Caladenia Harlequin

[Roberta]

Caladenia is an Australian terrestrial genus, characterized by a single leaf, small root system, and small tuber. It's a bit tricky to grow. This one has been getting better each year, I suspect that it starts to develop its mycorrhizal enironment that it needs to sustain itself and bloom. So far, I have only flowered the primary hybrid Caladenia Harlequin (Calda. flava x Calda latifolia). Hybrid vigor helps. I have Calda latifolia alba, that came up with two nice growths but no flowers. Maybe next year I'll have the species to show.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Beautiful! I guess such a beautiful flower needed a trade-off because I'm struggling with this one!

Do you ever check the state of the tubers or do you leave the plant undisturbed for years? Maybe you keep the medium when up-potting to aid the Mycorrhizal symbioses?

Any suggestions on how to best keep these alive when dormant?

[Roberta]

I unpot the Mediterranean terrestrials every year, to see what I am going to get. Then I put them back into the same mix, fill in with a bit more if needed. My (unproven) hypothesis is that if any mycorrhizae have developed from what might have been carried by the tubers, I'm preserving it. Since the mix is mostly inorganic, there's nothing to break down. (I just dump each pot out onto newspaper, pick through the medium to find what might be there, and pot it back up) OF course, if I find nothing (empty pot syndrome) I also know what to dump, not take up space. Stuff happens...

[Leafmite]

That is very pretty!