lepanthes telepogoniflora

[WhiteRabbit]

Wow - such a beauty! Great save!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by ezil

Again: thank you all! I'm falling more and more under the spell of lepanthes. Too bad that so many of them are cool growers.

That's not entirely true.

Many are actually intermediate growing.

There are cool growers, but most lean towards intermediate growing.

There are a few warm growers.

Lths telipogoniflora are actually not cool growers! They grow intermediate to warm.

My issue with them is that they need lots of moisture to survive.

[professor plant]

Great job on the Lapanthes. It has become one of my absolute favorite orchids to grow. I bought mine for $25 from Ecuagenera and it was about as big as the tip of my finger. It has tripled in size and has 8 blooms on it now. The trick is getting them to open at the same time. Many of my orchid friends thought I was a little nuts to spend that on such a small plant, but I couldn't be happier with the successive blooming. I grow mine mounted at intermediate temps with twice a day mistings in a terrarium.

I will try and post some pics when I can.

Congrats again. I hope you can keep it bug free and thriving. I love the pic.

[Magnus A]

I am growling! I need one NOW, but they are not availably in Europe at the moment, to my knowledge!

Originally Posted by ezil

Again: thank you all! I'm falling more and more under the spell of lepanthes. Too bad that so many of them are cool growers.

But L. telipogoniflora is a warm growing Lepanthes... just to make things even worse when you can´t get one!

[ezil]

Thanks again. I bought mine from Ecuagenera too, and grow it int./ warm, with a few other lepanthes (calodiction, fiskei, tigrina, dictyola and a meniscophora). These plants are all minis, so there's room for more - - -but: they are hard to come by here in Canada, and there are so many more species I'd like to try. I can relate to Magnus.

[isurus79]

I get one of these in a few weeks!! Any tips? I know I have been battling snails in my terrarium too. How did you tackle that problem? I put a small bowl of beer in the tank for a few days and no luck.

[ezil]

Steve, I absolutely hate the critters. I took everything out of the terrarium, soaked the lava rocks in a strong bleach solution, and also "baked" them later in the oven for half an hour at 450F. All the orchids got repotted in new medium and pots. All other plants (baby tears mainly) got discarded. Even then I had to put out snail bait every 3-4 weeks. I check for snails all the time. I had always repotted new plants before adding them to any of my terrariums, but now it's strict quarantine. When in doubt about a plant, create a barrier of copper (mesh is best) between it and the rest of the terrarium, and try to catch the culprit(s), bait helps! I think that once you've had snails, you can never believe you are totally rid of them. Somewhere, some place, there'll be an egg waiting to hatch, and start your misery all over again. It's one of the reasons I prefer to work with smaller, isolated growing areas. That way a pest like that can be contained, but it's a lot of work!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by ezil

Steve, I absolutely hate the critters. I took everything out of the terrarium, soaked the lava rocks in a strong bleach solution, and also "baked" them later in the oven for half an hour at 450F. All the orchids got repotted in new medium and pots. All other plants (baby tears mainly) got discarded. Even then I had to put out snail bait every 3-4 weeks. I check for snails all the time. I had always repotted new plants before adding them to any of my terrariums, but now it's strict quarantine. When in doubt about a plant, create a barrier of copper (mesh is best) between it and the rest of the terrarium, and try to catch the culprit(s), bait helps! I think that once you've had snails, you can never believe you are totally rid of them. Somewhere, some place, there'll be an egg waiting to hatch, and start your misery all over again. It's one of the reasons I prefer to work with smaller, isolated growing areas. That way a pest like that can be contained, but it's a lot of work!

Excellent suggestions!! Thanks! I won't be able to break down the tank and I'd like to avoid using harsh chemicals, but a dilute dose of copper might be my best bet. I'd forgotten how toxic even low levels of copper can be to aquatic invertebrates. Hmmmmm.... now to shake the couch for some pennies!!