Looking for a Beginner Masdelvia

[bacon5]

Hey everbody I would really like to try one of these plants but would like to try one that is on the "easier" side. I live in San Jose, California and have plant space on the east window. If this helps at all, I have been successfully been able to flower P. Delenatii and M. Tenuefolia. Thanks for the help.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Try Masdevallia princeps.

Intermediate to warm (50 F - 90 F)

Bright shade to moderately bright indirect light.

Even moisture.

Moderate to high humidity (60% - 90%).

If you're looking for hybrids, Masdevallia Copper Angel or Masdevallia Dean Haas are good ones to start with.

[billc]

Masdevallia Redwing is also a good one to try. It can be grown up to 80F and is fairly forgiving in lower humidity.

Bill

[greengarden]

barlaeana is very reliable in my collection and if it helps it lives outside under my patio in what I have determined are about the equivalent of Southern Cal zone 10B conditions. I have another 13 or so also living out there quite happily and my 'whiskers' is just about to flower.

[cbuchman]

They key to Masdevallia success is the night time temps. For many, if the temps go over about 70 at night, all the leaves fall off and the plant is done! We were just discussing this at our Orchid Society meeting last week. Many hybrids have been bred to be more accepting of warmer temps, but still, a warmth tolerant Masdie is not warm growing. It means it can be grown cool to intermediate.

So ask lots of questions and do some on-line research and make sure that you can provide the proper temperatures for success (and other factors too )

Good Luck! I gave up on the Masdie since I just can't provide a good environment for them and they all end up on Orchid heaven.

[AnonYMouse]

I can't recommend a plant, I've haven't run across one that would be easy (not that they don't exist). I live on the lower peninsula, so depending on where you are in SJ, we may have similar conditions.

I currently have 4, 2 vars of Prince Charming (hybrid) and 2 ayabacanas, I have not yet bloomed them. I've killed a few, each a different way; moss too wet, moss too dry, bacterial infection, too much heat, etc. Some went within hours (heat), some drew it out for weeks but I didn't know it.

My current practice with Masdies are:
50-70% RH (ideally would be higher)
60-70°F 2/3 of the year (ideally would be lower)
bright shade
air circulation 24/7/365
cool pots or pot-in-pot sitting in a puddle of water
100% sphagnum moss (I HATE sphag)
Spray water on top of moss when dry.
Water with squirt bottle when I absolutely, positively know lower moss is dry.
Do not allow for wet moss during hot spells.

These are my BKP so far.

[WhiteRabbit]

I'm in San Jose, and the few Masdies I got a year ago have been fairly easy to grow. Unfortunately, one has no I.d. - I think it MAY be Masd. Mary Staal, but I certainly can't say positively. Another is Bob Hoffman (tho mine has odd blooms) . The other is Golden Tiger. Haven't got that one to bloom yet tho.

I have them in porous clay pots (to help keep roots cool during hot weather). Potted in sphag or coconut husk chips. Grown in north facing or shaded east facing window.

I don't have a/c, so they do suffer a bit when there's extreme heat. Being by a slightly open window at night helps.


I got these Masdies last March at the Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society show and sale - there were quite a few Masdies for sale, many from the members. This years show and sale is coming up, if that might be something you are interested in - they might have Masdies for sale again, and you can ask the members about culture, etc. It's at Westgate Mall, next weekend (glad I looked that up - I thought it was the following weekend!) It's not a big show, but the show plants last year where beautiful!, and it's fun orchid shopping as well!

http://www.santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org/

[AnonYMouse]

Hijack alert!

Sonya, can you take a picture of your Masdie in CHC set-up? I'm curious, might want to try it myself.

Thank you for your patience, back to the regularly scheduled programing.

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

Hijack alert!

Sonya, can you take a picture of your Masdie in CHC set-up? I'm curious, might want to try it myself.

Thank you for your patience, back to the regularly scheduled programing.

Just potted in clay pots in chc (the stuff I have is from a hydroponics supply store - "coco croutons" is the name I think , small chips and some fiber), a bit of perlite, some styro in the bottom. When I first got these, two were plenty big enough to divide, so I did, so I could try out the different media and different windows for them - one of each division went into chc, one each into sphag; one of each went into the shady east facing window, one each into the north facing window - all have done about the same (fairly well).

I am a big fan of chc - I don't use it exclusively, but do predominantly - retains moisture better than bark, it's quite airy, and lasts longer than bark - so much longer than sphag Some people have reported having fungus/mold issues with chc - I have never had that problem, and from what I have read, coconut husk should be quite resistant to mold/fungus ...

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

I currently have...2 [Masd] ayabacanas, I have not yet bloomed them.

I have a hunch as to why, please read on...

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

My current practice with Masdies are:
50-70% RH (ideally would be higher)

70% is adequate enough for many Masdevallias to bloom correctly.

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

60-70°F 2/3 of the year (ideally would be lower)

This is a bit too cool for Masd ayacabana. It will have a difficult time blooming if it never gets above 70 F. You can let it get to a daytime high of 90 F and it'd still be ok with this species. Masd ayacabana is not a true warm grower, it is closer to being an intermediate grower being able to tolerate the warmer end of intermediate. Masd ayacabana is closely related to Masd princeps, and they both have somewhat similar growing requirements. If you grow Masd ayacabana in the cool to intermediate range, it will start showing signs of distress when the temperatures start dropping below 50 F.

Just to give you an idea of what you can do; if you're going to grow in temperatures between 35 F - 70 F, you are capable of growing Masd coccinea without a problem.

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

bright shade
air circulation 24/7/365

This is true of many Masdevallias.

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

cool pots or pot-in-pot sitting in a puddle of water

Cool pots may be too big for Masdevallias in general, the smallest size they come in is 3". I've found that many Masdevallias can fit just fine in a 1.5" pot - 2" short pot; and we're talking about plants with lush growth here!

The pot-in-pot sitting in a puddle of water will not always work. This is a trial-and-error game.

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

100% sphagnum moss (I HATE sphag)

I've done just fine with full sphag with Masdevallias before. Although, I'm liking WhiteRabbit's idea of using CHC better.

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

Do not allow for wet moss during hot spells.

I've watered Masd princeps in warm weather with absolutely no problems before. I've even watered Masd andreettaeana in warm weather with no adverse effects, and this species is what I would consider an intermediate level Masdevallia.

I don't know what kinds of Masdevallias you've grown in the past, other than the 2 you mentioned, but some of them are really not that frustrating to grow.

If you want to know which ones are the true warm growers, there are actually very few of them. One of them is Masd wendlandiana, another is Masd livingstoneana.

You might also want to try out Masd strobelii. This one is an intermediate grower.