Masdevallia set up recommendations?
 

I'll start this by saying that I'm still alive! I unfortunately had to give up growing orchids when I moved in the middle of the winter, but I'm considering getting back into them now that I might have a bit more disposable cash on hand. This fresh start has got me thinking about switching from Phals over to Masdies, which seem to be at the complete opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to temperature needs. So I'm coming back here to get some advice on where to start.

My first question is what kind of setup should I be looking at? Is a glass tank really the only viable option when it comes to keeping the humidity up? Because I tend to go all out, and I'd definitely want to do some breeding, I was thinking a multi-tiered stand wrapped in plastic would be a nice alternative and would provide me with lots of room.

As for cooling, I currently have an AC unit in my bedroom that is giving me 23*/73* during the day and down to 17*/63* at night. Would this generally be cool enough for most Masdies, considering I might have T5's in there adding their heat? Should I consider LEDs? Another alternative I was thinking of would be to buy a small evaporative cooler, which could also help with the humidity issue.

For those of you who have experience with these kinds of setups, any input would be greatly appreciated! I'm hoping to make up my mind and get something built before Ecuagenera makes their last trip to Canada! :biggrin:

I only keep a few hybrids, but mine are thriving outside seeing day time temps over 90F with night time drops of normally about 20 degrees. For many plants it's the drop at night which is more important than the absolute high temp. Many, but not all!

wait ecuagenera wont be coming to canada anymore ?!?!?

i live in a similar climate to yours and masdies do well for me at temps between 18-25 degrees celcius.
for humidity, i grow all my plants in clear plastic storage boxes (open top) and a little misting system plus some extra misting around 2 or 3x a day (before school and 1 or 2 times after school)

Sorry, I should have been more clear, I meant their last trip for the year. I don't want to have to wait until they come next spring to start growing.

Cody, as long as you can get decent humidity, you can grow "some" Masdevallia. The problem with AC is the lowered humidity. So you need some kinds of enclosures. Aquarium (or big Rubbermaid) is one option, but grow tents can work, too. Indeed, if the volume of encolosure is bigger, it is a bit easier to buffer the environment.

We both live in cold area, but growing cool growing orchids in cold area has some challenge. If you can have a dedicated cold room, it is easier, but we have to be careful not to freeze the plumbing. Cool growing orchids are relatively new for me (< 2-3 years), but here is a couple thought.

With the temperature range you got, it is the range for "warm" Masdevallia. Here is the recommended temperature from two books:
Rhodenhamel, W. A. A Masdevalia cultural Guide:

For a compromise to grow several types of Masdevallia:
Opt. day 56-64F (14-18C)
Opt. night 48-56F (9-13C)

Optimum day/night for different categories of Masdevallia:
Warm: 68-80/53-65F
Int: 55-68/48-56F
Cool: 50-62/40-53F
RH: 75-80%

Gerritsen, M.E. and R. Parsons, Masdevallia
Warm: 68-80/60-65F (20-27/16-18C)
Int: 55-68/50-56F (13-20/10-13C)
Cool: 50-63/45-53F (10-17/ 7-12C)
Cold: 50-60/40-45F (10-16/ 4- 7C)

But, some of them can grow ok at the warmer temperature. One of my enclosure is 70-80F day/50-60F night (winter-summer). I can grow "intermediate" Masdevallia. But for the cool-cold types, they don't do so well in there. I had to move them (e.g. M. racemosa, M. melanoglosa, M. rimarima-alba etc) to more appropriate 68/50F (20/10C) refrigerated growth chamber.

With light, if you have to put the fixture inside of the enclosure (e.g. grow tent), then LED is advantageous. But if the fixture is outside, then florescent light works ok. With florescent light, if you modify the fixture so that the ballast is outside of the enclosure, you can keep the temp a little lower. Similarly with LED, I have the LED driver outside of the grow tent.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can grow fair number of Masdevallia in your temperature range. The growth may be slower compared with the optimum, but they will do ok.

Cody,

I think you could try to start with a hybrid... They are more temperature tolerant and usually easier to grow.

Mountain Orchids offers over 20 types of Masdevallias. I have never ordered from them, but maybe someone else here at OB has and they could comment.

J & L offers them too, and the quality of their orchids is very good.

I use a moisture-retentive potting mix... Small bark mixed with sphagnum and perlite. I water them more frequently then say my Phals. I also spray them twice a day. One option is that You could keep them in a small fish tank partially covered on the top, to keep the humidity up.