Masdevallia ignea 'Strawberry'

[No-Pro-mwa]

OOOOO.....ooooooo I love this, beautiful. I just love these orchids and hope to someday try one or two. But I am going to try something less touchy before I make this plunge. I keep thinking that it just might like my temps. I am going to try and keep better track of my temps this winter and see if my house will be a good place for these cool growers.

[Laserbeak]

49°F tonight in New York City!

The Masdevallia should love it on a windowsill in front of an open window!

[RosieC]

Gorgeous!

[Tindomul]

Fantastic!!!!! How cool do you grow it?

---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:59 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Laserbeak

49°F tonight in New York City!

The Masdevallia should love it on a windowsill in front of an open window!

Man, you are brave, I want to try one too here in Queens but don't know how to keep it humid enough unless I stuff it into one of my vivariums. How big does this orchid get anyway?
I wouldn't be able to grow it in my apartment, the windows have the radiators underneath and even if opened the window my wife would freeze to death, even in the fall.

[Laserbeak]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

Fantastic!!!!! How cool do you grow it?

---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:59 PM ----------



Man, you are brave, I want to try one too here in Queens but don't know how to keep it humid enough unless I stuff it into one of my vivariums. How big does this orchid get anyway?
I wouldn't be able to grow it in my apartment, the windows have the radiators underneath and even if opened the window my wife would freeze to death, even in the fall.

I'm kind of playing it by ear. I used to live in Florida so it was really impossible for me to grow one, but since I've gotten back into orchids up here, I thought I'd try. I have two Masdevallias and one Dracula. One of the Masdevallias is in bloom and it hasn't stressed out and dropped it or anything so I guess that's a good sign.

I live on a higher floor in a big prewar building and I almost never have to turn on the radiators unless it's like 10°F outside, and almost always have the windows open. I mist them all the time (maybe too much!) so we'll see. I love the look of these, so I hope it works out.

[Tindomul]

That's the way to do it. When I had my collection I had them hanging fromt he top edge (on the inside) of a 20 gallon long aquarium. They would hang low enough so the pots would be below the rim. Then I had about 3-4 inches of water at the bottom of the aquarium and one of those ultrasonic foggers to make a dense fog around the tank. I actually had some real success from it (had some extra foggers outside the tank too hitting the leaves of the orchids). I kept the temps cool and kept it next to an open window (in my office, not apartment). Lots of sunlight during the winter, no direct sun in the summer. What got them was two summers ago I went away and the whole thing dried out. Then scale took over, end of story.
So thats my NYC Masdie growing experience.

[Bolero]

Mine grows down to around 34F at the coldest and can get as warm as 92F before I bring it inside.

Lowest humidity is less than 10% but I keep it moist and misted and highest humidity 99%.