What Genus are you finding difficult to grow?

[DirtyCoconuts]

I love the great Smokey range.

[WaterWitchin]

Exactly why Michael wants to be there.

Edited to add: The "in the sticks part."

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

...I took these pics (attached) this morning to show it certainly is possible to almost do nothing (except to water) paphs and phrags.....

These plants catch a lot of the morning sun. Direct morning sun. I just water all the orchids each morning.....

The frames to keep sun from heating the pots are key.

---------- Post added at 03:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------

Responding to Tindomul's Masdie experience: Ouch. So painful.

---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 PM ----------

Look up posts by No-pro-mwa. She grew Masdies in Wyoming.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The frames to keep sun from heating the pots are key.

ES ------ that's definitely among the best recommendations and tips out there! Thanks for mentioning it. That will be one of those great points that I'd put on the front page of an orchid growing manual. Internal pot temperature from solar heating is something that can well be overlooked. Awesome and excellent comment ES!

[Kfrizzled]

My primary issues are with genus that require high humidity. I live in a semi-arid climate that gets intense sun year-round, even when it’s well below freezing. I’ve been experimenting with how to get humidity up for dendrobium spp, vanda types, oncidium spp, paphs, and miltoniopsis. I have an indoor greenhouse structure with humidity tray and fan that works well for the heat tolerant orchids, but I can’t put my “cloud forest” orchids in there. Humidity trays larger than the diameter of the pot only get me up to ~50% reliably. Any other humidity increasing tricks you can offer? Oh, I use the RePotme oncidium mix with sphagnum moss over top.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Kfrizzled

My primary issues are with genus that require high humidity. I live in a semi-arid climate that gets intense sun year-round, even when it’s well below freezing. I’ve been experimenting with how to get humidity up for dendrobium spp, vanda types, oncidium spp, paphs, and miltoniopsis. I have an indoor greenhouse structure with humidity tray and fan that works well for the heat tolerant orchids, but I can’t put my “cloud forest” orchids in there. Humidity trays larger than the diameter of the pot only get me up to ~50% reliably. Any other humidity increasing tricks you can offer? Oh, I use the RePotme oncidium mix with sphagnum moss over top.

First, Welcome!

An ultrasonic fogger might help in your enclosure. Check out the Greenhouse Gardening and Terrarium Gardening forums. Posts in one of those will be more likely to to get responses from other members who are dealing with a similar situation.

[Hydrox]

Plectrelminthus - These live and die by consistency in culture. Any little change in temperature, humidity, and even light intensity will cause the plants to drop leaves and shed roots. They need tropical conditions with very bright light, high humidity, and lots of water year-round, with the caveat that the roots need to dry quickly after being watered, or they rot. Long stretches of dark winter days make them sulk, and temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit make them decline.

Prosthechea/Anacheilium - Rot, rot, rot. And more rot. I can't get any of the cockleshells to make it through the fall and winter without succumbing to some form of rot. Repotting them at the wrong time makes them sulk and shed their roots, and getting the light levels correct for them is a chore. Too much light and they burn, too little light, and they sulk. P. radiata also has the problem of producing very top-heavy growths that snap at the base.

Dendrochilum - They'll fluorish for a brief period and then grow backwards. They are also very reluctant to produce new roots, and seem to be finicky about the medium that they grow in. It's as if they want moisture around the roots, but also want to dry quickly, but also don't want to dry out completely, but can't stay too wet, but still need air flow, but don't want too much air flow. Divas.

Huntleya - These are some of the most unforgiving orchids I have ever grown - one mistake and they're toast. Since they don't have pseudobulbs and have thin, lush foliage, they require a consistently moist, buoyant environment. Moisture needs to be even - not too wet or dry - or they'll either lose roots or shed leaves. They need medium to bright light, not the oft-recommended shade, though the leaves will burn if the light becomes too intense. They are also strictly intermediate growers - too cool and they rot, too warm and they burn up. They're essentially Miltoniopsis but with a worse attitude.

