Lophiaris or Trichocentrum Stramineum basic care

[MissRuby]

Hey guys! At our local orchid society I was lucky enough to snag up some new orchids through our society's annual auction; this one was labeled Oncidium Straminium but through some research I've come to realize that its been reclassified (as far as I can find) to Trichocentrum Stramineum. I've been trying to find some general care tips as I'm familiar with oncidiums but this orchid strikes me as needing somewhat more cattleya type care; online has been less than helpful. I can't seem to find a place with really good care instructions or information other than the fact that it's a species. Help please! I have the orchid in quarantine for the time being with extra humidity to induce better root growth as it's been freshly repotted. So any watering and light requirements/tips would be great for when I introduce it fully into my collection. Do any of you grow this orchid? Thank you in advance for any and all help!

[estación seca]

I have T. tigrinum, not this one. A good place to start to look up species is
Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia
which sometimes uses different names. IOSPE will tell where it's from, and you can look up more information about the local climate elsewhere.

In this case they show it as Lophiaris straminea. It's from tropical deciduous and oak woodland in central Veracruz. IOSPE lists it as cool to warm growing.

From here on out I will be predicting based on what I know of the location.

It's an epiphyte, so it is accustomed to good air circulation at the roots. That part of Veracruz gets heavy summer rain (wet all the time) and very little or no winter rain. However, it will be foggy or cloudy frequently during winter, and there will be dew, so the plant doesn't get a prolonged dry spell. Heavy, always-wet medium is known to be death to Lophiaris in cultivation, so make sure it dries out between waterings. Some people grow them mounted.

Temperatures will be similar to foggy districts of San Francisco, California, year round, but rainfall will be very different than in SF. Summer daytime temperatures are never much above 85 F / 30C, if that, and winter days are mostly in the 60s-70s F / 15-25C. Year-round night temperatures may dip to the 40s F / 4-10C. It might freeze once every 50-100 years, which will kill most of the orchids.

The oaks are evergreen. Deciduous forests are heavily leafed in summer and leafless in the dry season. Oaks are higher-elevation than deciduous forest. This plant will have bright to dense shade during its growing season, and probably not much direct sun then. It will get more light during the dry season when deciduous trees are leafless, but there are a lot of dry branches overhead, so there will be partial shade even in the winter.

The light I mentioned is in the tropics, so even bright shade might be closer to full summer sun in Manitoba. Once nice thing about Trichocentrum/Lophiaris is that the leaves start turning reddish when they are getting a lot of light. If I lived in Manitoba, I would gradually give more and more light in spring/summer until the leaves began turning red. In the winter I would give it as much light as I could.

[MissRuby]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much! This is very helpful and informative; I will take your advice and continue to research. Again, thank you, I appreciate your help so much!

[mydogmimi]

First off, note that the plant you have is rare. I was able to find some from an elderly man who had collected some in Mexico 40 years ago and was selling his collection. Recently, Carter and Holmes had offered some seed grown plants. Other than those, I had unable to find these plants.
I grow mine in a greenhouse. I was able to obtain enough plants to experiment a bit. A few I put in hard packed sphagnum, others in medium bark, and one in LECA. None were mounted. The one in bark did the best. They are treated just like Cattleyas in every aspect and for the most part have thrived...not knowing your growing conditions, I would suggest to go easy on the water. Any other questions about this plant, please ask.
Question for you, do you know of a source for additional plants of this species?

[Dollythehun]

I see the is your first post. Welcome!

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board, mydogmimi!

[rockyfarm]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I have T. tigrinum, not this one. A good place to start to look up species is
Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia
which sometimes uses different names. IOSPE will tell where it's from, and you can look up more information about the local climate elsewhere.

In this case they show it as Lophiaris straminea. It's from tropical deciduous and oak woodland in central Veracruz. IOSPE lists it as cool to warm growing.

From here on out I will be predicting based on what I know of the location.

It's an epiphyte, so it is accustomed to good air circulation at the roots. That part of Veracruz gets heavy summer rain (wet all the time) and very little or no winter rain. However, it will be foggy or cloudy frequently during winter, and there will be dew, so the plant doesn't get a prolonged dry spell. Heavy, always-wet medium is known to be death to Lophiaris in cultivation, so make sure it dries out between waterings. Some people grow them mounted.

Temperatures will be similar to foggy districts of San Francisco, California, year round, but rainfall will be very different than in SF. Summer daytime temperatures are never much above 85 F / 30C, if that, and winter days are mostly in the 60s-70s F / 15-25C. Year-round night temperatures may dip to the 40s F / 4-10C. It might freeze once every 50-100 years, which will kill most of the orchids.

The oaks are evergreen. Deciduous forests are heavily leafed in summer and leafless in the dry season. Oaks are higher-elevation than deciduous forest. This plant will have bright to dense shade during its growing season, and probably not much direct sun then. It will get more light during the dry season when deciduous trees are leafless, but there are a lot of dry branches overhead, so there will be partial shade even in the winter.

The light I mentioned is in the tropics, so even bright shade might be closer to full summer sun in Manitoba. Once nice thing about Trichocentrum/Lophiaris is that the leaves start turning reddish when they are getting a lot of light. If I lived in Manitoba, I would gradually give more and more light in spring/summer until the leaves began turning red. In the winter I would give it as much light as I could.

I have Lophiaris (Trichocentrum) nana, and it has the reddest leaves I've seen on an orchid; not apparently damaged but dark greenish red. It had been potted in sphagnum (soggy), and so all roots are dead. I've repotted in a loose bark mix and it's put out a shoot with new roots starting. The new shoot also looks reddish/dark green. The plant is under LED lights (about 1500-2000 fc), and I'm concerned whether this might be too high. The leaves are erect, not like Phalaenopsis, as if adapted to higher light levels. But the onlline photos I see of this species show greener more horizontal leaves. Perhaps the growth is the plant's response to high light??

[estación seca]

Carter & Holmes has them now.

[Dollythehun]

And, Carter and Holmes has them again today! What a sweet little plant and a mini! It sounds like they grow under Tolumnia care.