A Terrestial? Help in identifying please!
 

I live in Costa Rica and I bought this at the market. It is in a typical black planting bag. The soil looks quite friable. I asked about care and the lady said (in Spanish, of course): "Sun okay, shade okay. Lots of water ok, little water ok." So that sort of covers all the bases! If anyone can advise me before I plant it--either in the garden or the orchid house, I would appreciate it. The flowers are beautiful -- about 5" across -- and the whole plant is about 24" high.

It looks like Phaius to me. Not sure if it is a species or hybrid though.

Phaius usually can take lots of water and sun when it's actively growing. I'd imagine it grows like a weed in Costa Rica as a terrestrial or garden plant. :lol:

I agree, it looks like a Phaius. If I have to guess, I'd say probably P. tankervilliae as these seems to be most common.

They're terrestrials and can be grown in ProMix with a bit of bark mixed in. Supposedly, you can propagate them by cutting the flower stalk into sections and rooting them like a stem cutting. I've not tried it so I don't know if this can be done after flowers fade and stem still green, or if you have to sacrifice the flowers.

Hopefulle someone who knows more about them will chime in.

Cheers.
Jim

Thanks--I will plant it in the garden tomorrow--when the rain stops!

Here is a full tutorial on growing Phiaus.

phaius tankerville, Nun's Orchid, Phiaus Dan Rosenberg, Phiaus Micro Burst

Note that they do better being cut down after the flowering.

I would be careful about heavy sun and prefer shade myself.

I need to add to the tutorial that you can propagate these plants by cutting the FLOWER STEM into sections around each node and placing the cuttings on a flat medium and keeping it moist. It only works about 10% of the time but it is fun to try and free.

You can try after the flowers have faded.