Pleurothallis shuarii....I have so many questions.

[DirtyCoconuts]

I read that it was an intermediate to warm grower and should be kept moist. Then I saw that it wants to be kept in cooler temps. 60-70s

My house stays around 72 year round. Humidity is close to 30-50. Outside it is 80-95 most of the time

I have this in semi hydro(seemed a good candidate for the culture given its love of water)

So does anyone have one? What kind of temps are we shooting for here? I know the genus can vary example to example so any info would be very helpful

[Roberta]

Not a lot of info... my go-to, when all else fails, is IOSPE Not a lot there either, but the habitat description says a lot:

"Found in southeastern Ecuador in shady, wet tropical montane forests at elevations around 900 to 1400 meters"

From that, if it were my plant, I'd suspect that it could tolerate nights down to the high 40's F if acclimated, but it would definitely prefer warmer. Should be no problem with highs in the high 80's (if shady and damp, could handle warmer) I think that if you can keep it well shaded, outside would be better. (If it were my plant I'd try to grow it outside but would worry about winter... you don't have that problem) So that's my Not particularly a cool grower... I'd call it intermediate.

[DirtyCoconuts]

I cannot thank you enough for the info and lending me your knowledge.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

I cannot thank you enough for the info and lending me your knowledge.

My pleasure! My visit to Ecuador for an orchid-hunting trip was a life-changer. There's a lot more temperature variation than one would expect right on the Equator, elevation is the decider. (As a "What can I get away with?" orchid grower, I found that I could get away with a LOT.)

[DirtyCoconuts]

That’s so cool and illuminating!! I think your two cents is much more like a nickel!!

[DirtyCoconuts]

She’s back outside in the phal and paph section

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

She’s back outside in the phal and paph section

I think it will be happy!

My very rough binary (outside or greenhouse) approach to equatorial species at my house with winters into the low 40's F... Above 1400 m elevation, no problem outside. 1100-1400 m, I can probably get away with it. Below 1100 m, greenhouse. At your house, above 1500 m, probably too warm outside some parts of the year, lower than that you should be fine taking what nature provides. At higher latitudes, the "cool" extends to lower elevations, adjustments to be made accordingly. Of course these estimates are made to be fudged... but handy guidelines when at a show and the only immediately-available resource is orchidspecies.com on my phone.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Still. Your informed guess is worth more than most people’s facts on subjects like this.

I like to glean as much info as I can from the plant’s native location to try to mimic it. As such, I really value the informed knowledge

[DirtyCoconuts]

Couple more questions

I can’t find a bakers sheet for this plant. Anyone know of any synonyms?

I have this in semi hydro and it is really loving it as far as need being met but it is a floppy jerk and tries to interfere with all my efforts to orient her properly.

I was suggested that mounting her would be ideal but I am concerned about both her temperature (rooms are much cooler in the enclosed and always moist pot) and the moisture itself. My ambient humidity ranges from 60% in winter to 90+ in summer but I cannot water more than once a day and that is still tough in case I forget or have a late night or my family tries to compete with my ‘chids for my attention

So, thoughts? Keep her in sh and just add stakes and such or mount but add some extra moss or something similar to extend the “wet” time?

[Roberta]

Checked in Orchidwiz... no Baker sheet on this one. That's going to be the case for relatively-recently described species... this one was first described in 1982, it got moved to a different genus, Echinosepala in 2007 by the same taxonomist (Luer) . So it's really recent. And of course, after it was discovered, more time elapsed for it to be cultivated in a nursery to be available to buy. IOSPE has it listed as Echinosepala shuarii (not cross referenced, even. I got the cross-reference from Orchidwiz) and that's where the elevation and habitat data are. So... just not a whole lot of data on this one. (Any data that do exist no doubt were accumulated after Baker did his work, probably after he died, and there's just not much at all)

There are new species still being discovered. All the more reason to do all we can to conserve those habitats... or we may lose species before we even know that they exist. (A plug for Orchid Conservation Alliance, an organization that raises money to buy land for preserves in ecological hotspots)

If S/H lets you meet it's cultural needs, that's probably the way to go. Then you can stake, or let it flop if it really wants to be pendant. (Mounting would no doubt be better to mimic the way it grows in nature, but you don't live in a wet Ecuadoran forest... one has to make compromises...)

Just an additional note... I think I did guess right on its temperature, etc... I looked it up on the Ecuagenera website (as Echinosepala shuarii), and it's listed as Intermediate/Warm, medium light, high humidity.