Start of Disa Flowering season

[Gin]

Wish I had not seen this message they are beautiful .

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Wrebbitrocks

wow guys, those are BEAUTIFUL. ive been looking for disas to try but i cant find any vendors? where do you guys get them from?

Marky1 and I are both in Australia so the local vendors probably wont be of much use to you. I have no experience with the US vendors, but Wally Orchard or Camp One Orchids might be worth a try. The Gore Orchid Conservatory also onsell Disa from an Oregon supplier. I don't know whether they get their plants from Wally Orchard or Camp One or from another grower.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I believe Camp One sells in bulk. If I'm not mistaken, the minimum they'll sell is 10.

Wally Orchard has no minimum. But I'm not sure which website he's currently running. I have his email.

Gore Conservatory does not always have them available for sale. They sell them rather seasonally.

Arizona's climate is something I'm not terribly familiar with. Aaron Hicks once told me he had issues growing Disas, and he's in Arizona. However, Aaron may be in a different part of Arizona than you, so climatic conditions may be different where you are "Wrebbitrocks". Since I never asked how he grew them, I have no idea whether if it was an issue of cultural techniques or an issue of climate. He tends to think it's a climatic issue that resulted in his difficulties with Disas. Like I said, I don't know how Arizona is, so all I've got to go on is Aaron's word.

This is why I recommended the book. "Wrebbitrocks", you know your climate the best. My reasoning is, after reading the book you feel that you can provide for the plants, then by all means go for it.

You can't go wrong with at least checking the book out (or check any book out on the subject of Disa cultivation), whether your climate is suited to growing Disas or not.

The only other thing I can really say is...

Disas in general come from a semi-arid desert type habitat. Within this semi-arid desert environment, there are many types of micro-habitats, each that are unique in-and-of-themselves.

The commonly sold Disas are streamside Disas and usually occur from the winter rainfall regions of South Africa. Disa tripetaloides not only has a winter rainfall form, but a summer rainfall form as well.

Those species are:

Disa aurata
Disa cardinalis
Disa tripetaloides
Disa uniflora

Of the 4 species commonly sold, Disa cardinalis is the rarer one. I also believe that D. cardinalis is the slightly warmer [intermediate] growing one out of the 4, because of where they are found. It is also said to be the most difficult one to grow of the 4, (my limited experience with this species confirms the level of difficulty in growing D. cardinalis - for the time being).

D. aurata, I believe, also tends to be able to tolerate warmer temperatures better than Disa tripetaloides, because D. aurata is a lowland species, and D. tripetaloides is a middle elevation plant.

I haven't grown D. uniflora yet, so I can't tell you anything about them.

Occasionally, Disa racemosa pops up. I haven't been able to obtain Disa racemosa at all from any of the mentioned US sources for Disas.

The hybrids are usually a combination of the 4 commonly sold species of Disa, along with Disa racemosa thrown in the mix. Rarely will there be a hybrid involving another streamside Disa - Disa caulescens.

[Wrebbitrocks]

thank you both andrew and king. i bought a flask from aaron hicks once. he was very helpful with helping me unflask the seedlings. also, he lives in phoenix, which is hotter than tucson. either way we both get 110+ summer temps so im guessing disas would be a no (since my luck with milts, odonts, and nobiles isnt great either :/ right now im in the process of trying masdevallias).

even with ac the temps rarely fall below 80 in the home. however, the area that i live in is zone 8 and for some strange reason our microclimate is colder as ive had plenty of occassions where my friends who live only a mile or two away look at me like an idiot when i tell them "it snowed at my house yesterday ". i even built an igloo.

back to topic now. the difference between day and night summers in tucson range from 105-112 during the day and mid 70's-high 90's during the night. it seems hot but idk, i just wanted to try out with one inexpensive plant. i wonder if itl make it since in my head it just seems that south africa and australia are dry arid places. but i wouldnt know since ive never been there. as for the book, thank you but im moving out right now and havent the money to splurge on anything til about february. i should be packing things right now but couldnt help checking up. maybe my new apartment will have better temps/climate/light. well just have to wait and see.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Arid only deals with the amount of moisture that is available in that area. Yes South Africa shares a lot in common with places like certain parts of Australia, Southern California, and Arizona in terms of being an arid environment.

