Cyrtopodium Punctatum to water or not?
 

This is the first winter I’ve had my Cyrtopodium Punctatum and I’m not sure how to proceed with watering due to the small, new growth it is putting out. It matured two new growths this summer and now has a new one that is about an inch and a half tall. It is in a windowsill for the winter, and I have cut its water to once a week. Should I increase its water, continue to water once a week, or withhold water? Try as I might, I have been unable to post a picture. Thanks!

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

This plant has a very wide geographical range, including areas like Florida with potential for winter rain. I would continue watering plentifully if it is making new growth. You live fairly far south, and your winter days are probably long enough for it to grow well. Inside the house it may not take up water as fast as it did in the warm summer.

I have grown puctatum to a 10 inch clay pot size in South Fla and it was pretty much left to its own dealings with nature and rain, in full blazing SoFla sun and it may have gotten fed once or twice a year. Florida averages about 60 inches of rain per year but note that our DRY season is winter through spring. At time we had no rain for a month in the march/April/may time and then come June 1 and the daily torrents begin. This plant I believe was gifted to a friend before my move. I believe they do need a drier spell to trigger a strong bloom. They were spread in the everglades but they were easy to spot and easy to poach and I doubt there are any left, they will shed all the leaves when ready to bloom and at same time push new growth.
Hope you can use some of this info.

Helpful. Thank you.

Thanks for the advice!

I give my adult Cyrtopodiums hard winter rests (i.e. no water at all from November through spring until the new growths are quite large). However, there's no need to give dormancy to the baby plants, especially if it really wants to grow. Letting the young plants put out new growths will get you to blooming size that much quicker.

Ben, Do you know if your C. punctatum is a Fl. native? I'm still on my OCD 'Cyrtopodium' search, and saw your post. Your plant has such shorter/fatter bulbs as I've seen. There's one on eBay now that has super long ones that owner said was labeled as such. Just a Google search will get a hundred diff. pics labeled C.punctatm. I've had many a talk with Stephen Van-kampen Lewis as he has a wealth of knowledge, but still no 'go-to' source for a deeper discussion..bottom line, your plant looks great! Thanks

Ben- I have a secret area down here where there are several growing wild along with a few other species. We have several winters , this one included, where we may go as long as 3 + months in the winter without a drop of rain. The natives are doing just fine.

@bluecrab, yes cyrtopodium punctatum is a FLA native but has largely been wiped out from everglades. It does not frequently show up for sale. I will try to find one for me and post the source if/when that happens. The bulb size may be related to culture variance. More or less water/feeding can certainly vary the bulb size.

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@keysguy great that you know a secret spot, I would ask that you do keep it secret and if you catch it in bloom maybe post a pic of the flower and plant without any recognizable area signs to keep location secret.
The plant I had was purchased as small seeding at RF Orchids in one of their summer sales, many many moons ago.