Eulophia petersii variations?

[disalover]

I talked to a member of our society who grows quite a few Eulophia orchids, I asked if he had any other Eulophias for sale and he told me this;
He only has petersii available at the moment, I got a lovely one from him at our last meet. He said that he gave me one if the small varieties? My plant's leaves are about 20cm in length and 1cm wide, and says spikes can get meter in length.

He then said that he can get me one of the larger varieties, when surfing the web i found some plants with, 3cm wide leavez and only about 15cm long, and he said there spikes can get 3 meter long?

Any other help on this topic welcome!

[disalover]

For comparison

[estación seca]

The chunky one you posted on the right is the clone sold in the US by cactus & succulent vendors. Orchid people I've met aren't familiar with this genus.

E. petersii spikes rise far more than a meter, sometimes two. I had heard there is a lot of natural variability in this species but I've never seen another clone.

I can only speak to growing the larger clone. It's a terrestrial orchid from grassland and rock and it frequently gets direct sun in habitat. Mine is in about 30% shade on a patio. It will almost but not quite tolerate full Arizona sun all day, surviving with sunburn on the west side and not growing well. Succulentists I know in cooler climes grow it in full sun.

Mine is in a huge glazed ceramic pot (about 2 feet across and deep) in a mix of local desert soil and perlite. The perlite is only there to make the pot lighter so I can move it inside for the winter. I like giving myself physical challenges so I have to stay strong as I age!

I keep it moist to wet during warm weather. I don't let it dry out. This means I start soaking it sometime in February to March, and keep watering through November. During the winter I bring it into my sunroom and water lightly about once a month. It does not have rot problems for me, ever.

I don't have time to fertilize a lot but it still is in near-continuous production of new growths throughout warm weather. One pseudobulb will nearly fill a standard US 1-gallon black plastic nursery container in 1 or 2 growing seasons if treated well. I have read it flowers better with plenty of fertilizer. When I do fertilize I use ammonium sulfate at 1 tablespoon / 15ml of crystals per gallon / 4 liters of water. Our local soil has all required nutrients other than nitrogen.

It will die if it hits 32F / 0C but it is undamaged all the way down near freezing if dry.

I also have E. callichroma and E. paniculata. Both are terrestrial, both easy to grow. They don't take as much sun as does E. petersii, however, and are not quite as vigorous.

E. taitensis couldn't handle the heat outdoors at my house, even in full shade. Other succulentists here grow it successfully, however, and it is also easy in California.

I bought all four species from Grigsby Cactus Gardens in Vista, California. I just looked and Madelyn has a painting of E. petersii on the home page.

[unhappykat]

Hello,

I don't grow many eulophia species in my collection, mainly because there just not available for sale in the US very often, but I do have two different forms of E. petersii and I have seen a third form in a private collection.

The first photo is of two E. petersii I grow outdoors here, hence the 'rough' shape of the one on the left . The plants go down to 28F on the coldest days in winter, they are kept bone dry from 2nd week of November through the first week of February and are given supplemental heat from a few strings of Christmas lights for those nights when the temperature would stay below freezing for prolonged periods.

The larger clone grows bulbs up to 25cm in height and foliage that reaches 50cm x 3cm when well grown. The inflorescences grows to 150+cm and branches freely, quite a spectacle when it blooms. I obtained that plant from a specialty nursery here in California and it has been quite easy to care for as it grows with my cymbidiums outdoors.

The smaller clone produces bulbs that reach 15cm in height and the foliage is 25cm x 5cm when well grown. This variety produces an inflorescence that reaches 250+cm in height, tho it does not branch as freely as the first plant (usually only 2 or 3). This was obtained from a succulent society auction table during a fundraiser.

The second photo shows a third variety of E. petersii that is growing in a private collection. The plant in the photo is a division from a large specimen, it is a 'dwarf' variety that usually produces bulbs under 12cm (for the most part) and leaves around 15cm x 2cm in length. The specimen had a few very tall (20 cm) bulbs before it was broken apart but it now remains much smaller in size since being divided. The inflorescence on this reaches 150+cm in height and holds 3 - 5 branches as it develops. I haven't been able to obtain a piece just yet but hopefully soon.

I have seen any other forms of E. petersii as of yet but I am sure there are some intermediate forms and possibly larger forms that are floating around out there. The form you described as having 20cm x 1cm foliage sounds quite interesting, how tall are its bulbs?

[disalover]

Thank you all!

[disalover]

Going to het the thick one in September, cant wait

---------- Post added at 03:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:15 PM ----------

He said he had forms of, 20x1cm leaves and 7cm bulbs.

Larger form with 15x3cm leaves and 12cm bulbs