Problems with Masdevallia tovarensis

[MZHMD]

Ok. M. tovarensis is from about 2000 m. Generally it is thought to do well in intermediate conditions. It is from a cloud forest environment and as such would be expected to do well with good air movement and high humidity. I have found that these conditions suit [U]my[U] specimen - I have a fan going in my enclosed space 24/7, the fan circulates mist from an ultrasonic fogger. There is constant, mild movement of the leaves of all the plants in the environment. I water every couple of days. M. tovarensis is happy under these conditions in an unglazed slash sided 3# clay pot (which it fills) in a mixture of fine bark, fine treefern, perlite, small grade aerolite and a bit of fine redwood bark. It blooms somewhere in the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. I hope this helps. The bottom line, IMO, is LOTS of air movement, moist air and don't overwater at the roots. As for feeding, I do it when I remember (not often) and then at an eighth to a quarter recommended strength of whatever happens to be in front of the other fertilizers when I lumber by. Unlike most masdevallias, this one seems to like me. I generally do better with dracs.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by MZHMD

Ok. M. tovarensis is from about 2000 m. Generally it is thought to do well in intermediate conditions. It is from a cloud forest environment and as such would be expected to do well with good air movement and high humidity. I have found that these conditions suit [u]my[u] specimen - I have a fan going in my enclosed space 24/7, the fan circulates mist from an ultrasonic fogger. There is constant, mild movement of the leaves of all the plants in the environment. I water every couple of days. M. tovarensis is happy under these conditions in an unglazed slash sided 3# clay pot (which it fills) in a mixture of fine bark, fine treefern, perlite, small grade aerolite and a bit of fine redwood bark. It blooms somewhere in the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. I hope this helps. The bottom line, IMO, is LOTS of air movement, moist air and don't overwater at the roots. As for feeding, I do it when I remember (not often) and then at an eighth to a quarter recommended strength of whatever happens to be in front of the other fertilizers when I lumber by. Unlike most masdevallias, this one seems to like me. I generally do better with dracs.

Thanks for the info. Not only lots of air movement, but lots of humidity so I don't have to water the plant often. That seems to do the trick. Almost like a fog forest succulent.

[WeirdGuySeattle]

I just got one of these myself.

I only have watered this thing maybe 5 times over the 5 weeks I've had this. My method has been to pick it up before deciding whether or not to water. I decided to check out the roots today and repotted cause it is so slow to suck up water, and I think the nursery I bought it from had overwatered.

it's roots only penetrated maybe 2" in to the bark - and the bark was very very dark. The good news is that there is a ton of new root growth coming in, so I think the plant should be fine. I planted in fine bark and a clay pot.

I agree about the succulent observation - the leaves are super fleshy compared to the other Masde's I have.