Angraecum sesquipedale . . .do you grow this?

[NeoNJ]

I broke down and ordered a Angraecum sesquipedale.
I'm curious to hear from others who are or have grown this and learn what their experience has been, how well these did for you .... and any suggestions on culture ....
The one I have coming is a NBS plant, so I don't know how big it is, or how large it has to be to bloom --- but I've seen photo's of some really large plants......
Thanks.

[Angurek]

Actually, I've heard that these plants can bloom when they're still fairly small. I came across this pic on the web:



Unfortunately, my experience with this genus hasn't been positive. Both the plants I had lost all their leaves and didn't do much else. In hindsight, however, it may have been due to my growing conditions. When I had them, I was trying to grow them on a windowsill in a temperate area. I think what may have gotten to them was the sparse light in the winter and the low humidity of my bedroom. What I do know about this species (and this genus, for that matter) is that they're touchy about root disturbance. They don't like to be messed around with.

[NeoNJ]

Wow. Thank you so much for the PIC. It is fantastic.

Actually I have a large collection of both Aerangis and Angraecum - Most of them all mounted, growing in my bedroom as well, however I do have (2) CFL lighting fixtures above the growing area, so they all get alot of light (4000+fc) even though they are low light orchids....

Without supplemental lighting, I would never be able to grow orchids in my bedroom at all.

[Wrebbitrocks]

i agree on the root disturbances, use a long lasting media and only repot during dormant times. i never got mines to bloom and it froze a couple of weeks ago in my greenhouse killing it and most of my other plants. however the time i did have it, it grew ok. i had mines in course large bark, perlite and lava rock to keep decomp times low and watered it every 3-4 days. make sure its well watered or the leaves wont grow as big and they wont spread open. they stay folded and stuck together. high humidity is a plus but i didnt have a problem with it and mines is low. do keep it warm though since i personally know that they arent cold lovers. good luck

[Lorraine]

I bought my angraecum last year and it looked similiar to the size in the picture above. I planted it in a basket that I stuffed moss in the slots and filled with some bark, charcoal, hydraton and some pieces of moss mixed in. My chids live in a screened pool area for the most part. This one has been living on a stand getting bright daylight with full sun all morning, water 2 - 3 times a week esp when it's hot in the summer, winter when it dries. . The roots do not like to be disturbed so I figured that when the time comes I can easily dump out the mix and rinse out the moss and replace without moving any roots. They all are winding around the basket and like to just barely dry out. Fertilized 1x a week like my vandas. It gave me 2 spikes this year but the cold took one of them. The second spike gave me 3 blooms. I'm attaching a picture of when I bought it and then this year..

[Discus]

I've had one since early Jan, but it hasn't done much aside from putting out one leaf. I'm in the southern hemisphere, so it's summer going on autumn now.