Anyone have experience with Laelia Lilliputiana?
 

Hello All,

I have a Laelia lilliputiana coming in the mail! I find it intriguing that lilliputian means something small or trivial. The former certainly applies, but not the latter.

Anyhow, this is my first rupiculous laelia. It's going in a well vented edwardian case to keep temperatures down. Orchidspecies.com states that it likes medium light. I was thinking of mounting it right to a rock slab to mimic it's natural conditions and wanted some imput from you folks. This plant will also accompany laelia dayana var coerulea (and other orchids) Has anyone grown this miraculously tiny laelia?

Thanks!

Rupiculous Laelias don't actually grow on the surface of rocks, at least not until they are well-established. They send their roots down into cracks, where there is moisture, shade, and organic matter. (If the plant gets big enough, it may spread some roots onto the surface of the rocks but that's not where the primary "action" happens) To mimic their environment, what I do is to put a layer of small gravel in the bottom of the pot (I prefer terracotta), then a few strands of sphagnum, a thin layer of high-organic potting soil such as African Violet mi(the sphagnum keeps the soil from washing out), add the plant, then top it all off with more gravel. This creates a very well-drained environment with just a bit of moisture-retaining ability and organic matter. The terracotta also lets water evaporate, cooling the roots. It can grow very bright - those vertical-pointing leaves permit to to shrug off intense light. It should do well with the L. dayana.

Here is mine - this one is in a 4 inch x 4 inch plastic pot. Same regimen - gravel, sphagnum few strands, a small layer of potting soil and more gravel.

Wow, that is quite stunning. So fascinating how the size of this genera is so very variable.

Thank you very much for the detailed information about potting mix and culture.

When the flower is bigger than the plant, always fun!