planting masdevallias
 

Hey guys,

I got 2 masdies from the from an online vendor and their roots looked a bit underdeveloped:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ruvhvrfsnu...2017.51.59.jpg
One is "Maui gold" and other is "Celtic frost".

Inspired by all the S/H articles I decided to give it a shot, in hope root would grow faster this way.

This is my setup:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/c0dgpmobjq...2018.02.52.jpg

Any critique would be greatly appreciated.

PS: they are getting about 1-2h of low sun direct hit (shown in the second picture).

I don't see any pictures in my iPhone using Tapatalk. Maybe someone else can see them?

I really like S/H in glass. I also really like how you combined the lava rock & LECA, plus the moss on top adds a nice touch.

LOL... I'm soooo jealous! Someone can see the pics but not me! And such an excellent review!!!!

There are links to photos, which I couldn't see on tapatalk either

ooo I like the RJars. Be sure to mist them. I grow lots of different things in my RJars. :waving.
The masdies I started in RJars had a rough summer out doors and a rough winter in the garage. Ill get some pics but now I have a ton of new shoots. Now we hope it doesnt get too hot before they start to bud. Heat is your enemy with masdies.
The 2 you have are good compact growers and will tolerate some high temps. They need very bright light and high humidity to spike and bloom. If they get too hot in bud, the buds will yellow and drop.
RJars :bowing

http://guitardvark.smugmug.com/Flowe...0%5B1%5D-M.jpg

I have modified the jars some to suit my small phals and they seem to be very happy in them.

Good luck and nice planter :biggrin:

Masdevallias, in general, don't have very large root systems. Many of them have what appears to be "underdeveloped" roots.

They're thin, they're usually not terribly long and rangy, and they're usually not plentiful compared to certain other orchids many hobbyists are more familiar with; and that's normal.

I agree with Philip about the roots systems, in that every one I've bought has been similar to yours.

However all of mine seemed to have since grown massive root systems with the way I grow them (in moss and porous clay pots). They seem to love it and shoot roots out everywhere. Of course I've only tried six different ones so it could just be changes I got ones like that.

Anyway, I don't think you will have any problem with the roots you have.

The masdevallia does seem to have less roots than normal, but it should be fine. It's good that you put moss over the LECA. I put a masdevallia in S/H without moss over the LECA and it got too dry.

The moss is about an inch on the top. most of the roots are in LECA.

What I am curious is how do I water this setup?
Fill with water up until about 2 inches under the rootline ?

I'd put about 1 inch of water on the bottom and wait until it is almost but not totally gone.

What is the best way to fertilize with this setup? I bought a masdie recently and have thought about doing this too since I need to water it before and after work. I didn't realize how much water they liked and it was a good price. With fertilizer in the glass bowl I envision seeing green soup in no time.

Masdevallias do like a lot of moisture, but they don't like it to be soggy wet.

So far I only vaporise with some weak seaweed fertilizer. Doubt a lot of fertilizer is making it in the water "reservoir".

I have a masdie in S/H and made the mistake of overfertilizing, this killed all of the new growths... I had to flush it out a lot before it started to get new growths again and now I'm really careful just in case.

This is a good point. They don't need too much fertilizer to bloom or grow right.

I only have the one masdie so I don't have much experience. I think I'm going to use the idea of putting sphag on top of the LECA but I'm worried, how do you know how high up you can put it? Is there not any concern with rotting the bottoms of the growths? The sphag in this case is probably going to be consistently wet and won't dry out, so I'm a little worried and want to make sure that it's potted correctly.

In my setup the roots are mostly in leca. The moss is mostly "clog" the whole thing so less moisture escapes, as well as aesthetics.

So far the leca high up looks always moist so I guess roots should get enough moisture.

Here is a link to someone's Flickr account of Masdevallia picturata growing in-situ:

Masdevallia picturata (syn Fissia picturata) in situ 2009-03-29 079 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This should give you an idea of what you should do.

Just in case you can't see it clearly in the pic, I'll say this...

Don't bury any part of the stem or leaves. Yes, Masdevallias have very short stems that the petiole of the leaves are connected to. Only bury the roots in potting media.

Any idea is Masdevallia Maui gold is fragrant?
I got one, and the seller said it was. I somehow doubtful...

Masdevallia Maui Gold are not fragrant. This hybrid doesn't have parents that have the trait of being fragrant.

If you want fragrant Masdevallias, you gotta get Masdevallia glandulosa or Masdevallia caudata, or any hybrid containing these.

If they do smell, they'll probably smell like raw potatoes.

LOOL

It potato joke somehow lessened the sting of betrayal :)
I hate it when I get shafted by a seller...