Anyone growing Laelia lundii?

[rbarata]

It will be my next purchase...in a few hours.
My main concern is low humidity. What's your experience?

[rbarata]

Here it is, 19 €:

[Dollythehun]

I have no experience but, that is a nice looking plant. As per usual, you picked well. Good luck rbarata.

[Roberta]

I grow it outside, mounted with no moss. So not only does it not object to drying out, it requires it.

[rbarata]

I will put it right next to my Laelia harpophylla.

Roberta, what is your watering scheme?

Lundii grows in two distinct habitats. Orchidwiz says:

This species is found primarily in the states of São Paulo and Paraná, but the habitat extends for a short distance into southern Minas Gerais. Plants usually grow in drier inland areas far from the coast. They are generally found on forest trees along small rivers in shaded, humid habitats. In Minas Gerais, however, where plants are less common, they grow in very bright conditions on small trees on rocky hills or sometimes even on the rocks themselves. Near Piracicaba, plants grow at 1650–1950 ft. (500–600 m). -- Source: Charles Baker

So, it seems they like a somewhat humid environment.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Roberta, what is your watering scheme?

Mine get daily heavy misting all year around, serious watering daily in summer, every 2 or 3 days in winter (along with the rest of the mounted plants on my patio) So regular watering in the early morning, like all the mounted plants, but they're dry within two hours. Would they be happier with more humidity? Probably. They would probably like to be warmer in winter too. But they get what they get, and growth and flowering are respectable if not spectacular.

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[rbarata]

I can't put it outside...too cold in winter and too hot/dry in summer.

One more question...what about light? I've put it in a south window, plenty of light but indirect. Tomorrow I'll measure it with my phone...not very accurate but I can compare it with the measurements results that my Laelia millery is getting.

[Roberta]

The light that works for your other Catts should be fine - I grow it quite bright, gets direct outdoor morning sun, a bit of shading as the day progresses. It is certainly not fragile.

[matos]

Hi,

I grow Laelia lundii. I have just one plant, it is mounted in pieces of xaxim (dont know how it is called in english, but it is the fern tree from the genus Dicksonia) and sphagnum moss, in a clay pot. It is not always wet, actually it is very dry in the most, although the weather here is almost wet all the time (not because of raining, just the natural air humidity). I wouldnt say it is a species that need a great humidity to thrive. I see many of them beeing cultivated moulted in wood only, with no moss or something to keep it wetter. I think it goes as any other cattleya related; moisture with ventilation. Mine is cultivated in the garden with only filtrated light, some weeks the weather is very dry, I water it when it becomes that dry, but never mind to keep it always wetter than other cattleya related plants. Actually, since my L. lundii is in a smaller pot it gets dryer than my other cattleya related, but it is doing really great. I see no pseudobulb shrinking.

I think the best think to do is cultivate it as you do for any other cattleya related species, it do fits into the general needings, and with time you gonna figure out if it needs a little more humidity, or light, or so in your cultivation setup.

I gona try to upload some photos of it latter.

Hope I've helped and wishes it goes great with you.

[rbarata]

I believe our friend Matos in his post is using the technique I've mentioned bellow (posted it without noticing his post).

Ok, thank you.
Looking for some vids, I've found one that uses this technique to preserve high humidity around the plant:

1 - Mount the plant on a piece of xaxim (don't know the english name, photo bellow). Coconut fiber can be used also.



2 - Put everything inside a plastic pot filled with a mix of small stones for drainage and sphagnum. Note that the plant cannot be inside the medium but almost touching it.

When the xaxim get wet from watering, it dries from the top, so the bottom and the sphagnum in the pot dries slower, keeping the humidity high around the plant.

Something tells me I'll try this as this technique was developed by a well know brazilian orchid enthusiast.

Video bellow (in portuguese, sorry, watch between 1:40 - 2:20)