My newest Vireya

[Tindomul]

Well, my lust for plants of the heath heather blueberry family has not subsided after a year, so I bought some more. Here is one that is in bloom now. Hope you all like.
This is a tropical Rhododendron commonly called a Vireya.
I now have about 8 of them and all are under 10 inches tall. All mature enough to flower.


Rhododendron Alisa Nicole-03 by tindomul1of9, on Flickr


Rhododendron Alisa Nicole-02 by tindomul1of9, on Flickr


Rhododendron Alisa Nicole-01 by tindomul1of9, on Flickr

[Kelo]

That's a pretty little thing!

[greenbean]

Beautiful!

I've loved these for years, but never been brave enough to try one. How are you growing them? Looks like a windowsill? What are your conditions?

[Paul]

Lovely flower. What are you going to do when they all grow up?

[Zoi2]

It's gorgeous! I didn't know rhododendrons came in a small variety.
Joann

Beautiful blooms Tindomul.
I also saw in your photo gallery a picture of Tacca plant. Do you grow it in the greenhouse? The leaves look so lush and healthy. If you don't mind, could you please share how you grow yours, what is it potted in? I have Tacca chantrieri and it always has some brown tips on leaves and in general doesn't look half as good as yours.
Thank you in advance.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by greenbean

Beautiful!

I've loved these for years, but never been brave enough to try one. How are you growing them? Looks like a windowsill? What are your conditions?

I grow it how I would grow my Pleurothallid orchids. Cool, moist. Except these get a lot more light. THe windowsill gets 8-5 hours of full sunlight from Sept - April. I keep a humidifier for those dry winter days. The room gets no direct sunlight in the summer so it never gets really hot, plus the adjacent room has an AC that cools both rooms down. Incidentally, I do grow my pleurothallids (mostly Masdies) in this room a little farther away from the window. Here they do well for me in the winter.

They grow in tall pots with big wide holes in the bottom for excellent drainage. The soil is a mix of orchid media and some other finer stuff for water retention. The media should always be very fast draining but good at retaining high humidity. hmmm, I wonder if anyone grows these in sphag. Many of these grow epiphytically in the wild.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by Paul

Lovely flower. What are you going to do when they all grow up?

I chose these varieties because supposedly they grow slow and never reach more than a meter or 1.5 meters in height. So I was kinda hoping I could just keep trimming them to keep them managable.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by orchideya

Beautiful blooms Tindomul.
I also saw in your photo gallery a picture of Tacca plant. Do you grow it in the greenhouse? The leaves look so lush and healthy. If you don't mind, could you please share how you grow yours, what is it potted in? I have Tacca chantrieri and it always has some brown tips on leaves and in general doesn't look half as good as yours.
Thank you in advance.

My Tacca I grow inside a 55 gallon terrarium converted from an aquarium. It recieves very little light (One T8 Shop light). Its really really easy to keep alive so long as the humidity levels are right.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by Zoi2

It's gorgeous! I didn't know rhododendrons came in a small variety.
Joann

You can find tons of info on tropical rhodies here. Not all are small, infact many end up getting to be really large, so keep that in mind if you decide to take the plunge.