Help Starting Corybas Geminigibbus

[Dalton]

Hey, everyone.

I recently ordered some orchids off of ebay. They all came from the same place, so after the first one, shipping was really low. I threw out a bid on an orchid they had marked as "Very Rare Terrarium Orchid". I liked the flower and threw out a low bid. That's how I got my (2) 'Corybas Geminigibbus' tubers.

I don't know what to do with them now. This board is one of the only sources of info I've found. I also asked a local orchid guy who has a huge collection. He gave me a little info, but acted like I'd made a mistake and he was just going to keep it to himself.

I was hoping someone had some culture tips for me on these guys. Basically, they came in a small vial with a piece of tissue packed into the bottom. I don't know if it was supposed to be damp, but it wasn't on arrival. There are two little peppercorns in there that are supposed to be tubers.

I see a lot of people wanting to water once and then seal them up tight. I know it keeps the humidity high, but the orchid guy I talked to said that it would kill them off. He said to put them on top of sphagnum moss and keep it moist. He said the moss would provide the humidity. I could chop some up and lightly bury it when it started growing.

I've also read another case where someone said it was similar to Sarracenia. I actually have some of these and some other carnivorous plants. I'm having good luck with them in the sphagnum peat and sand mix set in trays of water.

I also have a plastic blueberry container with slots cut in the top and bottom. I figured I could put some aquarium gravel or some of the seramis I ordered in the bottom 1" or so and then put chopped LFS on top. I'll drop a tuber on top of this and keep it damp. I think I should leave the top open till it starts growing, then close it up. That way, it won't get too damp while it's dormant.

As for the other, I figured I could take one of the little 1.5-2" pots I have and put some of the peat/sand/perlite mixture in it. Then make a ring of chopped LFS around the edge and drop the other tuber on top. Once it starts showing growth, I can cover it lightly with chopped LFS. I'll water from below with a tray. It'll just be open to my room.

My room, where both will be, is lower light throughout, but has bright areas near a west and south facing windows. Most of my plants are clustered around one of the windows and under a 6500k CFL.

Again, I know zilch about this plant. I've never had a terrestrial orchid before. If anyone can help me out with this and poke holes in my plan I'd appreciate it. I figure on growing them inside unless I end up with extra tubers to experiment with.

I'd really like for them to succeed, but I don't have much money into them, so I won't be completely devastated if they fail. Thanks for the help.

[Orchid Whisperer]

The only information I could find was from Black Jungle Terrarium Supply: Corybas geminigibbus (set of 2 tubors)

---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------

Plant in link sort of looks like Audrey (in Little Shop of Horrors)

[Dalton]

I haven't seen that movie in a long time. Not sure I ever watched it all the way through.

I did find BlackJungleTerrarium and ordered some N. Lady Luck while I was there. They state at the bottom of that info sheet that they really don't know anything about it and they won't be responsible if it dies. It's almost funny. You know, if I wasn't try to grow one. )

[estación seca]

You might figure it out, now that you have them.

The big take-home is never to order any plant unless you know how to grow it, and you think you can give it what it wants.

The second big take-home point is that orchids are like children and rodents: the smaller they are, the more careful you have to be to keep them alive. "Miniature" means very special growth requirements. "Ultra-mini" means Run away at top speed.

The third take-home is that montane tropical rain forest is the summer climate on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, or the cloud forests of Mexico and Central America. Very cool, very wet, very humid and very good air circulation.

From the photos, the plant is growing on top of fallen leaf litter among moss that is also growing on top of the leaf litter. The habitat is going to be very shady and very cool, probably not much over 75 F / 24C by day, and usually in the 40s F / 5C at night. The plants are always moist but have excellent aeration at the roots. I don't know whether they have a dry season or are moist all year. I would have to look up detailed information on the weather there.

This is why people suggested putting it into loose, moist sphagnum moss. This comes close to duplicating the moist, aerated substrate in habitat.

A good place to begin looking up plants is the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia.

IOSPE PHOTOS

[AnonYMouse]

Naoki posted his a few weeks back. I think he went to Redlands so it may take a bit for him to respond directly. Meanwhile, visit his blog, Orchid Borealis for his experience.

[Dalton]

Thanks guys. I'll check out those links.

[orchidsarefun]

I've just got a couple. Any updates on keeping these alive longer term?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

I've just got a couple. Any updates on keeping these alive longer term?

They're pretty "easy" for a tuberous terrestrial orchid. With that said, they're still an intermediate to advanced species of orchid to grow. (I'm aware you've done this for a while, but others lurking may or may not be at this level. I didn't want to mislead people with my previous statement.)

Put it in a small clear container with no ventilation, then add a little bit of moist moss just enough to cover the tuberoids and place it in intermediate to warm temperatures under bright shade.

Don't worry about condensation on the sides of the container. Leave it alone during growing season. During dormancy, dry out most of the condensation and leave only a minimal amount so the orchids' tuberoids don't desiccate.

They are spring/summer growing. Winter dormant.

They grow slow vegetatively. These produce only 1 - 2 daughter tuberoids per season from what I've seen so far. If this changes in the future, I could let you know if you wanted to know.

These are fungus gnat pollinated.

Hand pollination is too difficult because of the placement of the column and stigmatic opening, as well as flower size. If you want to try your hand at it, go for it. It is probably easier to utilize several fungus gnats for this purpose.

Blooming season is towards very late spring to early summer.