Florida Native Orchids: another species to search for in the Evergaldes?

[IncurablePlantHead]

E. tampensis, alba, 5 spikes

E. Cochleata with E. boothiana

[mremensnyder]

Naoki, thank you for your interest. I like to collect in "sets" or "groups" and being from Florida, I thought that a collection of FL natives would be interesting. FL also has many terrestrial orchid species, some quite rare and difficult to see in the wild. I don't quite have the interest in terrestrial orchids, something about epiphytes fascinates me. I have had my Harisella porrecta for a year now and it bloomed about 7-8 months ago and is still hanging onto a seed capsule, from which I hope to collect some "dust" when it opens. Wish me luck with that. Though it is native to my area, I gather it grows in more moist, humid microclimates than the average tree or shrub in a suburb could provide. Thus, I treat it like my other leafless species, keeping as humid as possible and watering at least once per day with pure water. I always allow it to dry out completely before watering again, which happens quickly, so I seldom have to worry.

Ula, my recently acquired Trichocentrum undulatum is about to bloom, so I will post pictures of that shortly, as well as pics of some new additions. Be sure to keep us up-to-date on your Encyclia!

---------- Post added at 11:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:34 PM ----------

IncurablePlantHead, I see you have quite the collection of FL natives as well. Thanks for sharing photos. I love the way you have that Encyclia rufa growing at the base of the thatch palm. Very natural looking. Also, that is fascinating about the mule ear being wild collected from the Fakahatchee while it was still legal. That would make it extra special to me and I would make extra sure to take impeccable care of it, which I see you have done. Very nice blooms on the E. anceps. I am under the impression this species is one in the same with E. amphistomum. Can anybody verify this? I simply have to try the alba form of Encyclia tampensis. I wonder if anybody has ever seen these in the wild?

I figure I will collect the quasi-native species now as well as the few easier to find natives I still don't have. These include: Macradenia lutescens, Ionopsis, Cyrtopodium punctatum, Vanilla dilloniana and Mexicana, and Encyclia boothiana. The ones that will be the real challenge are: Lepanthopsis melanantha, Epidendrum acunae, and Epidendrum stobiliferum. I thought I had a lead on E. strobiliferum, as a German online orchid grower lists it for sale on their site. When I contacted them, I received an initial response, but nothing after that. I think the language barrier was a factor.

I did see a post on another orchid forum (from a search) of Lepanthopsis melanantha growing well in somebody's orchidarium, so I know this species has to show up for sale at SOME point in the future. Finally Epidendrum acunae is wild (Cuba and other Caribbean islands) and cultivated in Cuba, so I figure it will eventually make the rounds as well.

IncurablePlantHead, if you ever want to talk orchids, or perhaps trade divisions, just pm me or reply in the forum. Have a good night.

[pipsxlch]

I have long thought of growing many of the native/ naturalized epiphytes also, though it hasn't managed to go anywhere. I have Encyclia tampensis- been a favorite since I was a kid and saw it wild everywhere; Epidendrum magnoliae (has anyone ever seen it actually growing on a magnolia? it's always an oak with resurrection fern for me), and a seedling E. rufa. I'm mostly interested in the encyclias.
I remember seeing Cyrtopodium and Dendrophylax wild as a kid too.

[IncurablePlantHead]

How about Epidendrum nutans, I don't have a pic but mine grows like crazy here in South Florida. I really like those bowing flowers. Here are a few other native, quasi - natives in my collection.
Maxillary crassifolia
Tetramicra canaliculata
Epidendrum nocturnum
Epidendrum rigidum
Epidendrum difforme

[Optimist]

What a great collection! If you know, maybe you can say something about the phytochromes of the ghost And leafless orchids.

What sort of lighting do you use? Is it red / deep red, or is this lower on the par scale?

[mremensnyder]

Thank you Optimist. I have since added Encyclia boothiana and Maxillaria parviflora to my collection. Also, my ghost orchid suddenly went down hill and I am afraid it may die! I think a short term breach in water quality (used the hose to mist the greenhouse for hours on end during the hot afternoons, thus tap water exposure) and tiny pests gnawing at roots are to blame. Many of my other leafless are having the same issue with pests, it must be. They will start to produce a new, healthy root, then something soon eats off the ends (see previous thread from last year), arresting growth. Out comes the insecticide, where I will come up with some creative ways to place insecticide in the immediate growing area at all times.

For the humidity issue, I have since bought a $40 Walgreens cool mist humidifier that works extremely well at humidifying the greenhouse (10ftX10ft) with distilled water 24/7. I do have to add a gallon every 12 hours (~$2/day operation cost) but it is worth it and I will use it until the rainy season keeps the humidity very high day and night.

To replace my ghost, I just ordered the largest size sold from Orchids Limited. It is supposed to have a root span of 4+ cm, so I hope it will be stronger starting out. Just watch an insect try to get near it when it gets here tomorrow

As for your question regarding lighting, my leafless orchids (and the rest) just get sunlight, modified by the material that makes up my greenhouse walls. I don't, at this time, have to use artificial light sources. I'm not sure where sunlight falls on the lighting spectrum scale.

Also, I would be interested to here if anyone has information about the phytochromes specific to the leafless orchids we grow.

[Optimist]

Sun covers the whole thing, lol.

[mremensnyder]

I picked an excellent light source for my orchids then

The new ghost, untied from the piece of cork bark it came on, is mounted and is laying horizontally deep inside a large clear/translucent tub. The large live oak bark slab is elevated just above the surface of a "moat" of (highly) insecticidal water. The rest of the leafless are hanging up all around the inside perimeter of the tub so they can also (hopefully) begin to grow unhindered by whatever "bugs" are nibbling away the tender new growth tips. I will be posting some pics by the end of the week of the setup.

The humidifier I mentioned is working in coordination with two fans in the greenhouse to first continually envelop the inside of the large tub with nice clean fog before it is whisked away to humidify the rest of the greenhouse. I don't mind the expense of distilled water and the twice daily gallon reloads because the $40 device single-handedly keeps the greenhouse very humid when the doors are closed (a flashlight beam reveals a fine (NON-WETTING) fog vapor circulating throughout the greenhouse) and still keeps the humidity elevated quite a bit when the doors are open from around 12pm-7pm, give or take, to manage extreme heat.

I highly recommend this cool mist humidifier to budget minded greenhouse orchid growers who have smaller square footage spaces like mine. Heck, if my greenhouse increased in sqare footage, I would just buy more cool mist humidifiers and perhaps invest in a reverse osmosis system for pure water in higher volumes that I would then need.

Once the rainy, humid season really kicks in, I may only run the humidifier from 10am-6pm or so, or even not at all if we are really in a wet pattern. It is looking like I will be using this greenhouse year round, something I could not have imagined when I purchased it.

[33014orchid]

Great list. I live in florida a would like to start a collection like this.

[mremensnyder]

That's it. All of my leafless orchid mounts will have to be entombed in very tightly fitted black plastic window screen wraps. I came home this evening and checked on my new $200! ghost orchid. I was specifically looking at the nice healthy green root tip (the only healthy green root tip on the plant) on the newest root growth. The tip is now just a mushy shrunken away nub and there was a little brown fly sitting right on the tip. So I know for sure it is flies! None of my delicate little leafless will ever make progress and grow into large healthy plants if each root tip is eaten away by the time the root reaches an inch long (or less).

Has anybody else had to face this devastating problem with this type of orchids? It's not just a mere nuisance, but I will never get anywhere growing the leafless with this situation.