Disa Kewensis in flower

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I would still consider Disas, in general, somewhat of a challenge to grow.

Yes, Yes, Go On...!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Yes, Yes, Go On...!

Are these fighting words?

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

More about growing Disa, please.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'll just mention Disa uniflora because these are the ones you will likely encounter more of here in the US, and rarely at that.

I have tried several types of growing media, and the mix that seems to do well for me, and not have all the roots rot out and fall apart in the long run, is a little bit of long strand Sphagnum moss with pea gravel.

It doesn't matter whether the pots are opaque or not, the plant will still do well either way. Just make sure they're slotted. In fact, if you ever get to see a Disa uniflora with a strong set of intact roots, you will see that some of them are actually green! What's the significance of green roots on Disa uniflora? The significance is that they appear to contain roots that have the ability to photosynthesize to some degree or another.

Do not fertilize heavily, it is not necessary to do so.

I've heard they can grow in full sun, but here in Los Angeles, I cannot do that, and neither is it necessary to. They seem to grow well with moderately bright indirect light or bright indirect light.

They do not tolerate drying out completely for much more than half a day. A half-day dry out period is already too long. The reason why is because they are normally found near waterfalls and sometimes near streams where water is either splashing on the rocks where they grow or water is dripping around the rocks where they occur. There is no shortage of moisture, but they don't want to drown in water either.

Like I've already mentioned to Rosie, once the mother plant blooms, that is it. The mother plant starts pining away, leaving behind the offshoots.

If you know that the Disa uniflora you got had some root damage, and this orchid goes into bloom for you, and you are not able to see offshoots, do not bank on getting any offshoots at all. I recommend pollination and getting good seedlings with strong roots to start with.

Water that is low in TDS is preferred. TDS levels for the water provided for Disa uniflora do not need to be 0 ppm, but something on the order of 10 ppm - 20 ppm is good enough.

Be careful about the term "nutrient poor" when seen in reference to the habitat of Disas. This term is misleading. "Nutrient poor" does not necessarily mean that there are no nutrients or very little by way of any nutrients at all in the habitat. Do not deprive them of nutrients, they need it. The environment they grow in is relatively low in nitrogen compared to the other major nutrients a plant needs, but that does not mean they do not get any of it.

They come from semi-arid desert environments so high humidity is not necessary. These orchids can do well in moderate humidity levels.

Temperature…there is a myth that these orchids need to be grown pretty cool. This species does not need to be kept at 75 F to 80 F on the hight end; that is not true at all. The truth is they can take quite a range of temperatures. They can handle temperatures down to 36 F and up to 90 F with no problems whatsoever.

The name of the game with Disa uniflora, is mostly to not rot the roots out. If you rot the roots out, it's game over.

Roots on this species are quite long and brittle. Do not handle these orchids when the roots are dry. There can be quite significant accidents with roots snapping off if you are not careful, and that is definitely not good at all if too many roots get mishandled and damaged extensively.

I can't think of anything else at the moment, so if you have specific questions, you can go ahead and ask.

[RosieC]

Thanks Tommy and Thanks Philip for all the info

[disalover]

King when would you say is the best time to repot my seedlings. They are about a year old

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by disalover

King when would you say is the best time to repot my seedlings. They are about a year old

What are they?

Are they Disa uniflora?

If they are, then I'd wait until they get some size to them, both in terms of leaves and roots.

The ones you have are still quite small. I'd probably get yours to grow to be about at least 2 inches, (5 cm), tall or have roots that are about the length of your fingers before you do anything else further with them. But this is me. I don't know if anyone else will say anything differently.

In my opinion, (and I don't know if you can find a lab out in SA who can do this for you), I would've advised you to buy the flask when the seedlings are as tiny as yours are, and then send them to a lab to replate them so that they continue to grow in-vitro for another few months so that you get large seedlings to deal with which would've been a lot sturdier and quicker to get settled in. I'll tell you why…

You said your seedlings are 1 yr old out of flask. Mine have been growing for about 1.5 years in flask, (just freshly deflasked), and the largest one already has a few leaves that are 3 inches long, (approx 7.5 cm). I am not struggling with hardening them off. I'm not telling you this to show off. I'm trying to get you to understand what I've been telling you ever since you asked me questions regarding Disas. I've always tried giving you advice from the standpoint of if I were starting off with Disas, what would I have liked someone who had experience with this group of orchids to teach me.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I decided to show you all the possibility of green roots developing on Disa uniflora. But in actuality, Disa aurata, Disa cardinalis, Disa caulescens, Disa tripetaloides, and Disa uncinata all tend to have this trait as well.

The nice thing about this photo is that you get to see the green root next to the roots without chlorophyll.

Btw, the roots have root hairs. The photo does not capture this very well because I do not have a true macro lens to take the photo with. They are there, and they look like a brown film on the root without chlorophyll.

[disalover]

Mine are only about 3cm tall

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by disalover

Mine are only about 3cm tall

Just keep doing what you're doing for a little longer. You are in some ways ahead of me in the learning curve. I haven't learned how to harden off Disa seedlings as small as yours yet, so you have the advantage here. You might have to wait until summer to see significant growth for your plants. Right now you guys are in winter. Winter is when the growing slows down drastically. Growth ramps up during the warmer months.

Yeah, that's what I forgot to mention…

Even though Disa uniflora is considered an "evergreen" Disa, it is a seasonal grower as well. Winter is slow growing season. Summer is fast growing season. It always occurs like this, I haven't seen any exceptions to this at all yet.