It's Growing! Angraecum didieri

[GardenTheater]

Originally Posted by ovanoshio

Congratulations I hope they both bloom for you! If you're really a zone 9b they both may be just fine on the sill...and that didieri looks so healthy, you should consider very gently transferring a root of it to your ghost so it gets the microbes it needs to really take off.

Sorry I didn't see your suggestion sooner. I really like the microbe root idea. Do both species benefit from some of the same microbes?

I've read that they are distant relatives.

[Silje]

Originally Posted by Brooke

If you keep your didieri happy, it will bloom 3 or 4 times per year. I haven't found they have a season, the blooms must be triggered by growth on the plant. Mine is currently blooming and this pic was taken in May '12.


Angraecum didieri JCL_0797 by kentucky4, on Flickr

Brooke

Brooke, I just got to say that you have the most amazing orchid pictures! I just love the look of your plants and mounts. You must have a beautiful collection!

[gravotrope]

I just purchased a double didieri from Andy's orchids that's not yet bloom size, but is past the seedling stage. I was lucky enough to get a pair that must have been deflasked together. I also got Dendrophylax sallei AND Dendrophylax lindenii, but they are seedlings.

There are different microbes all over the world that benefit plant roots (from porcini mushrooms and chanterelles on trees to nitrogen fixing soil microbes with peas and all other Fabaceae plants) and specifically relating to the ghost orchids there hasn't been a proper study as far as I can tell into it's microbial associations.

This is JUST a hypothesis, but it stands to reason that literally any orchid root microbe coevolved symbiotically with the host plant and therefore would be beneficial to any other orchid because of it's coevolution not to eat the plant tissue. The most obvious way we can observe what orchids have developed this positive association is by the thickness of the roots as they grow. Some mature Vandas grow thin roots until this association is achieved, and then BOOM the roots start coming out of the stem very thick. There COULD be a microbe whose demand for nutrients is so high that it perishes or attacks the host plant for food, though I am certain that the mechanism of growth and vigor of the microbe is associated with the growth of the plant itself (due to seasonal changes/rest periods), since any microbe turning on its host would instantly lose its evolutionary advantage. (ALMOST a hundred million years in the making when talking about orchids, and longer when referring to ectomycorrhizal fungi)

I have a Dendrophylax funalis that doesn't respond to stress the same way as other species in the genus (probably because the meristem/rhizome is large by comparison) so it has been a good way to get training wheels for the other two species. Another way to crack the code so to speak is to find climate data for a specific region where you know they grow. For example here in Florida there is a distinct dry season where it doesn't rain for a few months that STILL has a high level of humidity due to the positioning of the plants and the day/night changes that usually push the humidity up towards 90% at night, and drop towards 60% or less during the afternoon.

The biggest tip I can give that I actually have real proof of (and not just confidence based on interpreting established facts) is somewhat complicated to apply to seedlings and that's to only really get water on the roots themselves.

If you don't want to transfer a cut root, (since you would have to keep an eye on it because after it dies it would start to rot) another way is to soak a VERY healthy established plant in a sterilized and rinsed bucket in diluted liquid seaweed extract (meaning seaweed fertilizer, also don't touch the water with your hands) for a long time...at least a few hours (the water should look like black tea or weak black tea), and then the next morning dip the Dendrophylax in the same water, and again at noon then use the seaweed water to fertilize the rest of your plants or get rid of it since bad bacteria would start to build up unless you oxygenate the water.

[gravotrope]

Sorry to double post, but I wanted to toss in a photo of my new Angraecum didieri!

Also a Jumellea densifoliata.

[GardenTheater]

Originally Posted by ovanoshio

Sorry to double post, but I wanted to toss in a photo of my new Angraecum didieri!

Also a Jumellea densifoliata.

Both plants look great! Andy's has such amazing orchids. Thanks for the ideas on how to transfer the microbes and background information. Who knows what I've already transferred from my hands. Wish I had 100 plants I could experiment with.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by Brooke

If you keep your didieri happy, it will bloom 3 or 4 times per year. I haven't found they have a season, the blooms must be triggered by growth on the plant. Mine is currently blooming and this pic was taken in May '12.


Angraecum didieri JCL_0797 by kentucky4, on Flickr

Brooke

Wow what a beauty!

