Japanese terrestrials 2023

[estación seca]

My Spiranthes sinensis are growing somewhat. The two pots of Amitostigma have sprouted one and three sprouts, but they are very new. Unfortunately the Habenaria has not sprouted at all.

I just dropped the Amitostigma pot with one sprout. In my experience these terrestrials will die after being unpotted during the growing season, but I'm going to keep watering it.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by estación seca

My Spiranthes sinensis are growing somewhat. The two pots of Amitostigma have sprouted one and three sprouts, but they are very new. Unfortunately the Habenaria has not sprouted at all.

I just dropped the Amitostigma pot with one sprout. In my experience these terrestrials will die after being unpotted during the growing season, but I'm going to keep watering it.

Good luck on the Amitostigma! As for the others... give 'em time. My Habenaria are up, but still quite small. They won't be ready to bloom until late summer, like maybe August. The challenge is going to be whether they'll all make tubers, be happy in the 'fridge in the winter, and be ready to come up next year. That's the REAL test...I figure whatever they do this year is a bonus.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

A little update on these. Pnr Enomotoe's blooms are dry now but still on the spike, I'm just gonna leave everything be and do its thing until dormancy, at which point I'll have to decide whether to place the entire pots in the fridge or try and collect the tubers without breaking them!

Pnr gramminifolia's buds have started to open and I can see fully formed flowers. As opposed to the Enomotoe, the flowers closer to the light source are much bigger and showier, whereas the ones at the back of the pot have a much flatter lip and smaller size.

Not sure if the difference in flower quality is simply genetics due to the tubers being from different plants, or maybe they were grown differently last year and one of the tubers didn't have as many reserves... Or maybe it's the light! I might consider blasting these with top light next year while I leave the Enomotoe in a shadier location to try and get deeper purple tones.

[Roberta]

Amitostigma (Ponerorchis) keiskei are dried up, also still on the spike. Now is their time to grow... My Ponerorchis graminifolia are still just buds, getting closer though. There is a lot of variation in the species, so you may get a range of colors. One that looks like it will be white seems to be the first but my others are still tight buds. So don't know what I will get. From what I read when I got them, I think that all of these will stay green until around October, so after they bloom I figure I'll just put them on the bench until dormancy arrives. I'm planning to unpot (besides, I want to see if they multiply), and put the tubers in the refrigerator in baggies. Pots take up too much room in there...

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I'm planning to unpot (besides, I want to see if they multiply), and put the tubers in the refrigerator in baggies. Pots take up too much room in there...

True that! I have way too many plants (mostly carnivorous) that need a cold dormancy period so I might need to get creative or store them all bare root.

Re: the tubers I definitely want to see how many I can get out of each growth. I found this article interesting. The only rec I've seen that I think is important is to use paper bags/envelopes as opposed to plastic, something that can still have some oxygenation. This might be overkill but a Tupperware made for berries with an air filter could be an interesting option (link).

[Roberta]

The downside of a porous "container" such as paper is that then you have to worry more about drying out... frost-free refrigerators (which most are) tend to desiccate things due to their cycle. (In the freezer, you get freezer burn, in the 'fridge things just dry out). If you put the tubers in a baggie with a bit of slightly moist sphagnum, I think you can hit the sweet spot... just open the baggies occasionally. When those tubers are dormant, they're totally not doing anything. (I'm planning on tucking them into the vegetable bin, which stays a little more humid) That berry container, you'd still have to contain the individual tubers of the same species, you don't want to mix things up. And it takes room... Unless you have a dedicated 'fridge...

I'm guessing that they do need to have a bit of moisture, unlike the Mediterranean tubers that I'm most familiar with . The Japanese terrestrials come from a climate that is damp in winter, so that's where the damp sphagnum comes in. (The Mediterranean type tubers stay bone-dry when they're dormant, so different in that regard)

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If you put the tubers in a baggie with a bit of slightly moist sphagnum, I think you can hit the sweet spot... just open the baggies occasionally.

Aren't you concerned about mold growth? My personal fear is that once those go to the fridge I swear I will totally forget to open the baggie

Maybe a deli cup with some holes or cutting a little corner of the plastic bag. Not sure how aggressive the desiccation process will be but it makes me want to place a hygrometer inside to see what it reads.

[Roberta]

I'll definitely be watching for mold... the notes from Kusamono do mention to check occasionally, remove any that show it. But they do need a little moisture. I grow a couple of warm-growing Habaneria (medusa and rhodocheila) and I give the bare pots a squirt of water about once a week (and have had no rot problem) People who keep those too dry end up killing them. I have learned - the hard way of course - that dormant doesn't necessarily mean "dry", and that some things that go dormant need to stay sopping wet in winter, chilly on my patio (Cynorkis gibbosa, for example) These Japanese terrestrials are a whole new adventure... but thinking about their native environment, I have to come to the conclusion that they not only tolerate some moisture when they are cold and dormant, but require it. Go back to some of the posts from Subrosa, who has a bog garden that includes some of these growing outdoors in a climate with real winter - they are certainly cold and damp when they are dormant.

[estación seca]

Sphagnum inhibits mold growth, but it's tricky learning how moist to get it. Too wet and the tubers rot.

[Subrosa]

Ponerorchis (Amitostigma) x Enomotoe blooming in the bog now: