aerangis punctata humidity question

[u bada]

Just wondering if any of you grow this on windowsill with humidity around 50%?

I've tried this species 3-4 times, usually in tanks and they keep dying, usually from rot, and I even place them near the fans. I picked yet another one up from a Afri orchids (laurens grobler, fresh from africa growing on a cedar plank which I hate looks wise but kept it on there) in the middle of summer, decided just to stick on the windowsill and spritz every day because of his tip I need to let dry out, and weirdly is already spiking. Years of trying and pampering this species and here I throw on a windowsill and how many months later already spiking!

So this one and other angraecoids seem to love the windowsill with just humidity at this level (and regular spritzing) but question is really whether it will get to flower at this humidity level?

All this talk that angraecoids need high humidity I've always tried and failed with growing them in a humidity of a grow tank. So to see them succeed on windowsill is baffling but of course if this works for me, I'm definitely getting more lol.

[Pattywack]

The only Aerangis I’ve attempted to grow is a fastuosa. As of now I’m not a complete failure. I’ve grown my plant for two years in a greenhouse shelf under t5 lights. Humidity is 70 to 80%, temp is 80ish daytime low 70s night. It is potted and I believe I’ve kept it too moist. I purchased it from J&L at a show and this is how they grew it so I’ve not changed it to a mount.

It has spiked three times but always blasts. I am currently allowing it to dry between waterings and it has a new spike. Fingers crossed.

My daughter, new to orchids, purchased one from Al last year and her plant is potted as well, kept fairly dry. She uses the same t5 lights, no greenhouse cover on her shelves. Her plant has already flowered months ago and has two new spikes currently.

I don’t think humidity is as critical for the fastuosa as the importance of allowing them to dry slightly between waterings.

Sorry, I’ve not tried a punctata. I thought they were very similar. Hope you have blooms soon!

[Roberta]

I don't have this particular one, but looking it up, it's a relatively high elevation plant, so it very likely would benefit from a significant diurnal temperature variation. (In fact, I think that I'll put it on my acquisition list) Being epiphytes, I think that all the Angraecoids benefit from drying a bit between waterings. U-bada, don't know where in the Los Angeles area you live, but if I had this one, it would be growing outside. (Coastal Orange County, California) Getting whatever Mother Nature threw at it in terms of both temperature and humidity (Central highlands of Madagascar, where this species comes from, can get down to freezing on winter nights!)

[u bada]

Thanks Patty, I have a fastuosa and I grow it in a tank mounted and it also struggles, although now much better that I use RO water. I water it every day and some days I refrained from watering it for a couple days and it didn't like it. Angreacoids are pretty finicky in my experience. So I'm back to watering it every day but it is near the fan and dries out by end of day and looking much better. I also reduced light. So your daughter's blooms fine just out in the open? Mine also spikes and keeps blasting.

I've really gotta visit JL one of these days if I make it out to east coast. Everything I get from them is perplexing in what it suggests they do culture wise. lol.

Roberta, I've met you and aware of your success growing things outdoors, really impressive. Unfortunately I cannot share the same success... I'm a bit inland in hollywood, slightly at the foothills, things are a bit variable with temps and humidity and even wind, although this year has been remarkably stable except for the week of 110 degrees earlier this year (!!!)

I've gotten various angraecoids from Cal orchid and James really feels they can't handle low temps very well, even Andy keeps many of them in the intermediate house. I think low and high altitudes vary from continent to continent from what I think. Mystacidiums appear to be ok outside, but I've lost aerangis outside, those noted for living high altitudes. I've lost african bulbos outside as well that are variable in elevations found.

From all accounts I've read, people grow punctata in his intermediate house. And in general I've observed many angraecoid grows that post online appear to be indoor growers under lights, many in canada for some reason, where as you can imagine temperate differential is limited. So from what I've gathered all around trying them outside is a crapshoot. I knew of someone who grew sequipedale outside, shockingly perhaps.