[gravotrope]

I have been told, and I'm still not certain that this is true...but the Vandas grow thicker roots in drier environments, and that it potentially has NOTHING to do with a microbial association.

Also I wanted to add that photo periods can be very important for spiking and blooming plants. Meaning if it's night for your plants, it should stay night for your plants. They don't have to be in complete darkness, but anything brighter than a dim light for more than a minute or so should probably be avoided unless you are trying to test a plants bloom sensitivity to light. In my experience I've found that Phalaenopsis and Dendrobiums don't care so much about this, and that's one of the reasons why they are so widely cultivated on windowsills. But also I've had Angraecoids and Cattleyas drop blooms in as little as 2 weeks because they got too much light at night. Just something to keep in mind when doing windowsill culture.

I had a new bud on my didieri that I thought was going to be a bloom spike...but it turned out to be another plant. I separated them but haven't taken the one with the keiki off the mount yet...they seem to keep drying out but they also seem alright with that since there are still green tips on the roots...I guess I should put it on treefern like Brooke, though I have some phoenix palm bark I could use. I am asking what is best to use for this plant if I'm not able to water it EVERY day. Any ideas orchid people??

(My Jumellea on the other hand has a spike and a little green flower with a nectary forming )

[GardenTheater]

Ovonoshio, I've left my angraecoids in the media they came in. It wasn't deteriorated. Some are mounted (1 tree fern and 1 cork oak) and some are in pots (2 bark mixes and 2 sphagnum moss) They all seem to be growing fine. The ones I have had over a year have bloomed. The ones in pots need less frequent watering. I let the pots totally dry out before watering. I keep toothpicks in pots to check moisture levels. I got root rot when I didn't let an Aergs. totally dry out. (Killed it thinking it was one that didn't like to dry out.) I water the mounts 5 to 7 times a week. I try to avoid messing with roots as most plants and orchids don't like that. The humidity in my Angracoid/Phal window in the winter tends to be around 50% to 70% and temps 60F to 74F. It's gets up in the 70s because our Spring starts in February when Trees blossom, narcissus bloom, etc.

The lights in my kitchen haven't bothered buds on Aergs. mystacidii, citrata or luteo alba rhodosticta. Also turn on lights in bathroom for half hour or more and Laelias and Catts continue to rebloom there. Bathroom lights are brighter than ones in kitchen. It takes a lot of light to put on make-up. LOL.

---------- Post added at 09:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 AM ----------

Good luck with your Didieri. This thread started with a picture of a bump on mine. Consensus on post was that it was a bud. It was actually a new fan/keiki. That was the original topic of thread. LOL.

[gravotrope]

Thanks for the suggestion, I will either put the didieri in a basket with bark or order a treefern pot from Tindara. I also have a treefern totem that I'm having trouble with. I can't figure out which plants would like it. All I can come up with is twig epiphytes, but I haven't put anything on it yet.

The flowers affected have literally been within inches of a light source for over an hour at night when they should have been resting, and I noticed a change within two days of being exposed. The only ones I can remember for sure it happened to were the bifoliate Cattleya Green Emerald 'Queen' AM/AOS and a Dendrophylax funalis. I think it also happened to a Tolumnia and a Pleuro a year ago, just not sure since I don't remember how long they had been blooming beforehand.

[GardenTheater]

Originally Posted by ovanoshio

Thanks for the suggestion, I will either put the didieri in a basket with bark or order a treefern pot from Tindara. I also have a treefern totem that I'm having trouble with. I can't figure out which plants would like it. All I can come up with is twig epiphytes, but I haven't put anything on it yet.

The flowers affected have literally been within inches of a light source for over an hour at night when they should have been resting, and I noticed a change within two days of being exposed. The only ones I can remember for sure it happened to were the bifoliate Cattleya Green Emerald 'Queen' AM/AOS and a Dendrophylax funalis. I think it also happened to a Tolumnia and a Pleuro a year ago, just not sure since I don't remember how long they had been blooming beforehand.

That is good to know. Fortunately my kitchen and bathroom ambient lights are further away. My guess, it's under 100 Foot Candles by the orchids when I turn them on. My Aergs. luteo alba rhodosticta does well in the tree fern it came in. It's the only one in tree fern right now. Hope other members can give you more suggestions for what does well on tree fern. It you'd like more ideas, you can do a search on tree fern on this board or start a thread on it. It's an interesting topic.