Care tips for Bulbophyllum barbigerum

[astrid]

Since this is a recent post, I wanted to add my

I just got a sizeable bulbo barbigerum in an auction my OS put on last night. The resident expert "weird and small orchids grower" of our group said this:

"It's not about your potting mix. It's about the wet dry cycle. Barbigerum likes to be REALLY wet, then REALLY dry. If you can get it to dry out within the course of a day and just dunk it in a pot of water every morning, it'll do really well for you."

I have mine mounted on a big piece of cork bark over a thin layer of sphagnum moss. If necessary (because it stays wet too long), I will remove some of that moss, but we'll see how it goes.

By Terri's logic (the weird orchid expert), the media won't matter as long as you respect the way the plant likes to dry out. And honestly, ever since he told me that, I apply the logic to all of my orchids!! Basically just figure out what will dry out quickest in your environment and get that thing wet every day!! That's what I think, and that is what I am going to try!

[RNCollins]

Hi Carrot Nose,

How is your Bulbo doing? How are the roots?

To promote the growth of roots, you can use seaweed/kelp extract. If your plant is still mounted, just put it in a bowl of water and let it soak in the seaweed mix for at least 1/2 hour. You could also use Dyna-Gro K-L-N extract but it needs to be really fresh... I found better root growth with the seaweed.

[Rothrock42]

Astrid -- how is you Bulb barbigerum doing? I'm looking at getting one from Seattle Orchids, unless you think Terry might have another one.

I saw a video of the blooms and how the dance. Amazing.

[Carrot Nose]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Sorry I didn't follow up on this thread for awhile there. I had ended up taking it off the mount and potting mine, then putting the whole thing in a humidity tray.
But it gradually got worse and started dying off.... and only in the last few days have I relented that it's a lost cause so I've stopped watering it.
Clearly, it's not meant for my Canadian climate. Before this I was keeping it pretty moist and there's times I let it go dry completely so it did get that moist/dry cycle anyways (not intentionally). It grew new bulbs but none ever got that big, they all turned black after some weeks.
Next weekend is Orchid Fair! Which is where I got poor Bulbo Baggins (yes, that was his name) last year so he almost lasted one year. This time I'll try a different species...

[Rothrock42]

Bummer. That is too bad. I'm think I'm still going to give it a go. Good luck with this year's pick.