That is a nice plant. I did think about getting one of those big plants when they had them but have stopped myself from buying nay more till I get them figured out more. Mine have all now gotten those black spots on the leaves and I'm not sure if it is a humidity problem or not.

I have all mine now in clay I will see how they do and maybe try the net pots. When I got my first ones Brian potted them up for me in clay pots before he sent them out to me. But in the summer when the sun changes it shines in the window in the early morning and makes the pots to hot.

I have an old fish tank I am thinking about putting them in come summer. I don't know where I will put it however. I need to get something fixed up down in the garage but that would take some doing.

When I get the ones I got from J&L they had theres potted up in spagh and tree fern and so that's how I ended up potting mine in. I ordered some tree fern and mixed it with spagh. I have enough tree fern to last me for ever.

I so want a veitchiana. I also really love my Dracuvallia and I did get one bloom off it last summer. It had a bunch more but the summer did all the rest in. I kept trying to take them outside at nigh just to have the wind blow them over and out of there pots. I can't believe I didn't kill them all.

I think my ignea is getting spikes for the first time in 2 1/2 years. Don't tell it I said so as I am so afraid it is going to blast.

If the sun shining on the pots heats them up too much, put a barrier between the sun and just the pot. This could be as simple as putting the pot in a foam coffee cup, or as complex as building a decorative box to set on your windowsill to hold the plants.

Nice job with the hybrid! I'm curious about the veitchiana. What temperatures was it in when the leaf drop started happening? I have mine double potted in clay with sphagnum and perlite but I'm not sure how it would fare in my 80 degree F + summer temperatures. Also, is ignea more sensitive to temperature than vietchiana? I was told from one report that they live in similar areas but another said it is more heat sensitive.

I will have to give this some thought. It might work. I also have an old fish tank that I remembered the other day and am wondering about it. Not sure where I would put it. I am now just waiting as they were so in need of a re-pot and most of them seem to be doing better. But even though I have a humidifier over the top of them I'm not sure there still getting enough humity.

---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 AM ----------

I wish I could answer this for you but I don't know. I have read that the ignea will take more sun than some. If I ever get the vietchiana I may find out. If I get this ignea to bloom it just might get me going again on them. I have been feeling bad I was not doing right by them.

Amazing! Love it!

I believe my veitchiana had problems because it was too wet. It's hard to keep a masdie too wet, but I drowned the root system every other day to help get the mealybugs it was infested with to surface. This helped deal with the largest portion of the population, but I believe that the side effect was root and leaf rot. I stopped doing the soaking and switched to treating the plant with Bayer Rose and Flower. Managed to save two leaves and about five good roots. I purchased the plant in a five inch pot. It's now potted in a two inch pot. I hate that, but I finally managed to get it back to happy.

It survived my 100 degree summer just fine, last year but I grow it indoors in the AC.

Thought I'd move the discussion on masdie culture to a combined topic discussed on a thread of mine

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tml#post793996

Mine just finished blooming! I love this plant, the color is so vibrant it's unreal.

Doesn't look so little to me. That plant has abundant growth. But I can see why you love it. :) Good job hanging in there with it.

You mentioned earlier about clay pots n baskets. From what I know (which ain't a whole lot) is that some Masdie species love colder roots, which the clay provides. The basket gives more air flow movement which provides a speedier drying for the roots before they are needing new water supply. As to which species prefers which? can only research-research-research or do the trial by error thing I suppose..

I think your vietchiana is benefiting from the water-filled tray in terms of added humidity than maybe moreso than from hydration. Just my opinion. If it were me, I'd have the pot still over the tray but raised on bed of drenched rocks/hydroton/lecos whatever. That way the roots aren't in a constant sop wet condition and get a chance to dry a little. The pot still gets some moisture uptake and gets a cooling boost but not so much it's in a bog-like watered condition. Again, just my opinion, but maybe it's because I'm so 'root-rot leery' from some of my failure experience with other plants.