Sedirea (Aerides)

[Kaschmitz]

Can anyone give care advise on this orchid.

[camille1585]

Sedirea japonica is considered a Phal now!

They can be treated the same as a Phal as their needs are rather similar. There are a few minor differences. They should be allowed to dry out more between waterings (or use a chunkier mix) as they are prone to rot if grown too wet.

They are generally considered to be tolerant of a wider range of temperatures than Phals, and can take a lot more cool/cold than a Phal can. I know shome people that keep them outside say that they can go to near freezing at night with no issues. While they'll do fine in the same light as Phals, Sedirea japonica can also tolerate slightly higher light as well.

My experience with it is that while it's very Phal like in culture, it has been less forgiving (for me, in my conditions, with a potted plant) when I don't get the watering/moisture just right.

[Roberta]

I grow it mounted, outside all year in coastal southern California - so winter overnight lows around 40 deg F/4 deg C pretty routinely, occasionally lower. (Winter days usually at least 65 deg F/18 deg C so it gets to warm up a bit.) Watered daily but being mounted, dries very quickly. So for me, and my watering regimen, more forgiving than a "traditional" Phal.

[Diane56Victor]

I can't claim to be any kind of expert but I can endorse Camille's recommendations on watering.

I recently bought 2 very small Sedirea japonica, one has really round leaves, the other longer thinner leaves.

I have just repotted the round leaf plant slightly higher into bark with a shallow base of spag moss as I found that being fully potting into spag moss and being a little low in the media it was staying far too wet, and this resulted in a leaf falling off.
Thankfully the roots seemed very healthy so hopefully it will push on now.

The other plant seems to dry very well, but I will repot it in the spring. I might just mount both as Roberta mentions her plants grow well mounted.

Given that difference in drying times and the leaf differences Im not sure if both are the same plants, time will tell.

[Shadeflower]

Dianne, the sedirea is really quite adaptable, that is one of the great things about it, you can grow it warm, you can grow it in intermediate conditions and in winter it can even handle cold.
Same with how it is grown. It will do great mounted or potted. Just be aware that if you mount it you cannot leave it to go on holiday or it will dry out too much and suffer more than if you pot it. I know my plants - I'd say all of them would do best mounted but there is no way I could keep up watering them all.

The good thing about the sedirea is that it will grow well in many conditions so does not need to be mounted like others that might but if you can provide constant dry wet cycles they do like that best it seems.