Encyclia alata - Orchid Board

smweaver · #1 07-01-2011, 10:28 AM

Good strong fragrance, although the plant gets to be rather large and doesn't seem to enjoy the cool winter conditions it's required to put up with in my growing area.

Steve

Encyclia alata | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Encyclia alata | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Encyclia alata | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

abigaillevans · #2 07-01-2011, 10:37 AM

That's beautiful! Good job

zxyqu · #3 07-01-2011, 10:44 AM

That's a great job growing. How big is your plant to get such great spikes. I usually only get a single, and it gets a bit annoying seeing the better spiking!

tuvoc · #4 07-01-2011, 10:53 AM

Wow. Well done.

Kim

smweaver · #5 07-01-2011, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zxyqu

That's a great job growing. How big is your plant to get such great spikes. I usually only get a single, and it gets a bit annoying seeing the better spiking!

Hello. Mature leaves are around 24 to 32 inches long and 1.5" wide, on a mature pseudobulb that's maybe 5" tall and 3" wide, and spikes can get up to around 3' to 5' tall (all of which is why it requires more real estate than I'd like to give it).

I grow it warm-to-hot in the summer, with lots of indirect light (maybe a few hours of direct sunlight in the early morning hours). It also gets watered and fertilized heavily in the growing season. Winters are much more dry, but that's just because I have to keep it in with species that require fairly cool winter nights and I want to reduce the chance of rotting it.