Pleurothallis niveoglobula without terrarium + general care questions
 

I impulsively bought Pleurothallis niveoglobula last weekend (attended a local orchid fair, you know how it happens:)). It's a good healthy plant with many leaves and roots, mounted on a cork slab. It had two flowers when I bought it, but lost one on the road to my home, and another one was there yesterday, but it's gone today (I dunno how long the flowers should last and if it's normal)

The seller had it in a sort of open terrarium (big plastic box without a front wall) and some automatic misting, so I guess it likes constantly high humidity. I have a pretty high humidity at home (never less than 50%, usually about 60% in winter and 70-80% in summer, I live in Barcelona) and I'm not sure if I should let it as it is and just mist it a few times a day, or it would be better to put in a pot considering I don't have a terrarium? Google shows that this species is very often sold potted, but I wasn't able to find which substrate is suitable, or which water regime it needs.

Also, some sources state dead flower stakes should be pruned, and others don't mention anything like this. Should I prune them?

Same question about winter rest - some sources say it has a rest period in winter, and watering should be reduced during it, others say no rest period. What is right?

Any other care advice is also welcome! This is my first Pleurothallis and I barely know anything about this genera

Thanks!

Most Pleurothallis have rather short lived flowers. I would not worry abut losing them. It does need to stay damp. I never stop watering my Pleurothalids - they have no pseudobulbs, that tells me that they want a damp environment all the time - they have no reserves. I also would not rush to cut anything. I don't think this one is a sequential bloomer (not sure though) but many Pleurothallis are... when the spikes are truly done they will be brown, brittle, and fall off on their own (or be very easy to snap off). Nobody is trimming these in nature.

I have lower humidity. I keep it wet and I keep it in a jar with the lid on top. Can you find a jar or vase at a second-hand store? With your humidity you wouldn't need a lid. But I think regularly 50% is lower than it prefers.

It does need pure water: reverse osmosis, distilled or rain.

I have a few unused glass jars, I'll give it a try. Do you put any substrate in the jar, or just bare-root plant and nothing else?

I recently started using distilled water for all my plants - though some are considered to tolerate higher mineral content, Barcelona tap water is very very hard, and it seems all my plants prefered distilled

---------- Post added at 05:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 AM ----------

So do you think it would be better potted, with some substrate that would keep it dump? Or maybe I should add some sphagnum over its mount?

I would leave yours on the mount. The time to repot is with new roots forming, and that is unlikely now in the winter. I think if you grow it in a jar it will be fine on the mount. Just set the mount on the bottom of the jar leaning against one wall. Others here have put sticks across the top of the jar and hung the mount from the stick.

I would have left mine mounted if it arrived that way; it arrived bare-root, so I potted it in sphagnum moss in a tiny container over a bed of LECA that always has water. I punched drainage holes at the surface of the LECA so the moss does not remain without air. It took more than a year to begin growing again, probably because of the long journey. During this time it lost most of its leaves.

If you leave the jar open I would take it out and water every day. If you close the jar water when it begins to look less wet. From reading here on Orchid Board it doesn't need much air circulation.

If others have anything to add I'd like to hear from you.

Ah, got it now. Thanks!

This species is a sequential bloomer, but not necessarily from the same inflorescence. They'll repeat bloom from the same meristematic tissue.

This is a species with a small globular white flower. Each mature leaf can either produce 1 or 2 flowers at the same time (sometimes up to 4 or 5 depending).

nivea = white + globula = globe-like

The flowers will only last you a few days (maybe 3 - 5 days).

Pleurothallis tend to produce a few smaller non-flowering leaves and a few larger flowering leaves.

I don't find I need to grow my Pleurothallis in a jar, but if your growing environment has a relative humidity that is lower than 50% - 80%, then you may have to.

You may decide to grow it potted or mounted, it's up to you. I do recommend keeping the plant consistently moist (not sopping wet) in a pot. It still likes airflow to its roots. You may use small grade wood chips or small grade coconut chips when growing potted. I find it is easier to keep them well watered when they're grown potted.

If you decide to grow it mounted, it needs to be watered very frequently (probably everyday depending on how dry your growing environment is). If it is more humid where you're growing them, you can get away with watering less.

Moderately bright indirect light is fine.

This grows between 65 F - 85 F quite easily.

Not a bad choice for a beginner in Pleurothallids.

There's usually not a whole lot of growing info on some Pleurothallids, so an impulse buy is quite common with these group of orchids.

Some people love growing Pleuros and may have some input to provide you, but we don't know everything there is to know about every species of Pleurothallids. In a way, we'd be learning together.

Mine seems to enjoy a light spray with rainwater each morning…