Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos'

[WaterWitchin]

I just received one of these as a gift from a grower. He said it absolutely hates root disturbing/repotting. I know nothing about its care, other than that.

Has anyone done well growing this in S/H? Isn't it a warmer type grower? I rarely put phals in S/H because in my care a heat mat is required in winter and I refuse to run more than one mat. Would it be similar?

Edited to add: Same question re Bulb. carunculatum.

Thanks in advance for assistance.

[estación seca]

I haven't grown Psychopsis. I plan to get one when it is warm enough for Hausermann's to ship. They have mericlones on sale now.

An amazing grower in our society has hers in a large, but shallow, glazed ceramic container, with ancient large bark. It's been a couple of years, but I seem to recall it has around 7-8 spikes. It is always in bud or flower during warm weather. She has not repotted this plant since moving it to this container years ago.

She said she bought it small. Each time it needed moving to a larger container, she removed it from the old container with root ball intact, cutting the container if necessary. She set the root ball undisturbed into the new container, filling around the old root ball with new bark.

Bulbos tend to have very short roots. If, in your conditions, the wet zone in your S/H containers is near the surface of the medium, S/H might work for you. In my conditions the wet zone is only half way up the container. This definitely did not work for the Bulbos I sacrificed finding this out.

I am trying some in shallow, but wide, plastic food containers, with no drain holes. I put a single layer of LECA balls on the bottom, then a layer of sphagnum moss. I nestle the Bulbos in that. I keep a reservoir of water in the LECA so the moss stays always moist. It's too early to say whether this is a good idea or not, but some Bulbos insist on sending new shoots up into the air, not along the sphagnum.

I have a book by Bill Thoms, a Bulbo hybridizer who has won numerous AOS awards. He grows his in low wood baskets. He puts a mound of foam shipping peanuts in the center, then a layer of sphagnum moss. He waters his plants at least once every day, so the sphagnum stays wet. He says he stands smaller baskets in dishes of water so they never dry out. Bill says he has tried growing them on mounts. He couldn't grow them well mounted because he couldn't keep them wet enough.

At the recent Tamiami Orchid Festival, Ben Ooi told me some of his customers grow larger Bulbos on columns of tree fern, with the bottom of the column standing in a bucket of water. Their greenhouses are very humid, so the columns are always wet.

[WaterWitchin]

So it sounds like both my psychopsis and Bulb. take similar care/culture, and other than the short roots on Bulb. they're also similar to phrag culture. Right?

Thus, I'll put them along with the phrags and paphs. I can't keep humidity high enough in the five-six months I have to grow in my basement to do "real" S/H for either of those. Moisture line rapidly gets at least an inch or so down. It may also have something to do with me being a forgetful waterer. I even have a mister on a timer downstairs, 1 minute 4X a day, and the humidity rapidly falls.

Living in KS, humidity isn't a problem. It's a very WET heat.

I do have a large ceramic bowl I've been dying to use for a project. Sounds like game time to me.

[jkofferdahl]

I somehow don't think a Psychopsis would be overly suited to S/H culture. Mine seem to prefer to not be watered until I've completely forgotten the last time I watered them, so stay on the dry side. In my experience they seem to like temperatures similar to Phals.

[estación seca]

Sorry, I was not clear. I have been told Psychopsis in pots should dry between waterings. Constant wet is not a good idea. I don't know how they would do in S/H.

A member of our society grows Tolumnias in S/H with great success. The low wet zone in the pot probably has something to do with it.

[Roberta]

I have several Psychopsis, and they do like to dry out. I have them potted in medium Orchiata (which breaks down very slowly, especially when kept on the dry side) These also don't grow all that fast, so don't need repotting on that count often. When I do repot, I just shake off whatever comes off easily, and plop it back into the pot (same or next size up) tapping to get the new bark to distribute itself, root disturbance is minimal that way. They do like to be on the warm side - in the house works fine as long as they get good light (again because they do like dryness so humidity is not an issue) I grew them that way for quite a few years before I moved and got a greenhouse (and still have the same plants... they are REALLY forgiving of both neglect and rookie mistakes) And what's not to love about a plant like that which can bloom sequentially (every 4-6 weeks) on the same spikes for years?

Bulbos are a totally different story, the only thing they have in common with Psychopsis is temperature. They like to be quite damp, and shady. Someone else will have to advise on the S/H part.

[Ray]

I have tried growing psychopsis off and on for years, with little success. At one point though, I bought a bunch of this particular clone in 4" pots for resale, and somewhere along the way, totally unknown to me, one of them got knocked out of its pot and off the bench and landed in a large (8") S/H pot that I had intended to use, then just set aside.

I only learned that it was there when a spike grew above the lip of the bench. Because I was traveling a lot and using automated, overhead watering at the time, that plant got the same care that every other one did.

Yet another example of "the plant, alone, does not determine if S/H is appropriate; your overall growing conditions do."

[Dollythehun]

I bought one two years? ago. It didn't do much until I moved it right under the t5s. It's in clay and small bark. The color got better right away but I wondered if it would ever bloom again...it threw a spike two weeks ago and today I noticed another. I can't tell you how often I fertilize it but it gets water...maybe 2x a week.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I bought one two years? ago. It didn't do much until I moved it right under the t5s. It's in clay and small bark. The color got better right away but I wondered if it would ever bloom again...it threw a spike two weeks ago and today I noticed another. I can't tell you how often I fertilize it but it gets water...maybe 2x a week.

Whatever you're doing, keep on doing it! Once these things get going they can put on quite a show.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Sorry, I was not clear. I have been told Psychopsis in pots should dry between waterings. Constant wet is not a good idea. I don't know how they would do in S/H.

A member of our society grows Tolumnias in S/H with great success. The low wet zone in the pot probably has something to do with it.

Yes, I've had success growing and blooming Tolumnia in S/H. Especially when I went to a modified version of S/H. But lately I've been growing them on wine bottles. Need more Tolumnia planters that way.

---------- Post added at 10:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 AM ----------

Thanks to one and all. NOW to put all this knowledge into practice with my own little corner of the micro-climate. I'll be sure to show and tell once it blooms. (Positive attitude, right?)