Epidendrum Parkinsonianum cultural advice please?
 

Hello to all,

I recently purchased an Epidendrum parkinsonianum. I have been looking for information on this species but have had a hard time finding how people are successfully cultivating it.

It is potted in a slatted basket with coconut husk. I have it in a bright greenhouse window (home greenhouse window, not actual greenhouse) where it gets some morning sun and lots of bright light thereafter.

I either have two beginning spikes or new growths. I did read that the spikes start from the base of the new growths, and that is where mine are! So I'm keeping fingers crossed and want to treat this plant tenderly.

Any advice would be great. I am including a couple of photos of the plant and the new spikes/growth. I will keep everyone updated on my progress if people seem interested.

Thanks!

I think the genus name for this one has changed ?
I searched IOSPE and found Coilostylis parkinsonianum

IOSPE PHOTOS

I don't really know about this plant, but if it was formerly named as Epidendrum I would expect spikes to grow from the top of the pbulb - and if I am looking at the right plant on IOSPE that is indeed the case.
I hope someone who knows about this plant will chime in :)

I have one that just bloomed and WOW is it amazing - the first picture looks like yours bloomed and is now starting to form a seed pod - they bloom from the sheath at the center of the leaf. The second picture looks like you have a new root starting- mine is growing in very bright light in a wire basket with spag moss mounted upside down so the leaves hang straight down and it gets watered pretty frequently in warmer months.

Hope this helps

Bright light, just behind the vandas, mounted, leaves hanging down.

Thanks everyone,

Yours just bloomed! Wow, congratulations! Water how often coolPhrog, weekly in coconut husk? Does it like to dry out between being watered?

I would love to have it mounted mojoMick. Should I wait until the new growths have roots?

I water mine pretty heavily in the summer - then in the winter/first of spring months, I cut that way back until it warms up again

I'd wait for emerging roots and them mount with a little sphag on a cork mount. Good Luck

Re-potted
 

I re-potted my epi. parkinsonianum. Thank you all for your advice.

He is now in a smaller basket lined with sphagnum moss, loosely filled with a mix of coconut chips, charcoal and perilite. I hung the basket at as extreme of an angle as I could without the orchid and mix spilling out. I also removed the developing seed pod as I am a home grower and wanted it to establish itself and put out new growths and thought the seedpod was saping a great deal of resources.

He seems to be pleased with the new arrangement as there is a good deal of new root growth and some new little growths at the bracts below the leaves. I have been watering about once a week and mist every morning. Hopefully things will continue going well and I will have exciting news to report in the future.

Epi. parkinsonianum update . . .
 

Hi pixieStar,

I know this thread is about four years old, but . . .

I am just curious as to how your Epi. parkinsonianum progressed after you put it into that smaller basket. It should be well established now.

Since this species has a pendent habit in nature I would guess you could tilt the basket more to the side to let let the leaves hang down in a more pendent fashion, as it would do in nature.

I bought a large bare-root seedling about four years ago and put it into a 3-inch clay pot into sphagnum, then hung the pot at a 45-degree angle. It has taken a good while but has now started to show more vigourous growth and should bloom in another growth or two. [Fingers X-ed!]

It will also need to be repotted at the next new growing cycle and I'm thinking of munting it onto a piece of hard treefern with the fiber hung vertically so it won't become waterlogged.

Hope your plant is doing well. Maybe you will offer us an update on it.

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

Paul I grow this species and would advise you put it in a basket with lava rock. This plant when mature, gets very heavy and tree fern in 4/5 years will start to grow weak and you might dump the plant on the ground.

I used a plastic vanda basket, lava rock and tied the roots and rock down with a twisty tie. This is a pic from '12.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7241/...9cca008951.jpgEpi parkinsonianum JCL_0892 by kentucky4, on Flickr

When large this plant blooms for months. It is a pain to deal with inside a home but is great in a g/h or growing outside.

Brooke

Very well grown plant Brooke!


Judi

Thanx Brooke. Is that photo of your plant? If so, how long has it been in the vanda basket. Actually it has grown so large I can't really see the vanda basket in the photo.

The plant in the photo seems very happy and has produced an abundance of roots.

As I mentioned before, mine seems to be growing a little faster now that it's got several nearly mature-sized leaves on it. Hopefully this 'snowballing effect' in growth rate will continue, increasing as the plant adds more new leaves/growths.

Does your plant seem to be a heavy or light feeder?

Sorry to play 20 Questions, but I was never really certain that this species would grow for me in our Florida heat, let alone survive. here.

Regards,

Paul M.

Best grown hanging down, under intermediate to warm conditions, with more water and fertilizer than other Epidendrums. No specific rest period. Brookes plant is a smash hit.

Strange and beautiful plant in the same time :)

Thanks all, glad you like it.

Paul it has been in the basket since '06. If you look at the top of the plant, on the right side you can see where the roots have totally covered the back of the basket.

It is watered daily and fertilized with a sprayer a couple times a week.

It will constantly multiply and each new growth will continue to make new growths from that original growth. I seldom have a "dead" leaf on it. The basket hangs over 5 feet from the floor and the roots touch the floor and then go sideways. The weight of a large plant is why I recommended a substantial basket to support the weight.

I grow this in zone 6 g/h in Catt light so whatever you use for your Catts should make it happy. It should love the humidity and temps in FL.

Brooke

Thanx Brooke,

I'll try your sugestions and see what happens.

It's big enough now (about 8 matured growths w/leaves) that if it gets what it likes it could bloom on the next growth or two.

I'd be curious to know whether anyone has tried this species successfully on a piece of cypress bark and how it did there. Cypress is a hard wood and should last a good long while.

And one more question comes to mind now:

Does the plant's rhizome tend to grow upwards on the mount or downwards? That would be useful to know when affixing the plant onto its mount for the first itme.

Regards,

Paul M.
==

Every thing grows down on this plant.

Brooke