Where to buy Egret Flower (Habenaria Radiata)

[CClia]

I really like this orchid and don't know where to buy. Any lead would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
CC

[Bud]

Pecteilis radiata (syn. Habenaria radiata) is a species of orchid endemic to China, Japan, Korea and Russia. It is commonly known as the White Egret Flower, Fringed Orchid or Sagiso. It should not be confused with the white fringed orchid Platanthera praeclara, which is a North American species. The Sagiso is the official flower of Setagaya ward, Tokyo.
radiata is not an easy plant at all. They grow in several substrates, as long as these are kept moist enough, not too compact in order to prevent rotting and with an acidic reaction. I have seen several materials for the substrates, actually I saw it being cultivated in pure living sphagnum (peat moss) which is growing on a peat/perlite ground. A critical period is overwintering. I don't grow it, but just throwing in an observation from a friend who grows this: that it might be fairly easy to overwinter a dormant tuber in some damp but not wet live sphagnum moss (i.e. squeeze out excess water) in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator...then after 3 weeks check on it that it’s not dry or it will kill it…
I have seen several tubers being auctioned on Ebay…a couple of tubers for $16 and shipping is $15 from a seller in Beijing, China

[CClia]

Thanks Bub.
I saw some website in side US sell them but most of them say out of stock right now. I don't want to buy it all the way in China.
CC

[glengary54]

Here's a site you might try

Hardy terrestrial orchids for perennial gardens

[CClia]

Thanks so much Glen.

[Ray]

The guy who runs the Wild Orchid Company (Bill Mathis) is quite an academic, and he really knows his stuff. His book, The Gardeners Guide to Growing Hardy Perennial Orchids is a good resource.

His place is about 5 minutes from here, and he gave a thorough presentation at out OS.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Just a heads up...

Part of the difficulty with growing Habenaria radiata is that the tuberoids are formed by the same type of cells that make up the plant's roots. Therefore the tuberoids can be easy to damage if not handled with some sort of care, and are susceptible to infection from a substantial enough amount of physical damage. They are also easy to over water, especially if somebody is not familiar with the plant's growing/dormancy cycles.

These tuberoids are not quite as sturdy as the tubers of, say, a plant such as Bletilla striata, where the cells that make up the tuber are similar to those that make up the plant's stem.

As far as I know, many terrestrial orchids in the subfamily Orchidoideae form what are generally called "root tuberoids" or "fleshy rhizomes". This is part of the reason why orchids in this subfamily are a bit more challenging to grow and are not necessarily grown en masse by the general public/casual hobbyist.

Habenaria radiata belongs to the subfamily Orchidoideae.

[CClia]

Thank you Ray and Philip. Base on what you said, it must be hard to grow but I love it so much. I'm going to give it a try.
Will update.
CC

[NatalieS]

Originally Posted by CClia

Thank you Ray and Philip. Base on what you said, it must be hard to grow but I love it so much. I'm going to give it a try.
Will update.
CC

I was looking through one of my bonsai books the other day and saw an example of Habenaria radiata being grown in a group planting as a bonsai (for those who aren't familiar with bonsai gardening, the Japanese grow many plants as bonsai, including grasses, flowers, perennials and even aquatic plants), and I thought of this thread.

The example shown had been growing in its pot for three years and the grower said the following:

"Fanciers take a great deal of trouble with this little orchid, but actually it does well in ordinary soil with ordinary care. It does even better when grown with other marsh plants, which will absorb any excess water." (from Four Seasons of Bonsai by Kyuzo Murata)

Not sure that info might be useful to you, but I would give it a go. After seeing how lovely it looks in its little combo-pot, I want to give it a try myself!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The trick is the other plants it's growing with and growing multiples of the same species of orchid in one pot. It does reduce issues of over watering, but does not eliminate it. It can still happen for a number of different reasons. This method also doesn't eliminate problems with watering the plant during its dormancy period. If you water this plant during its dormancy, it doesn't matter if you've grown 10 or 10,000 of these Habenaria radiata in the same pot with other plants or not, they will rot out and die.

Many people who have been growing terrestrial orchids tend not to grow individual specimens in one pot - (particularly those with some experience growing terrestrial orchids already). Some even go as far as to grow the orchids with other plants.

I haven't grown orchids with other plants yet, but it could potentially solve problems with growing certain Disa species.