Leafless Orchids Mega-Thread
 

Phalaenopsis parishii) orchids of all genera, including their: culture, showcasing, technical questions related to the topic discussions of their habitat.

I intend for this to be a long-lived thread where people keep adding to it but if you have a specific orchid with, say, a spider mite problem, you might feel a separate thread to be more helpful, up to the OP.

I will get the ball rolling with a picture of my current and very basic set-up for my Florida ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii). I have posted about this new orchid in a separate thread on here but since it is my only leafless so far I will start the thread off with my new ghost. It is crucial that this one stay very humid but not wet in captivity as I have lost many to staying wet for even 6-12 hours. I am thinking that even when the fungal symbiont is present in captivity, it doesn't permeate and take over throughout the plant like is does when the plant is growing on live trees in nature, which is why tree trunks and their ghost orchids stay wet for extended periods in the Everglades habitat during the rainy season and they thrive there that way, they must. Because having observed ghosties in habitat before in the summer I can tell you there is no way a ghost orchid is dry within an hour or two after a soaking rain when growing 7 feet up on a tree in the middle of the swamp.

Let's see what everyone else is growing. I would like to know which leafless might make good companion leafless orchids for ghosts, as many leafless require much different conditions, for example, good air movement, like Chiloschista.

Looking into the pictured terrarium I just noticed that after 2 consecutive days of H2O2 treatments my ghosties look healthy again and the roots that had withered at their attachment to the stem have withered and the mold on the dying roots is gone. Not only this, but a close look suggests that a few patches of infected tissue on otherwise healthy roots has appeared to shrivel and has left behind healthy tissue. Finally, one plant has healthy root tips again, whereas the green portion had turned a brownish, caramel opaque color. Thus, if you have problems with fungus, mold, bacteria, etc. with D. lindenii, use H2O2 diluted to 1/4-1-2 strength with distilled H2O for three consecutive days and this may very well single handedly get the issue under control. I plan on treating the plants with the H2O2 every month or so (every 4th watering) as a prophylactic.

-Michael

well, i know there are others growing leafless orchids and doing it better than we are! but ill add a small bit of content (mostly a picture) of the only leafless i have left in the tank. its chiloschista pusilla, and i bought it from msb orchideen here in germany sometime around april of this year. it’s been mounted in the terrarium since the day it arrived and has always looked pretty good and put out new roots.

care is nothing special and i can’t even tell you exact figures on temp and humidity. more to the moderate/cold side of temp, and probly anywhere from 65-80 humidity based on total speculation. it gets sprayed daily with a good soak of tap water and fertilized every couple of weeks (also sprayed). mounted to a big chunk of cork, but really i just laid it somewhere where it held itself upright and it attached itself, so no string or anything required. easiest mount ive had to do in there! it’d be nice if it flowered one day

edit to add that there is one small computer fan in the tank going 24/7 and that does give quite a bit of air movement in such a small space (it’s the medium exoterra tank), so that’s probly the main/only reason it’s stayed alive and healthy

I have questions regarding chilochista orchids lifespan, is it true they only live for 5 years or so? I have heard a lot of people in the internet quoting this group has a short lifepsan and I want to verify it from long time growers of this genus.