Laelia albida growing conditions
 

Hi. Can anyone clarify what conditions Laelia albida prefers. I’m interested mainly in how well this species handles low temps, so explaining by way of comparison to Laelia anceps would be most useful.

Cheers
Arron

I think it needs/wants less light than L. anceps. I tried growing it with the L. anceps and it did poorly. Moved it to more shade and I finally got a few flowers this year. I grow it outside, so it tolerates similar temperatures - maybe it would grow better a little warmer but it does seem to be OK getting fairly cold in winter.

Thanks Roberta.

By the way, I’ve just followed your link to the Socal orchid Species Society site and had a good look around. Very interesting of course and amazing the number of species you grow. My one suggestion is that it would be good to know roughly where the growers are, or more about their conditions. I notice one contributor is in Arizona so it’s not always guessable. It would be good to know what’s growing inside vs outside too - you tell us but the others do not.

Haven't heard from the gal in Arizona lately, she grows in greenhouse...All the rest grow mostly outside unless they say otherwise and are in the southern California area, south of Los Angeles, no more than about 10 miles (16 km) inland. The two consistent contributors are myself and Scott. He grows totally outside, location is about 2 miles from the coast, about 1/3 of the way between where I live and San Diego. His shade house is about 10 ft x 10 ft (3.6 m x 3.6 m), only protection is a double layer of 30% shade cloth (so effectively about 50%). Very similar climate to mine. So most of what you see are outdoor-growing species that get winter lows a bit above freezing, summer highs usually not more than 90 deg F (32 deg C) but occasionally higher. While it occasionally rains, the only reliable "rain" comes from a hose or sprinkler system. Humidity is usually at least reasonable, but occasionally we get a week or two of single-digit humidity, often with heat. He pretty much sums it up as "Add water, subtract sunlight" to modify what Mother Nature provides. We both push the envelope, we get away with a lot.

Ok, thanks.
It is a great resource and probably unique in the world considering its focus on subject matter and climate region - so thank you all for your efforts.

Btw. I thought you lived north of LA (although not asking you to reveal personal locational details).

Cheers
Arron

I live south of LA, around 40 miles (65 km or thereabouts) (actually southeast because of the curve of the coast) from LAX airport. I'm about 4 miles (6.5 km) inland with no hills between me and the ocean, so lots of coastal influence on my climate. And the ocean off the coast has a cold current so even in summer, most of the time evenings are on the cool side.