[Roberta]

Like me? ... I grow A. sesquipedale outside, and know others in my area that do as well. I sort of pamper it, putting it against the greenhouse wall so it gets a teensy bit of extra heat. I'll bring it in once I have buds (typically December), but takes up too much room to keep in the GH all the time and it has adapted to the abuse. Agreed, it's marginal. A. eburneum is a lot tougher, coming from a wider range of elevations. My success rate for Angraecoids (mostly outside) has improved greatly since I put in an RO system. Water quality does seem to be a big factor for lots of species that were marginal for me.
As far as climate in Madagascar central highlands, I can speak from experience, wearing my down jacket to bed in late winter (August). It was COLD. A lot colder than one would expect at that latitude and elevation (only about 4000 ft)

[u bada]

I'm going to deviate here but I am curious if anyone is growing punctata on windowsill or at lower humidity and flowering it...

ok, Roberta, I've met you through my friend Ron who's down where you're at, goes to new port harbor OS I think I've chatted with you a couple times in fact, and I had kept bugging Ron to ask you to have us over haha He grows a lot of his stuff (very well might I add) outdoors as well, but you guys are spoiled near the beach!

I was able to make it to fascination show! great shindig of yours, although not good for the wallet, lol. The international growers are worth the drive, especially with the only other one being the santa barbara show being a zoo, nice to go to a calm event and get interesting stuff.

I recall him saying you've traveled a lot. It's amazing you got to go to madagascar. Did you see orchids everywhere or were there isolated populations here and there? I love all the white flowers and they look tough with their leathery leaves and white twisty roots, but sadly haven't had much luck with them... but absolutely since I've switched to RO my success rate growth wise is 10 fold. I just switched earlier this year so I'm waiting to see if it translates to flowers next year. If they can survive on windowsills and outdoors now that I have RO water, that being the variable needed to be improved, then I'm game for focusing on them. The mini's of course.

So considering your travels, don't higher altitudes in various countries just feel different? I know at lower altitudes in Asia, that feels different to me than lower altitudes in south america. Could you compare high altitude madagascar to say high altitude ecuador?

[Roberta]

In Madagascar, mostly orchids were "here and there" though there were some preserves with good density. Unfortunately not a lot in bloom (but did see sesquipedale, and several instances of eburneum) Fortunately, our group included Harold Koopowitz, who could spot the little things and ID them. I talked to Phillip Cribb at Santa Barbara a month or so before I went there, and his advice was "more orchids in bloom in the rainy season... but much harder to get to". It was supposedly "dry season" but it was wet and infrastructure needs work... You're right, higher elevations are different in different parts of the world at roughly the same tropical latitude. Madagascar is much colder than you'd expect. Papua New Guinea at similar elevation was not as cold (but still cold... and wet) Ecuador did not feel as wet... and I have a better success rate with Ecuadoran orchids than any others though the Madagascan ones my luck is improving, perhaps I'm just refining the selection process.

[bethmarie]

I grow punctata among my other plants under LED lights. Mine is mounted, and it drops older leaves readily if I leave it dry for too long, especially in the winter when the humidity is lower. My experience with Angraecums in general is that flowering is where the humidity counts. Too much fluctuation in humidity causes mine to blast buds and abort spikes. The best I can get the humidity in the coldest parts of winter is about 45%. My punctata has bloomed for me several years running, usually in August.

[u bada]

Thanks so much Bethmarie, very helpful.

The spikes have been forming, one spike aborted 2 flowers but 3 buds are still getting there with spurs elongating in their curls every day...

I moved it into a glass cylinder for added humidity, near windowsill, with top open. I may put a lid of some sort half way over just to be sure humidity stays even. My apt tends to stay fairly humid because of all the fish tanks we have, so around 60% year around. but when super dry outside could drop to 50%. But you're saying yours blooms even humidity gets down to 45%?

[bethmarie]

In my experience, 50% humidity is fine for blooming. That's about what I have in the summer when my aerangis punctata blooms. In my case, sharp fluctuations in the humidity seemed to be the problem at times, even if I didn't drop below 45%.

How's yours coming along now?