More Habenarias

[Roberta]

Habaneria medusae is one of my favorite orchids. The orange lip with the wild fringes are so special.

Habenaria erichmichelii is now classaffied as Hab. rhodocheila, but the color combination - the bronze segments (and leaves) and the salmon-pink lip, are unique.

Habenaria dentata was, at first, a mystery plant... I had ordered two tubers of Hab. carnea. Since I was expecting them to be the same, both tubers went into the same pot. As soon as they sprouted it was obvious that they weren't the same. One is indeed Hab. carnea - with beautiful patterned leaves in a rosette. (just starting to be in spike, it'll be a month or so before it blooms) The other was green, and lanky with a few leaves widely spaced along the stem. That one has bloomed... after discussion with the vendor and looking at a bunch of photos, we both agreen that it is indeed Hab. dentata. An added bit of luck... I had expected Hab. denta to grow cooler than Hab. carnea. Turns out theat they clearly grow under the same conditions - which will greatly improve my chances for keeping it gong. In fact, I got two other tubers that were supposedly Hab. dentata... now that I have one that clear is (not jut flowers but also growth habit of the plant), I can see that the other two are something else. Waiting for flowers to see what I actually got. I'm not unhappy at all, I see the variety as a bonus.(Got the H. carnea that I especially wanted, got H. dentata just not in the pot I expected, and there are 2 more that will be suprises, with growth patterns I don't recognize) Love them all! Included is a photo of Hab. dentata just opening, and Hab. carnea still just showing beautiful leaves, to show the different growth patterns of the two species.

[Diane56Victor]

Beautiful, delicate looking blooms.

[PuiPuiMolcar]

They are so dreamy. I have always thought Hab. Dentata was hybrid until now. It looks almost like the Hab. Radiata.
As for Hab. Carnea, it was among the two Hab. I must choose when I was first introduced to this genus. I choose Hab. sp Laos instead. I should have gotten both.

[Roberta]

Hab. dentata will be a lot easier for you to grow than Hab.(Pecteilis) radiata... Based on my (surprise) experience with Hab. dentata, it grows nicely under fairly warm conditions. By contrast, Pecteilis radiata comes from fairly high elevation in Taiwan and Japan, and experiences a cold winter during dormancy. Something we don't have in southern California. I have been trying that one... last winter I put the plants in the refrigerator, they survived and sort of grew, but very small. This winter I think that I will divide the survivors, put half in the refrigerator and leave half outside sheltered from rain. (I have 4 I think... will know for sure when I find out how many actually produced tubers, still too early to unpot them) So for that "look" go for H. dentata unless you really want to experiment.

[Waterdog111]

Roberta , those are wonderful plants and great variety.

[Roberta]

Thanks. They aren't hard to grow, lend themselves to indoor growing. You just have to pay attention to their cycle. They are terrestrials (grow in well-drained potting soil with some perlite or pumice for extra drainage). They go dormant after blooming, you end up with what looks like an empty pot. Not dead!! During the winter, water lightly (every couple of weeks), increase watering in late March or early April... the new shoots will emerge. Fairly low light. That's it! If they are happy, they likely will produce more than one tuber per plant. (Hab. medusae has been divided several times, Hab. erichmichelii probably will either get divided or a larger pot this fall. The ones where there are 2 to a pot that turned out to not be the same, each will get its own pot. Any repotting should be done when they are dormant (so it will be 2 months or so before mine are ready to repot and find out what they have produced in the way of new tubers)

[NatalieS]

The colouring on the vegetative parts and flowers of the Hab. rhodocheila is absolutely to die for. It's like the epitome of an early autumn day.

Should the tubers of these always get their own pots, or do they do well left in group pots?

[Roberta]

They can do fine in group pots until it gets too crowded. Here, I thought that I had purchased 2 of the same kind so put them in the same pot - but they turned out to be different species, so they'll get separate pots. I do like to repot every two years or so, just to see what I have... can put them back into the same medium, no harm there.

[Waterdog111]

I think that is a useful question for those of us who have very limited space and the same love of these plants as one who has plenty.
Thanks for all!

[PuiPuiMolcar]

Thanks! I will definitely give Hab. Dentata a try. I am missing a white hab. Afterall.
One thing i want to ask, I think you also have poneorchis right? How have they been doing for you? Mine went into dormant 2 months earlier already. Their blooms were very weak, I thought I failed them but surprisingly atleast one bulb came out looking healthy. Still, I think I have to reconsider my caring method for them...