Laelia (Rupiculous) Orchids

[isurus79]

I met "mab3362" in person about a month ago and got one of his flasks. Good grower and good looking plants in the flask!

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by isurus79

I met "mab3362" in person about a month ago and got one of his flasks. Good grower and good looking plants in the flask!

Thanks isurus79. I'm glad to know this about mab3362. These are so many vendors on eBay and I was a little concerned I've not heard of this vendor--he does have excellent ratings.

[MattWoelfsen]

The flask of baby Cattleya arrived today in flask, but due to its arduous travel from Houston, Texas to Fort Wayne, Indiana, I de-flasked them immediately and into their interim nursery grow space. I ended up with 18 large plants, 12 mid-size plants and 10 very small plants.

[citywildcat]

Matt, i'm surprised what you said about drenching them with water. There some guy from Brazil who is an expert on these. I guess they are not an epiphyte & not a lithophyte (or a xerophyte!) but sort of a little of each??? Sort of unclassified. Technically they grow on rocks down in Brazil and it's quite hot (and dry) with only an occasional shower. Does everyone agree with drenching when watering? I only have two so I want to get it right since I just got them. MANY THANKS!

[Sharry]

Hey Matt, pleas share the progress on your plantlets. I am sure you will be a lot of peoples' good, good friend.
I saw them on ebay but decided to go with a phal mini flask because I already have phal seedlings.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by citywildcat

Matt, i'm surprised what you said about drenching them with water. There some guy from Brazil who is an expert on these. I guess they are not an epiphyte & not a lithophyte (or a xerophyte!) but sort of a little of each??? Sort of unclassified. Technically they grow on rocks down in Brazil and it's quite hot (and dry) with only an occasional shower. Does everyone agree with drenching when watering? I only have two so I want to get it right since I just got them. MANY THANKS!

Hello citywildcat, thank you for your response. The idea of drenching them with water is basically trying to emulate the growing conditions of these plants in Brasil. During their growing season--which is spring into summer, there are occasional thunder storms that drench every thing including these Laelia. Then the wind blows, the sun shines and every thing dries quickly. Or fog comes over the mountains early in the day, dries out by the rising sun.

I have had the good fortune to work in Rio de Janiero and Sao Paolo and have experienced these rain storms, the winds and then the nice warm sun all happening within the hour!

Growing them in Fort Wayne, Indiana--this past winter, I watered them by putting water in the tray and letting the water wick up into the roots. After a while, when I saw moisture up near the base of the plant, I would drain the trays. I did this about every 10 to 12 days? The room temperature never got below 60*F and some days got as warm as 70*F.

During this growing season, I am now taking them to the sink and watering the entire plant. I do this in the morning, run a fan on them and by the time night falls they are slightly damp. I'm letting them dry out completely before I water them again, about once a week. They are heavily misted during the week, so they have moisture. I think these Laelia rupicolous orchids have a tendancy to crown rot if kept too moist, in the dark, and in too cool temperatures.

Half of my Laelia rupicolous are planted in perlite, pebbles, LECA, and other inorganic media. The other half are planted in sphagnum moss. That is how these plants were potted by the vendor(s). I am keeping them this way--I do not want to introduce more hurdles to the plant's acclimation. My most recently acquired Laelia x Sophronitis hybrid flask, I put in sphagnum moss under a covered dome--to transition them out of flask. They will be in this condition for at least the next three or four months.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by Sharry

Hey Matt, pleas share the progress on your plantlets. I am sure you will be a lot of peoples' good, good friend.

I saw them on ebay but decided to go with a phal mini flask because I already have phal seedlings.

I certainly will Sharry. Crossing my fingers that all of these plants survive. If they do, I'll be looking for some good homes for them to grow.<S>

[MattWoelfsen]

A month has passed since the seedling hybrids arrived. I have lost four seedlings but I still have 32 babies.


Laelia cinnabarina x Sophronitis cocinea by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr

[bethmarie]

Appreciate your update, Matt. I have 4 or 5 rupics and love to hear what's working for others growing them. I've discovered they are not for the impatient! They grow slowly, at least for me. I haven't bloomed one yet.

It didn't help that I'd been underwatering them. After talking to Andy's orchids and doing some reading, I found out they can take quite a bit of water when they're actively growing. Mine are in two inch pots for the most part, so that has meant water 2x a week.

I rotted 3 new growths off my kettieana last year, so this year they sit in front of the fan overnight after watering. The kettieana has 3 growths now, and so far they're looking good.

How are yours doing in sphag? Mine are all in LECA or gravel, leca and charcoal.

[citywildcat]

Originally Posted by MattWoelfsen

Hello citywildcat, thank you for your response. The idea of drenching them with water is basically trying to emulate the growing conditions of these plants in Brasil. During their growing season--which is spring into summer, there are occasional thunder storms that drench every thing including these Laelia. Then the wind blows, the sun shines and every thing dries quickly. Or fog comes over the mountains early in the day, dries out by the rising sun.

I have had the good fortune to work in Rio de Janiero and Sao Paolo and have experienced these rain storms, the winds and then the nice warm sun all happening within the hour!

Growing them in Fort Wayne, Indiana--this past winter, I watered them by putting water in the tray and letting the water wick up into the roots. After a while, when I saw moisture up near the base of the plant, I would drain the trays. I did this about every 10 to 12 days? The room temperature never got below 60*F and some days got as warm as 70*F.

During this growing season, I am now taking them to the sink and watering the entire plant. I do this in the morning, run a fan on them and by the time night falls they are slightly damp. I'm letting them dry out completely before I water them again, about once a week. They are heavily misted during the week, so they have moisture. I think these Laelia rupicolous orchids have a tendancy to crown rot if kept too moist, in the dark, and in too cool temperatures.

Half of my Laelia rupicolous are planted in perlite, pebbles, LECA, and other inorganic media. The other half are planted in sphagnum moss. That is how these plants were potted by the vendor(s). I am keeping them this way--I do not want to introduce more hurdles to the plant's acclimation. My most recently acquired Laelia x Sophronitis hybrid flask, I put in sphagnum moss under a covered dome--to transition them out of flask. They will be in this condition for at least the next three or four months.

Thanks, Matt... I've learned a lot from experienced growers like yourself. And I even tried the method of watering (for rupicolous Laelias) that you suggested. They need much more water than the seller indicated to me, that's for sure! I gave them a good drench and let them dry out (mostly) as you said, just like in the wild, and I have a new growth rapidly advancing & and leaves have better texture (less of that "crinkly", dried out look) than when I was just misting them. You're right when you say it's imperative that we duplicate the conditions (as close as possible) to how they grow in their natural environment. Thank you for reinforcing that fundamental principle of successful orchid growing!

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials