows..

My day temps have been in the mid 70's- low 80's F and nights have been in the mid to low 60's F. Humidity has been low at about 30%-50%, so things are drying faster than usual and I have been watering this about every 3 days. I still think it might need more light but right now it's a light green color, receives about 5 hours of direct sun with no signs of burning, and I don't really want to increase that amount any more with us starting to get into the hot part of the year.

laelia gloedeniana by Sara, on Flickr

[SaraJean]

We had Dr. Courtney Hackney as a speaker last night at our OS meeting and I was able to pick his brain for a few minutes about these little rupics. He has been growing these for many years and using them in breeding. He suggested that down here in the south, they to do best when grown in clay pots with tightly packed sphagnum moss, instead of the more traditional inorganic media like rocks, pebbles, or clay pellets. He said he was skeptical when another grower first told him this, but moved a few to this method and was shocked at how much better they grew and how heathy the roots were. He now grows all of his rupicolous Laelias like this. I am kind of seeing the same thing with my L. gloedeniana that I put a 1” deep collar of sphagnum around when I repotted it. All of the sudden, the growth seems to be exploding with 5 new eyes developing over the last month. Also the new roots seem to be thriving. The darn thing had 1 or 2 good roots as of February, it got knocked out of its pot sometime over the winter (found out the culprit was a rat). After repotting it a little over a month ago, it is developed enough roots to fully secure itself. It’s making more progress in one and a half months than what I saw all of last year

I picked up a L. briegeri from Dr. Hackney last night, along with some other goodies, and I’m going to try potting it how he described. I will probably leave a bit of air space at the bottom of the clay pot when I shove it in (that’s very technical sounding, no?) and hope for the best


Pics of the new L. briegeri

[estación seca]

It's the increased water with moist sphagnum. They are wet all summer, but people have assumed growing on rocks means they're dry. Cattleya new growth turns black when it's underwatered. People mistakenly think it's rotting and water less. They turn black faster, and people assume they overwatered.

[Selmo]

Like most of the Midwest, we have had below average temperatures here. We are about three weeks behind normal, with the trees budding out and shrubs coming out of dormancy. We have put the shade cloth on the greenhouse as it was getting hot in there even if not outside, but we have not turned off the gas to the heater yet, it was 21F the other morning (record low for April 19). The last two years, we had turned the gas off by the first of April.
The L. flava is done blooming and has three new growths developing nicely. Mulling the idea about repotting into more spaghum moss and less rock. The wagon doesn’t need to be fixed if it isn’t broken. It does need to be repoted this year though.
The L. gloedeniana has started to show more signs of life lately as it has a couple of new growths that are matureing and one new growth that is just braking though. Last years growth that had a sheath is still hanging in there as the sheath has started to spilt open (photo 2) but the flower bud has not started to swell or elongate. I don’t know if will make it to flower as it seems to be putting its energy into new growths and not into flowering. Maybe a dry run, but we are still holding on to hope for flowers this year.
Hope everyone else’s plants are growing and doing well as the seasons change.

[Cheddarbob14]

What was the newest growth is about 6" long, saw some new root growth squirting out from its base so decided to repot (I jammed it into a pot that didn't allow for new growth when I first got it.......rookie). Just today saw another new growth that just popped since the repot, which was a couple weeks ago. It's on the 3rd bulb from the right in photo