Brassavola/Leptotes - Both of these genera are easy growers but painfully difficult to bloom. Neither genus really wants to be in a pot, and each would probably be happiest if grown right next to the sun. You would think that the terete foliage would have been enough of a clue, but...I didn't listen to my intuition. I consider them both "prank" genera in that folks always seem to recommend them to newbies but they're not really beginner-friendly, considering both their light and mounting requirements. Silly newbies, terete plants are for experts.

Bulbophyllum - Bar echinolabium, it's been very hard for me to meet their moisture and humidity requirements. The minis and the "runners" that require mounts are no-no's for me, since they just give up in my conditions. I'm hoping my lone echinolabium will "punish" me with its odiferous flowers to avenge the deaths of its counterparts.

---------- Post added at 01:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:25 AM ----------

Originally Posted by BrassavolaStars

Yet, what still continues to irritate me to no end is Trichopilia suavis.

Writing out the name even makes me shudder. I love their flowers but I now despise them as plants.

In every case (now 5), the leaves yellow and drop. The Suavis has become my special nemesis. I have three right now and they are all in poor shape. I think I’m going to have to replace them soon. I am thinking maybe it is too hot for them in the summer 88-96f.

That said, I just bought a marginata and it actually seems quite sturdy. The other Trichopilia species I have aren’t doing too badly either. The suavis on the other hand...

Try giving your suavis more shade, and keep them intermediate. They seem to like light that is just a bit brighter than a phal, and are not particularly fond of high temperatures. My plant goes into torpor during the summer and then begins growing once the temperatures cool off a bit. Definitely not as easygoing as my hennisiana, which grows willingly and can handle a wider range of conditions.

Originally Posted by SaraJean

Angraecums are my enemy. I know they can grow well down here, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. So far though, the only one I’ve been semi-successful with is an Angraecum distichum. I say semi-successful because it’s been doing pretty good for a couple of years and now, all of the sudden, I’m seeing some yellowing at the base and I’ve lost two growths. Every other Angraecum I’ve tried has crashed— a half dozen didieris, eburneum, leonis, magdalenae and my poor sesquipedale that I had raised from a small seedling and got a horrible infection last year.


Oddly, a lot of the other closely related genera do well like my Mystacidiums, Amesiella, or Aeranthes.... I’m at a loss but I’ll keep trying. I currently have a leonis under lights and I would like to try an eburneum or magdalenae again when I can find one that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg

In your defense, neither didieri nor leonis are trivial plants to grow. Didieri is a temperamental plant that is particularly prone to rot and requires mount culture to get the air circulation it wants around the roots. The issue with leonis is that there are actually two forms of the species and each demands its own set of conditions. Most of the leonis in cultivation are the larger form from the Comoros Islands, which craves more moisture than most Angraecoids and does not appreciate getting too hot.

I think your issue is related to potting medium and moisture, due to how humid your conditions are. Make sure your plants are drying out before you're re-watering; a lot of the plants you listed do not appreciate constantly soggy conditions around their roots. With your high ambient humidity, you don't need to water quite as often as I do here in the west. Also, make sure you're not letting water get trapped in their leaf axils; Angraecoids don't handle infections very well and so require a fair bit of vigilance to keep them from happening. I'll try to go into more detail about this group in the "recommendation" thread that's in the Ang sub-forum.

[BrassavolaStars]

Originally Posted by Hydrox

Plectrelminthus - These live and die by consistency in culture. Any little change in temperature, humidity, and even light intensity will cause the plants to drop leaves and shed roots. They need tropical conditions with very bright light, high humidity, and lots of water year-round, with the caveat that the roots need to dry quickly after being watered, or they rot. Long stretches of dark winter days make them sulk, and temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit make them decline.