The temperatures are a different story. There are many different micro-environments in South Africa. Table Mountain is different from the Karoo, which are different from the Cape, which is different from the Drakensberg Mountains.

Temperatures here where I am in So Cal (which is approximately 25 miles inland from the nearest coastal city) can get over 100 F at times during our summers, but the temperature also drops down to the 60's F to 70's F at night regularly in the summers.

Certain Disas, such as Disa uniflora can handle freezing temperatures provided they are protected from the actual frost itself.

Other Disas that are not sold at all in the hobby, can handle frost straight up, just a little trivia as a fyi kinda thing.

It's a given that Disas like it on the cooler side, but what people don't quite understand is how warm they can handle things. This is because of the different micro-environments these Disas come from, which includes the elevations that they are found at. This is the difficulty I'm having with telling you here, it's too much to go over.

Disas that are commonly sold are stream-side plants. They are literally growing on the edge of the stream amidst rushing water. Disa uniflora not only grows next to streams, but it sometimes grows on cliff faces next to waterfalls or drip zones (where the water from the waterfalls drip). While it is not necessary to imitate a rushing stream, it is necessary to keep them well watered.

Another bit of trivia is...

The different color morphs of Disa uniflora are also Disa unifloras that are from different localities. The red morph is predominantly from Table Mountain, while the other color morphs are mostly not.

If you really want to understand how Disas grow, I highly recommend the book I'm telling you about, or at least look at pictures of how they're growing in the wild. I think it's difficult to fathom what I'm telling you about them via the limitations of the written words on a web forum alone.

Not all Disas are alike in their requirements. Some groups share similar cultural requirements, but even then, they're a little different from each other in one way or another.

[Discus]

I recently managed to get a copy of Grow Disa directly from SANBI; I assume they've still got stock. They will ship internationally. The cost for out of .za (ex postage) is $24; if you live down here, it's only ZAR99. Here's a link to the international one.

I must say I find Disa quite challenging to grow and have already sent several to the Great Greenhouse In The Sky... :/ Fungus is a right bugger.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Disas are a bit of a challenge, because of the environment they come from. It's almost a juxtaposition of sorts.

They're not impossible to grow, however.

[Discus]

No, certainly not impossible to grow - I've seen greenhouses and shadehouses *full* of them at La Motte.
They definitely seem to benefit from staying dry at the top and having wet roots (in clean water); so far (touch wood) the remaining ones look quite healthy. I also think they're quite sensitive to water quality - I now use (purchased) RO water with an EC of about 8 uS/cm for general watering. I imagine keeping the medium somewhat on the acid side will help with fungus problems too, as acidic environments tend to be somewhat hostile to fungi. I've often wondered if the plants they live in and amongst in the wild produce a cocktail of secondary metabolites underground that wipe out nasties.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yes, keeping the potting media as acidic as possible does the trick in keeping much of the fungus at bay. In the wild, their water and substrate are acidic. The water can have a pH of 3.4!

Root rot also causes those leaf blemishes btw. Root rot in Disas are usually caused by a number of things. One of them being incorrect pH. Over watering can be another cause of root rot. I've found that they can handle being a little on the moist side (not completely dry, but very close to it). Lastly, the type of potting media is also an issue. It needs to drain very well and be acidic.

I think using a small grade of crushed sandstone is the key...

It's hard to find crushed sandstone here in the US, but that is actually the preferred potting media along with a small portion of peat moss so the sandstone doesn't grind on the roots.

The most efficient way of producing more Disas is through sexual reproduction and seeds.

Asexual reproduction is much less reliable.