Diplodium aestivum

[Bloomin_Aussie]

Definitely one that fits under "miscellaneous and other". These are a deciduous Australian native terrestrial species. I'll give credit to the guy I got them from for the for the excellent condition of the plants. I'm yet to find out his secret for growing them so well.

[kinknstein]

That is truly a bizarre little plant!! Have never seen anything like it before. Really like it though, I love unusual plants!

[Ethan]

WOW! Talk about an unusual orchid!! That's incredible!

[tuvoc]

Neat. Looks like a nest of hungry baby birds.

Kim

[Bloomin_Aussie]

Yes, we have some very specialised orchids down here. I won't say that this is an unusual plant among the genus. There are over 100 species in the greenhood alliance which can be found in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. These like a few types of Australian orchids actively trap insect in order to get pollinated.

[Andrew]

Excellent flowering rate. Not a rosette in sight.

Are you growing many other Australian terrestrials?

[Bloomin_Aussie]

There's a couple of rosette's starting to appear but the majority were bloomers. I'm not quite sure if it's possible to induce this amount of flowering each year or if it is best to give them a break every odd one. Hopefully should be getting some tips soon.

I have a few terrestrials and they definitely my favorite although I had scaled back to simply photographing them occasionally in the wild for the last few years due to time constraints... getting back into the swing of things now though.

Other than these I also have some Taurantha ophioglossa which may or may not decide to flower this season and a hybrid "Nodding Grace" (nutans x curta).

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Bloomin_Aussie

There's a couple of rosette's starting to appear but the majority were bloomers. I'm not quite sure if it's possible to induce this amount of flowering each year or if it is best to give them a break every odd one. Hopefully should be getting some tips soon.

I haven't heard of any problems associated with letting the cauline greenhoods flower every year. Assuming you water early in the season, if the tubers are big enough they'll flower, if not they won't. The only terrestrials that I purposefully give a rest between flowerings are the fire stimulated species like Leptoceras menziesii or solitary species when I'm trying to multiply by tuber removal. You should be fine to let them flower next year.

[Bloomin_Aussie]

Great. Well, I got the growing info sent to me and it looks like I'm doing pretty much everything right as it is. The only possible exception was the size of the pot and I think that's why they are doing so well in this one... bigger pot means more consistent conditions which they aparrently prefer. I'll trial this theory next season.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Bloomin_Aussie

Great. Well, I got the growing info sent to me and it looks like I'm doing pretty much everything right as it is. The only possible exception was the size of the pot and I think that's why they are doing so well in this one... bigger pot means more consistent conditions which they aparrently prefer. I'll trial this theory next season.

Pot size is a balance between using a big enough pot to maintain consistent moisture levels and making sure the pot isn't so big that the mix holds too much water. In Victoria most people use between 6" to 8" pots which seems to strike the balance right (I prefer 6" as I can fit more plants into the shadehouse ). You can go bigger but you might want to watch your watering and adjust the mix it more freely draining.