Anybody growing Pleurothallis tarantula?
 

Andy's lists Pleurothallis tarantula as Intermediate to Warm (58 F minimum to 88 F maximum / 14C - 31C.) Online I read it's a cold to cool grower. The only post I could find here said a person in Miami couldn't keep it alive.

Is anybody growing it? I can keep it to 80F and humid in the summer, but summer nights won't be a lot cooler than that.

IOSPE says:

Found in Colombia and Ecuador in cloud forests at elevations of 1500 to 1900 meters as a medium sized, cool growing epiphyte...

I've found this document from SanDiego zoo. It seems they have a rescue center for orchids and yours is one mentioned here. Maybe contacting them might help.

Thank you. The information on Andy's site is so different from what IOSPE says that the clone might be from a very different place.

Not sure if any of this helps but... I am trying to remember where he had it when I was there last... if it's where I think it was, his intermediate area, it was pretty warm that day inside there... and if anything he's more conservative with his culture notes for species, and in person has told me that certain species an handle beyond what he wrote online... but for that price not sure i'd risk it... still, high at 80 degrees isn't bad at all and if you can drop even 10 degrees that's pretty good.

When it comes to rarely cultivated species there can be so much misinformation online, although god bless jay for all his contributions... I just got a coelogyne (monilirachis) that was described somewhere as high elevation cooler growing (most are) but with more research it's more described as a warm grower, and andy confirmed it to a friend that is had done better warm for him... so with that in mind, I'd go with Andy for species like these... of course you an always call (email isn't so great)

Some of these thin but big leaved types really do well with intermediate warm and even hate cold really... need high humidity though...

Thank you! This is what I was looking for! I use a summer evaporative cooler, so it is quite humid in the air path. I figured a 6" basket Pleurothallis at that price was probably not TOO difficult to grow. Nobody answered the phone today, Thanksgiving weekend LOL

I found that if I get plants from a climate similar to mine, they tend to do better. So, even if this species is known to do better in cooler climates, the one you would be getting from Andy's is likely adapted to warmer temperatures.

Did you get a hold of Andy? You probably were wanting to take advantage of sale but I'll be there for open house next weekend and can ask...

They didn't answer so I bought it. I'm going to wait until their current shipping rush is over, then call.

I now have a well-functioning evaporative cooler. My tarantula nor I will not have to worry about heat until next July at the earliest, when the monsoon arises. Evap coolers work very well here during our long dry spring and first summer.

awesome, I'm excited for you. I'll ask him about it when I'm there.

We don't get too many hot days that would require an AC... we do fine in the 80's which is what it gets in summer inside without AC... but we just got a new family addition (a crested gecko) that prefers cooler temps (from new caledonia), plus other animals we keep that really do better in cooler summers, that is giving us incentive to fix our unit central air before next summer... if we do, boy oh boy my pleuros will be so much happier next summer, among so many others (outside it gets to 100+)...

Orchid Wiz contains a very good detailed culture sheet for this particular plant which is now classified as: Stelis [Ste.] tarantula If you can not find anyone with Orchid Wiz PM me and I will send you summary info

hey estacion,

So attached is more or less what you'll be getting if you're curious.

The gh it was in was in fact the intermediate gh where I know from experience can be up to mid 80's easily in summer, if not more (was boiling in it last summer), and kept actually fairly warm in winter...

Andy, who was pretty busy most of day offered "oh they actually prefer warm"...

That gh does stay pretty humid, however, the most enclosed growing area there, about half of the pleuros including most of the lepanthes were in there. I should have taken picture of whole area, but there were at least 2 rows of hanging plants above them. The top of gh probably 60-70% shade already dappled down to this lower (wide) "bench" where many of the larger leaved pleuros are... including p. adelae for example, which also prefers warm. (i would recommend that one for you as well, blooms several times a year for a friend of mine.)

Thank you for the great information.

I can confirm that Pleurothallis tarantula is indeed an intermediate grower. I wouldn't grow it much warmer than 85 F, as it can stress the plant out a little. It can tolerate warmer temperatures for short periods of time. I've had it under conditions where it was 90 F and they didn't look so good. They looked better around the mid-80's F.

They don't like cold to cool temperatures at all. I wouldn't grow them cold to cool. Temperatures below 55 F are not tolerated well at all, (they start dropping leaves).

The flowers grow out from underneath the leaf, btw.

Thanks!

Update: It's done fine for me so far. It hasn't made any new growth yet.

It arrived blooming on almost every leaf, potted in sphagnum, wet with liverworts and ferns on the surface.

I took the tag seriously when it said to let dry slightly between waterings. Some of the tips soon browned and some liverworts died. Now I realize I need to water it almost every day here.

I submerge the entire plant in a bucket and let it sit for a few minutes, to drown any spider mites that might find their ways onto the plant.

I'm not running the evaporative cooler yet. This plant has been OK with relative humidity in the 40%-60% range. That room doesn't get below 60F / 15.5C at night in winter.

Great to hear that it is doing well for you. I hope you will have some new growth and blooms soon! :)