I just bought an encyclia tempensis x cordigera. any tips on its care?
 

I just bought this charming little guy from a local grower here in the northwest. It's has a scent that is something like a cinnamon doughnut! I don't know why but I absolutely love this orchid but I don't know much about how to care for it. Any tips?
Thanks!

beautiful.

I have an Enc tampensis I leave it hanging outside in the sun. The new leaves are a lot shorter than those that grew while indoor in the windowsill. I guess it is one of those that can take most sun. I moist it every few days with a pump sprayer. It is in coco chips with some leca at the bottom and I covered the surface roots with a a little bit of sphagnum. Mine may be too small to bloom. Just got a E cordigera seedling for $3 at an orchid show.
I think it may be quite larger than E tampensis.

Basically after it blooms I would give as much light as it can take. seems quite resilient.

Thanks! I might hang it outside. I have a lot of my orchids placed around a pond at my boyfriend's house. I figure the humidity and day/night temps will be good for them while the weather is nice! Also, when I bought my E. temps x cord. it came in a little basket and there were some oyster shells in it. I'm assuming its used as a calcium supplement perhaps? Should I try this with some of my other plants?

Maybe i would be careful about full summer sun if it has not spent time in full sun. I put mine outside in the springtime. maybe for the first week i would put it where it gets morning sun and/or mid afternoon sun...
if the leaves are dark greeen probably was grown in shade if the leaves are bright / yellowish green probably was grown in bright light

Though I don't have this particular cross, I do have a mounted E. tampensis. Generally, many enyclias (and tampensis in particular) like their roots to dry quickly after watering, which makes it a good candidate for mounting. I am in South Florida and am watering everyday since it's in active growth. It can take alot of light, short of direct afternoon sun. Mine was receiving full sun until 12pm and the leaves turned a bit reddish from the amount of sun. Now, I have it under 50% cloth in all day sun and it is doing just fine. As far as I know, tampensis does not require any calcium supplementation. Though I now fertilize it, I did not fertilize it last year and it still put out 4 new bulbs and all of them produced blooms this spring. As far as cold hardiness, I did leave it outside last winter (which was really cold by FL standards--freezing temps for a week) and it had no problems.

:goodluck:

I put the thin layer of sphagnum because the NE is not as humid as Florida. In Florida in the summer rains almost every afternoon and the rain evaporates quickly and the air feels saturated with humidity. Here it rains more sparingly and the humidity is often lower so the roots need a but of protection if in full sun.

Mine gets afternoon sun. A few small black sun spots on the leaves but seems to grow faster, while indoors seemed to not be doing anything for months.