Appendicula malindagensis care and culture
 

Hello all,

I am new to this forum, though I have been growing orchids (mainly species), for about 4 years now. I like the challenge of growing some unusual species in my warm-intermediate greenhouse, here in Northern California.

About 1.5 years ago, I got an Appendicula malindagensis (endemic to the Philippines) from Dan Newman. The plant overall appears to be doing "okay". It seems to be a very slow grower, and I was a bit concerned earlier this year when it lost some of its older mature leaves and only had one leaf left. However, it has since been growing another leaf, but I am still looking for some advice regarding this species.

In the summer, the plant gets misted daily (soaking mist) and does dry out before the evenings. Weekly, 1/4 strength 20-20-20 orchid fertilizer. The plant gets about 1,000 to 1,500 fc sunlight. In the Fall, with cooler weather and high humidity, the plant gets watered once a week.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

I've had this species only since last spring, so I don't know well about the species. It took a while to get acclimated from the import (from Purificacion), but it picked up the pace when the temp started to go down. Many shoots appeared in the fall, and they are about 3" now. Do you mean that it produced 1 shoot or do you really mean 1 leaf? I think this species is from the elevation of 1000-1600m. Some people seem to grow it in a warmer end, but I'm growing in cooler end of intermediate (now min/max is 55/70F). How is your temp? I don't think mine will flower this winter, but I heard that the flower is bluer if you grow them cooler with this species.

Thank you for all the great information. My observations are consistent with yours as well. It looked in better shape once cooler weather set in the Fall. In the Summer, I keep it close to the floor of the greenhouse where it is much cooler, but here in Northern California, I think it still is pretty warm.

Sorry, I meant to say one new shoot that has grown to about 2 inches long. My temperatures go upto 80 to 85 on the floor of the greenhouse in the Summer. I will likely get an evaporative cooler setup and place the plant in front of the cooler during the Summer months.

I will keep you posted on progress either way.

If your house is cooler than 80-85 F / 27-30C in the summer, the plant might benefit from being in there. If it needs high humidity a terrarium would help. I buy second-hand aquaria at yard sales for this purpose. Some fit into large jars or vases. I keep the cooler growers in the coolest rooms of my house during summer.