warm growing Pleurothallids?
 

Are there any?

I used to have a highland Nepenthes chamber and could grow draculas, plueothallis and other cool growing orchids but I will not have the elaborate cooling setup for my WIP( wall sized epiphyte vivarium) so the plants will need to be able to deal with temps 65/70-80(+)*F year round. I love the weird world of the PA but I know so many come from higher elevation cloud forests and don't particularily do well in warm temps.

I'm open to any genus/species suggestions you folks might have for me. humidity will be no problemo, just cooling below 65/70*F at night.

There sure are! There are species which are 'warmth tolerant', as well as species that grow at lower altitudes which require warmer conditions. Also, many hybrids are much more temperature tolerant than the species.

I have been meaning to put together a list for Sue for a while now... so it seems like a good time to get it done.

I'll work on a list (both temp. tolerant as well as true warm growers) and post an update here later today.

I will preface this by saying that, with only one exception, I don't grow any of these. (I stick to the cool growing types, as that is the environment easiest for me to provide.)

This list, then, is based primarily on the species natural distribution - those whose range includes, solely or partly, lower elevations and more 'tropical' climate.

(I will confess to envy of some of these - particularly the Lepanthes with the patterned leaves! When I am brave enough to try the warm growing types, these will be the first ones I want to have!)

Those listed with ** after them have the majority of their range in warm (or hot) temperature. Those without the ** have a wide range and, hence, are tolerant of a wider range of temperature.

Dryadella dodsonii **
Dryadella elata **
Dryadella guatemalensis **
Dryadella sororcula **

Lepanthes calodictyon **
Lepanthes disticha
Lepanthes edwardsii
Lepanthes fiskei **
Lepanthes guatemalensis
Lepanthes horichii **
Lepanthes johnsonii
Lepanthes rupestris **
Lepanthes saltatrix **
Lepanthes telipogoniflora **
Lepanthes tentaculata

Lepanthopsis astrophora
Lepanthopsis cucullata

Masdevallia abbreviata
Masdevallia bennettii **
Masdevallia calura
Masdevallia chontalensis
Masdevallia collina **
Masdevallia cuprea **
Masdevallia floribunda
Masdevallia guerrieroi **
Masdevallia gutierrezii **
Masdevallia guttulata
Masdevallia infracta
Masdevallia lamprotyria
Masdevallia lata **
Masdevallia laucheana **
Masdevallia livingstoneana **
Masdevallia minuta **
Masdevallia naranjapatae **
Masdevallia norae **
Masdevallia oscitans
Masdevallia os-draconis **
Masdevallia pelecaniceps **
Masdevallia posadae **
Masdevallia rex **
Masdevallia sprucei **
Masdevallia striatella
Masdevallia tonduzii **
Masdevallia vieirana **
Masdevallia zahlbruckneri **

Platystele microtatantha
Platystele obtecta **
Platystele stenostachya
Platystele umbellata **

Pleurothallis acanthodes **
Pleurothallis alata **
Pleurothallis amaliae **
Pleurothallis aristata **
Pleurothallis aspergillum
Pleurothallis barbulata **
Pleurothallis brighamii **
Pleurothallis cardiothallis
Pleurothallis corniculata **
Pleurothallis crescentilabia **
Pleurothallis crocodiliceps
Pleurothallis cypripedioides **
Pleurothallis decurrens
Pleurothallis diabolica **
Pleurothallis flexuosa **
Pleurothallis glandulosa **
Pleurothallis leptotifolia
Pleurothallis loranthophylla
Pleurothallis luctuosa **
Pleurothallis microphylla **
Pleurothallis niveoglobula
Pleurothallis ochreata
Pleurothallis peculiaris **
Pleurothallis picta
Pleurothallis pubescens **
Pleurothallis quadrifida
Pleurothallis schweinfurthii
Pleurothallis setosa **
Pleurothallis stenota **
Pleurothallis testaefolia **
Pleurothallis tetragona
Pleurothallis uniflora **

I have 2 that grow with the Phals . They are Masde. infracia on (Shakkai's list ) ... and Pleurothallis tribuloides ..both are reliable bloomers .
Good list I printed it, Oh OOO :) Gin

Nice list!

