Hi!
During the past three years I did some experiments:
-mounting keikis of Den. moniliforme on various trees
-trying to cultivate Epi. magnoliae
-trying to cultivate my Den. moniliforme motherplant outside for the summer
The first two experiments failed, in fact, my Epi. magnoliae fell victim to birds only hours after I hung it outside to get some summer rain. All of the keikis died, though I will get back on that later.
The last experiment was full succes (who would have thought hehe), but that‘s also what most people here do anyways. For the summer of 2021, I brought the freshly mounted plant outside and decided to keep it in the barely frost-free greenhouse where my mother puts her patio plants over the winter. That worked very well and I was surprised by a large amount of flowers. Then, it went back outside for the summer of 2022 which was very warm and dry for my region (8 mm total for August), so the plant some additional waterings. Also around than time, the thripocalypse started to take hold (and would cost me 90% of my collection over the next year), so I got frustrated and lost interest in my orchids. Sometime in november, I brought the plant to its winter spot nontheless. At that point, it had received three sub-zero (CELSIUS!) nights, but looked great. I didn‘t care tbh. Then came 2023, similar story. I completely forgot about the plant until one day I noticed the strong smell of coconut that is indicative of my plant‘s flowers. So I gave it some water (for the first time in five months) and hung it back into its summer spot … and proceded to absolutely do nothing for the next five months. That summer was more rainy and cool, so no additional waterings were needed. In October, I moved out to a different city and forgot about the plant. I only remembered some time in January 2024 when temps at my parent‘s house went down to -8 Celsius (i think that‘s 17-ish in imperial (?)), quite cold for this region. When I came back for the next time in february (with a renewed interest in orchids), I expected to find nothing but mush. But I was wrong, even some of the leaves were still green. Since there were no further frosts forecasted, I decided to keep it outside. Temps went up, and I was surprised to see buds forming (for me, this species first produces a sheath-like structure from which the buds break all at once after the first warm days). Then, a late freeze hit in April (-3°C i think that‘s around 27 F) and I thought all was lost. But then when I came back in May, I found this (see below).
The best display of flowers I ever got from that plant!
Now, why did the keikis die even in much mulder winters? I think to be able to withstand low temperatures, the plant needs to be strong and properly acclimated. Both things the keikis weren‘t. In fact, I pulled them off directly from my indoor mother plant with only a few aerial roots. No surpise that that didn‘t work.
Last edited by Leo H.; 05-22-2024 at 05:45 AM..
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