Laelia (Rupiculous) Orchids

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by MattWoelfsen

I'll start moving them into the sun.

Just remember to do it slowly. Just like pale skinned people, full sun can do horrible things to Catts if introduced too quickly!

[MattWoelfsen]

Thanks isurus79, definitely! I'm from the land of pale Hoosiers, so I see now and again one of these pale Hoosiers out in the noon day sun beet red and just suffering from too much exposure.

[MattWoelfsen]

I have now moved my Laelia to the outside porch. They get eastern light and western light, full blast. It has been very bright, and some of the leaves are starting to blush along the edges. I think I'll keep them in this space for a month(?) before putting them completely in the sun.



I'm starting to think I need to build a green house!


Laelia rupicolous by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr

[isurus79]

You'll have to acclimate them to full sun by giving them more and more each week. Even if they're used to full east and west sun, exposure to midday sun in the heat of summer might have negative results, even with rupis!

[MattWoelfsen]

This is Cattleya aclandiae 'Richter's Best' x Self. According to ISOPE this plant comes from Brasil. It is another small orchid but I do not know if it would be considered a so called Rupicolous orchid. This plant is noted to be light tolerant, meaning it can grow and flourish in full sun, that said, would it flourish in less light?


"Cattleya aclandiae 'Richter's Best' x Self by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr


Cattleya aclandiae 'Richter's Best' x Self by MattWoelfsen, on Flickr

[katrina]

Love this little guy so much I have 3! None of which are quite blooming sized, yet.

It's not a rupic. It grows on trees...usually over water. This one can be a little bit tricky...watering being the slightly tricky part.

It needs to dry rapidly after watering...especially in the winter under lower light conditions. The tricky part w/this one is that it wants a lot of water but it needs to dry fast. Think frequent rains in nature and then heavy breezes that dry it off quickly. Needless to say, a mount is going to be the easiest way to accommodate/grow this one. I am growing in both pot and mount set ups but my potted ones are in tiny clay pots w/lava in the bottom and just a little bit of sphag on top.

VERY bright light...high end of catt light but I avoid mid-day direct sun. Morning or late day direct would be fine but during the middle of the afternoon it could be too intense. The leaves on this one are round and fat and many of them face upwards so even w/a long acclimation period they could still burn rather easily. Leaves that are narrow and grow upright (think brassavola) handle the full sun better than those that are fatter and flatter/face up. I hope that makes sense.

They do well under intermediate conditions and would likely do well w/warm temps.

They aren't the fastest growers...mine are young so the rate could increase but to date they've been putting out only one new growth per year. One more reason why I don't want to risk any burning.

Your plant looks really good...big even. Nice find!

[Edit - not sure why it duplicated my post--- removed the dupe]

[MattWoelfsen]

Thank you Katrina. This is very informative. I appreciate your time and effort giving me particulars on my new plant. From what you say and other information I have attained, it does seem to require a little bit more care than my other Laelia/Cattleya posted on this thread. Thanks again for your advice.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by katrina

The tricky part w/this one is that it wants a lot of water but it needs to dry fast.

Very true!! In fact, water the crap out of yours if you want more growths. These guys will grow year round if you give them enough water. The trick is to get them to dry fast. When I grew in Hawaii, the rainy season lasts from January to late April and I would usually get 2-3 successive growths during this time followed by no growth at all for the rest of the year. Each growth would start growing, bloom and mature in about 2 months and then crank out another until the rains stopped.

Originally Posted by katrina

VERY bright light...high end of catt light but I avoid mid-day direct sun.

Believe it or not, my aclandiae would take full sun until the early afternoon in Hawaii so they can take full sun if there is a good breeze to cool them off. Here's a pic:

Cattleya aclandiae 3-12-2009 by Isurus79, on Flickr

[james mickelso]

Very insightful Katrina. I'm impressed with your knowledge of such a simple concept of leaf arrangement and sun angles. Few think of these simple facts. Thanks for bringing this up. Steve, beautiful flowers. But the leaf color is at the far end of normal for this species. I would be very hesitant to put this in full mid day sun. It would have to be quite a breeze to keep it cool enough to weather this much temperature. It normally is a few shades darker. But you are absolutely right in that it needs to dry quickly so the roots dry before degrading. The velamen is very open and spongy on these.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

Thanks for bringing this up. Steve, beautiful flowers. But the leaf color is at the far end of normal for this species. I would be very hesitant to put this in full mid day sun. It would have to be quite a breeze to keep it cool enough to weather this much temperature.

I always try to grow my plants at the upper end of their light tolerance. They typically reward me with great growths and blooms! Getting 2-3 flushes of growth and therefore 2-3 separate bloomings on this species shows that good culture includes high light levels.

Just remember that this plant was thriving in full Hawaiian sun, which is impossible to replicate in Indiana (where Matt lives) because of how much farther north he lives. I think he could easily grow his aclandiae next to his rupis and get great results.

I will also point out that Hawaii has a 5-25mph trade wind blowing most of the time when the sun is up, so that natural breeze certainly aids in keeping preventing the plant from burning.

I'm also growing a seedling of aclandiae (here in Austin, TX) I got from Peter T. Lihn of Diamond Orchids at the beginning of the year underneath a 6 bulb, 3' array of t5HO bulbs on my back porch. My apartment faces north so I need the supplemental light, but my plant is currently working on its second growth and I fully anticipate a third before I bring it inside in October.