Is anybody growing Ionopsis utricularioides?

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I bought one of these from Ecuagenera in their July sale this year. It arrived July 27 of this year, bare-root, very much smaller than I was emotionally prepared for. It has only a few tiny, thread-like roots. It appears to be a plantlet that developed on a flower spike; there is still a segment of the old stalk attached, which makes a convenient handle.



I set it in the lid of a plastic food container. I fill it with a tiny amount of rain, or water with a little fertilizer, twice The roots are arranged such that I can't get all of them into the water at the same time, so I rotate the plant each time I water it.

It arrived quite dessicated, but plumped up. It is somewhat wrinkled if it's dry when I come by, but if a few roots are in the film of water for a few hours, it plumps up. It hasn't made any attempts at growing anything. It has developed some leaf damage and tiny holes here and there, probably mechanical from picking it up so much.

The photos people have posted here don't show the bases of the plants close up - are these better mounted bare on some rough bark, or on a pad of moss? I wouldn't try to bury fine roots like this in moss. Poking around on the Internet doesn't show anybody growing it in a pot.

[SaraJean]

I snapped some pics of the base of mine and I hope they come out clear. I’ve had this a couple of years and almost lost it last year when I kept it way too bright over the summer. A couple of growths died back, and two other older ones are pretty wilted, but it’s making 4 new ones so no complaints. I didn’t like the roots on this buried either, I don’t know if it’s a twig epiphyte or not, but it reminds me of that and I wanted good air around the roots. I just have a tiny bit of coco fiber on the mount but the majority of the roots grow away from the coco fiber and on the bare wood or out in the air (I do have that New Orleans humidity though).

[SaraJean]

I will add that when I got it, I’m pretty sure it was a recent import. If I’m remembering properly, it felt like it took a full year for it to really get going and establish itself on the mount and in my environment. Could have been my poor care and not knowing what I was doing, could have just needed time and been one of those orchids that likes to sulk for a bit. Not sure, but it eventually got going with some growths and roots

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Thanks!

[Orchid Whisperer]

I had one when I lived in Puerto Rico, decades ago. They are common twig epiphytes in the Puerto Rico coffee farms. I was told to treat them like "equitant Oncidiums" (Tolumnia) which seemed to work.

They are susceptible to scale insects, I recommend using a good systemic.

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It dwindled away and died not long after I posted. I think it was far too small and had too few roots to survive shipping.