Masdevallia Bloom or Bust // Southern Sun Okia

[jward]

Hello all,

From this view, would you say that the bloom's will flower, or die off? When I purchased the orchid on the 7th, it had one flower and one bloom. After placing the orchid in the terrarium, the flower died off after 3-4 days and the bloom got bigger but then aborted just before flowering. You'll note in the picture that the bloom in the front was the died before blooming and the one in the back was the flower that wilted after a few days.

I know I heard once that "an orchid watched never blooms", but.... can't help myself. Planted this masdevallia southern sun okia in my cloud forest style terrarium. Wrote it up separately, but temps never go above 70 degrees and humidity is around 75% on average with twice daily 20 min 100% humidity sessions. Very good airflow with visible leaf movement when on (90% of time).

Appreciate any other advice or comments...

Jarrod Ward

[Tindomul]

Looks like its being finicky. Masdies don't like being repotted planted etc... What you do need to do is watch to make sure of a few things;
If you used sphagnum to mount the Masdie, watch to make sure it is not wet all the time, especially not soaking wet. In the conditions you describe, the sphag doesn not and should not be wet for long periods of time. I killed a few that way myself.
You also need to watch and make sure the plant does not get too much drying time if you have not used sphagnum. I also killed a few that way, there were too dry. You need to get that goldie locks culture for them. Its hard and takes a lot of trial and lots of error. If any of the leaves drop, its time to take action and save your orchid. At that point it might actually be too late, but you might stop it on time. So be ever watchful, and even if it wont bloom because you are watching, at least it won't die.

Now tell me more about this tank and how you maintain the temperatures and cloud forest conditions

[Grandma M]

Jarrod, I looked it up on OrchidWiz. It looks like a really beautiful orange.

I am a rather new Masdevallia grower. I would cry if you lost that one. Read what experts, like Tindomul, have to say to you. It's too pretty to lose. Keep us updated.

Marilyn

[jward]

Timodul,

Well, it's mostly luck, combined with a thermometer that doesnt read below 65... hahah... I consider it cloud forest if the temperature never goes above 72 and it stays above 65% humidity at all times.

For watering, I have the base of the tank with 2 inches of water or so that fuels the pump-drip-line system. The coco fiber on the back and right walls is moist all the time. The left wall with the Masd doesn't have proper drip line, but I have a longer one from the back wall dripping onto the Masd's sphagnum ball.

The two 120mm PC fans run all the time, but stop for 30 mins at 7:30am and 30 mins at 7:30 pm so that it hits 100% humidity when my humidifier runs. One fan draws and the other blows air. They are sitting next to one another directly above the Masd.


My humidiifer is a Dorel "Safety First" Ultrasonic humidifier ($30 at Target, marketed for kid's health). I have 4 feet of a 3/8 inch tube jammed in the exit tube of the humidifier and the other end inserted into the original top of the aquarium (I drilled out a hole to accomodate).

That plus a little bit of praying, some shaking of the tank from my little girl provide the ultimate in cloud forest style comfort... hahaha....

Really, I expected it to be much warmer in the case, but the one tube of 18inch GroLites from Home Depot doesn't push much heat through the plexi-glass barrier.

I'll keep you all posted on whether they bust or bloom. Looks pretty good tonight!!!

[jward]

Forgot to mention that you can barely see the mist in the picture I posted. It runs every 30 mins or so, but with the fans blowing, it doesn't fill the tank.

[Tindomul]

Very cool!! I've been trying to do the same thing but using not a terrarium but an open riparium/aquarium type thing. And I kept all my Masdies in their pots and use ultrasonic foggers and a cool mist humidifier to keep them humid, an open window to keep them cold, and a fan to and the window to keep them well ventilated.

See this link:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...hid-setup.html