Prosthechea/Anacheilium - Rot, rot, rot. And more rot. I can't get any of the cockleshells to make it through the fall and winter without succumbing to some form of rot. Repotting them at the wrong time makes them sulk and shed their roots, and getting the light levels correct for them is a chore. Too much light and they burn, too little light, and they sulk. P. radiata also has the problem of producing very top-heavy growths that snap at the base.

Dendrochilum - They'll fluorish for a brief period and then grow backwards. They are also very reluctant to produce new roots, and seem to be finicky about the medium that they grow in. It's as if they want moisture around the roots, but also want to dry quickly, but also don't want to dry out completely, but can't stay too wet, but still need air flow, but don't want too much air flow. Divas.

Huntleya - These are some of the most unforgiving orchids I have ever grown - one mistake and they're toast. Since they don't have pseudobulbs and have thin, lush foliage, they require a consistently moist, buoyant environment. Moisture needs to be even - not too wet or dry - or they'll either lose roots or shed leaves. They need medium to bright light, not the oft-recommended shade, though the leaves will burn if the light becomes too intense. They are also strictly intermediate growers - too cool and they rot, too warm and they burn up. They're essentially Miltoniopsis but with a worse attitude.

Brassavola/Leptotes - Both of these genera are easy growers but painfully difficult to bloom. Neither genus really wants to be in a pot, and each would probably be happiest if grown right next to the sun. You would think that the terete foliage would have been enough of a clue, but...I didn't listen to my intuition. I consider them both "prank" genera in that folks always seem to recommend them to newbies but they're not really beginner-friendly, considering both their light and mounting requirements. Silly newbies, terete plants are for experts.

Bulbophyllum - Bar echinolabium, it's been very hard for me to meet their moisture and humidity requirements. The minis and the "runners" that require mounts are no-no's for me, since they just give up in my conditions. I'm hoping my lone echinolabium will "punish" me with its odiferous flowers to avenge the deaths of its counterparts.

---------- Post added at 01:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:25 AM ----------



Try giving your suavis more shade, and keep them intermediate. They seem to like light that is just a bit brighter than a phal, and are not particularly fond of high temperatures. My plant goes into torpor during the summer and then begins growing once the temperatures cool off a bit. Definitely not as easygoing as my hennisiana, which grows willingly and can handle a wider range of conditions.



In your defense, neither didieri nor leonis are trivial plants to grow. Didieri is a temperamental plant that is particularly prone to rot and requires mount culture to get the air circulation it wants around the roots. The issue with leonis is that there are actually two forms of the species and each demands its own set of conditions. Most of the leonis in cultivation are the larger form from the Comoros Islands, which craves more moisture than most Angraecoids and does not appreciate getting too hot.

I think your issue is related to potting medium and moisture, due to how humid your conditions are. Make sure your plants are drying out before you're re-watering; a lot of the plants you listed do not appreciate constantly soggy conditions around their roots. With your high ambient humidity, you don't need to water quite as often as I do here in the west. Also, make sure you're not letting water get trapped in their leaf axils; Angraecoids don't handle infections very well and so require a fair bit of vigilance to keep them from happening. I'll try to go into more detail about this group in the "recommendation" thread that's in the Ang sub-forum.

In terms of Prosthechea, the radiata is probably the easiest. I had my first two fragrans rot to my horror as they are rare plants.

I really hate the suavis now (but I want to see it bloom). It is the worst of my trichopilias (and maybe all orchids). My marginata, totilis, and hennisiana are not so temperamental. I even got the hennisiana to bloom. I’ve killed about 5 suavis now and 1 Ramonensis (a suavis cross that ruins the marginatas good behavior).

I agree with your assessment of angraecums. I killed my first two didieris and a few sesquipedales. They are extremely sensitive to rot. That said, once in the greenhouse, my third one is an angel that bloom 5 times a year. They really don’t take well to stagnant indoor air.

I had the same experience with the dreaded miltoniopsis and I have yet to lose one since putting them outside/in the GH.