My care habits seem to be death to S. hartmannii

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Wow, this is completely the opposite of what Orchidwiz says for this one! OW says Catt level light, as much as the plant can tolerate short of burning the leaves because in the wild they live in exposed habitats. And light is highest in winter. So are they completely off the mark with this one?

Low end-mid Catt light (~50-60% shade) is fine for hartmannii in winter but, as Lagoon suggests, in summer you risk cooking them with the amount of heat that comes with that much light.

Upton says the following about this species:
"In exposed areas it is frequently found among grasses or in shaded, deep gorges among mosses." (incidently Upton recommends 60% shade)
Jones notes "exposed plants often bleached yellowish green".

It likes more light than other Sarcs but it still does best with some shade and I wouldn't consider it a "sun lover".

[vmax3000]

Thanks, guys! I am with Sue and Camille in that what I thought I knew is up for debate. I have mine with my masdes now. The last one died the black squishy death in a pot in the shady, cool position in my gh. I will try the watering bit, a little more. We have been deluged with rain, mist, fog, and various forms of moisture...it's the rainy season here in Central Texas (welcomed relief from all of the heat ) and I noticed that my Sarc. has perked some. The bottom leaves ejected, but the core of the plant is green and the turgor is good. All of the little plantlets around the base look recovered, now, as well.... Hopefully, I am clear of this hurdle. It may be the heat is too much, despite the cooler in my gh. This one may have to summer indoors! Thanks, again, for constructive input and helping me to get to know my plant....I will have to post a pic if it blooms!

[cb977]

I moved mine into the big tank inside (with the Masdies here too, Vanessa ) on the day I first posted in this thread. I looked at it today and there is a new fan coming along nicely

As always, read all you can and then do what works for you

[epiphyte78]

I mounted mine pretty high up in my lemon tree where it received good light and dried out between waterings. It didn't take long before it started losing leaves faster than it was producing them. So I replaced it with a Cattleya and mounted it at the base of an Australian tree fern where it's shadier and moister. Now it's producing more leaves than it loses and the Catt in the lemon tree is really happy with its location.