Quote:
Originally Posted by stefpix
thanks - really easy to grow.
hopefully my Phaius tankervilliae will meet the same fate.
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Spathoglottis plicata are so hardy that they appear out of their natural range in Asia and are now throughout the Caribbean islands!
I had the pleasure of having to see them growing in the wild. Totally awesome!
They were growing in small distantly scattered colonies (each plant was around 20 ft to 30 ft apart from each other) between crevices in rock rubble underneath a waterfall. It wasn't an easy place to access, but it was still reachable.
The temperatures were in the intermediate range and very comfortable.
They were consistently moist from the water that ran through the rocks, but they weren't sopping wet.
The Spathoglottis were growing in shade.
Humidity didn't feel terribly high, like I said, it was very comfortable and I'm guessing it's about 60% to 80% RH.
The flowers looked like they wilted fairly quickly, so I think the life span of each flower is pretty short. They also appear to be able to set fruit very easily as well. One plant alone had quite a number of seed pods (they're in the shape of a wooden #2 pencil).
I didn't bring a camera with me when I was on the island of Dominica, because I was paranoid that I might have lost it, so I don't have a picture of me with the orchid. But a co-worker took a picture of me with one of the Spathoglottis and gave it to me, however, I don't know where it is (it's been a while, I forgot).
This is a nice plant when mature. I think you'll really like this guy. It gets to be about a couple feet tall. The mature leaf is a bit over a foot in length.
Just in case you wanted to know, I was told by the person who guided me to this location that Spathoglottis plicata were all over the island, and was not restricted to the locale I just mentioned, you just have to know where to look for them.
Spathoglottis plicata
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