A few more pleurothallids in my experience:

Masd. floribunda
Pl. grobyii (would grow anywhere, I think)
Pl. racemiflora (and allies)
Most of the larger sized Acronia (Acronia titan, marthae, gargantu).
Many of the smaller Acronia

Frankly I've found that as long as it isn't an obligate cool grower (which I won't even try anymore), almost anything I've tried will at least suffer through my conditions (summer temps 100+ for a few weeks). That doesn't mean they will like it. 80+ sounds like paradise to me. I do now move most of my pleuros to the basement for the summer, but it will get 75-80 in there on the hottest days with the lights on.

Let's not forget the Restrepias! Most of them can be grown and flowered in Intermediate and some of them will flower in Warmer conditions.

Some of the Scaphosepalum species are also warmth tolerant if you fancy something very different. Always trying my bit to encourage growers to grow some of the less represented Genus in the Pleurothallid world!

Thanks! I did neglect the Restrepias - though not on purpose! Just not enough experience/information.... Restrepias have such unique, beautiful flowers! I agree, definitely more people should grow them if they can!

I also haven't mentioned any Draculas at all. I don't grow any of them, so I wasn't sure where to start.

I can assure you Dracula lotax grows, thrives and blooms in an orchidarium with low light and high-high humidity and temps in 80s http://www.orchidboard.com/community...lotax_2140.jpg I would say this is a great canditate for the wall-sized terrarium.

Wow, Shakkai - Thanks for that awesome list I'll definately save it! Thanks for everyone elses's suggestions too, I really appreciate all the input I can get. Once I get my botanical book shelf unpacked & put back together I'll start to look these up in my orchid books.

On ebay last night I won an auction for a "warm growing" Restrepia striata or R. brachypus. I've never had a Restrepia before but I've always admired them at the January AOS show at the zoo. Does anyone have experience growing this one mounted?

what a great thread! this should be a sticky!

Masdevallia wendlandiana - beautiful epiphytic mini - definitely warm grower

Hi Gin - Bill

Does anyone know of any Sarcochilius varieties that thrive in this type of environment? I'm in Australia so might actually be able to get hold of these! :)

Sarcs are related to Vandas.

You guys should have several vendors that carry these in Australia.

Sarcochilus are natives of Australia.

Here are links to a dealer from Colombia. They have the Temps listed next to the plants.

http://www.orquivalle.com/catalogo%5CPleurothallids.pdf

and Lepanthes

http://www.orquivalle.com/catalogo%5CLepanthes.pdf

Pleurothallis tikalensis, a charming, wonderful orchid with a nice flower display on the leaf with a great color combination... you will love it!

Regards from Yucatan.

Mario

---------- Post added at 08:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------


Here a link...

IOSPE PHOTOS

Masdavellias are mostly cool growing but M. strobelii can tolerate higher temperatures. Many beautiful hybrids exist, the best being combinations of this species and M. concina. M. margarite x M. angel tang has survived the worst of high temperatures, no moisture and hard water but still rewarded me with pretty sulfur yellow flowers when I began to treat it better. A pleurothalid which is also hard to kill is P. grobeli. I've had one for 15 years and it is a true miniature. P. tribuliodes is another species tolerant of high temperatures. Draculas might seem especially fragile, but D. vampira is actually one of the more tolerant types although it certainly can't take the abuse a P. grobeli could. Although the species listed can tolerate hard water, with pleurothalids their best performance comes with even moisture and low mineral water.

Hi everyone,

Masd. Glandulosa is also an intermediate to warm (and pleasantly sciented) species.


Matteo

D. soennemarkii has proven very heat tolerant for me, growing outside over a pretty typical mid Atlantic summer. Typical daytime temps in the mid to upper 80s with a few stretches of 90F + temps, maxing out near 100F on occasion. Fortunately (for plants anyway) these hot stretches are usually accompanied by humidity in the 90% range. Night time drops average about 20F. In the pic, the large leaves were existing when the plant went out in May. Almost all of the smaller leaves towards the front are new growth since then: