New Masdevallias

[masda]

Masdevallias recently acquired that were grown with Foschek Fungicide and fertlizer, leaves are healthy and roots are the same.

[snow]

wow! they are nice masda. wonderfull colour.
what are their names and are they cold or intermedate growers?
i don,t have a masdevalia yet but you,re,s makes me want to have one badly.

[dgenovese1]

Masda,

Wow! Your Masevallias are stunning!

I'm glad that you posted your pics...it gives me an opportunity to enjoy chids that I am unable to grow in my climate. bravo!!

[bellini girl]

Gorgeous blooms. Tx for sharing

Lecent

[masda]

The names are on them Snow and they are cool growers, these have been down to 2c twice but the winter average in my coolhouse is around 5-6c and if its frosty it's always a fine day after, need air circulation.

[shakkai]

That ignea is stunning! Well, they both are, really. But I'm especially blow away by the ignea.

Is the 5-6C your average overnight low in winter? Or is that the average average (if you see what I mean)?

I am wondering whether I can use my unheated greenhouse to grow my Masdies. I have put a min/max thermometer out there so that I can measure the temps this winter. So having 'real life' data of successful growing conditions to compare it to is useful.

How often do you use the Foschek?

Many thanks in advance!

[masda]

This winter, that has been the average but never below 2c and that was only a couple of times, so reasonably mild, I use the Foschek every 2 weeks at 5ml per lt. and a mixture of other feeds in between, I flush the pots with tap water at least once a month.

[shakkai]

Thanks for the reply! Do you grow in moss? I grow most of mine in moss apart from a couple that seem to like it drier which are in a bark, perlite, sphag mixture.

I tend to fertilise very weakly at every watering, giving an occassional flushing (maybe once a month in summer, less often in winter as I am watering less).

From historical data taken at a weather station nearby, I can see the outside temperatures for my area:

    yyyy  mm   tmax    tmin      af    rain     sun
              degC    degC    days      mm   hours
   2005   1    9.7     3.1       6    55.2    62.1#
   2005   2    7.8     1.4      12    16.0    68.3#
   2005   3   11.5     3.2       9    48.2   103.8#
   2005   4   13.8     4.9       5    54.8   158.2#
   2005   5   16.1     6.9       1    35.2   210.2#
   2005   6   20.6    11.0       0    57.8   225.3#
   2005   7   22.0    12.8       0    53.8   218.7#
   2005   8   22.0    10.6       0    47.2   279.3#
   2005   9   20.8    10.1       0    31.4   175.1#
   2005  10   17.1    10.4       0   112.4    89.3#
   2005  11   10.8     1.5      14    71.6   101.9#
   2005  12    8.6    -1.0      20    71.6    71.5#
   2006   1    8.0     1.6      12    20.0    74.3#
   2006   2    7.2     0.3      13    59.6    66.3#
   2006   3    9.3     2.2       9    64.5   101.0#
   2006   4   13.7     4.8       5    27.8   153.2#
   2006   5   16.7     8.3       0    96.7   163.0#
   2006   6   21.4    10.4       0    15.6   272.3#
   2006   7   25.5    13.4       0    55.5   307.0#
   2006   8   22.1    13.0       0    16.2   176.6#
   2006   9   21.3    12.6       0    43.6   155.4#
   2006  10   17.4    10.2       0   129.0    82.4#
   2006  11   13.1     4.0       8   126.4   103.1#
   2006  12    9.9     4.0       8   117.0    59.5#
   2007   1   10.4     4.6       4    80.8    58.5#
   2007   2   10.2     3.8       8   112.4    81.4#
   2007   3   12.3     3.0       7    69.2   174.3#
   2007   4   18.5     5.6       2     4.8   248.6#
   2007   5   17.7     8.5       0   103.4   204.1#
   2007   6   19.8    12.0       0    97.4   169.6#
   2007   7   19.9    11.7       0   118.6   175.3#
   2007   8   20.9    10.8       0    44.0   218.8#
   2007   9   19.5     8.9       0    28.4   160.8#
   2007  10   15.6     6.5       2    33.4   108.1#
   2007  11   12.0     2.7       8   108.4    87.3#
   2007  12    9.2     1.9      12    86.9    53.6#
   2008   1   10.5     3.4       6   114.8    48.8#
   2008   2   10.9    -0.5      18    38.6   131.3#

'af' is air frost.

From this, it appears that in the last couple of years only last February would have been too cold for them. With a couple of other months being borderline, but maybe ok inside the greenhouse.

[masda]

They will stand much colder temps than what I get, they grow well even in the North which is a lot warmer than New Plymouth. Mine grow in wild spaghnum, but some are in bark they don't seem to have a preference,even if you move them inside in the colder months make sure you have good air movement to prevent fungus etc.

[shakkai]

Well, they are currently all inside all year round. I've been growing them for almost 3 years now, and so far, I've not had any major problems with mold or fungus. (Touch wood.)

I am kinda kicking myself now, as I should have been tracking maximum temps in the greenhouse this summer, so I could see if it will get too hot for them. But I didn't think about it in time.

Thanks again for all of your input!