Purchase pleione orchids in the USA?

[tanlu]

Hi everyone,

I recently discovered this unique and amazing species and I would like to try to grow them! I'm in New York and most of the websites I've seen are UK based. The American websites I've found sell them at a high price.

Does anyone know of some US vendors selling these plants at reasonable prices?

I read they are easy to care for, but most people don't have greenhouses, so I'm wondering if that applies to us apartment dwellers as well.

T

[gnathaniel]

Hi tanlu, I don't grow any Pleiones but I would like to. I've heard that Hana Farms is a good source for them, though their website seems to have disappeared, maybe someone else has a contact # or email. I think Marni Turkel has a number of species, her website is Marni Turkel / Stony Point Ceramic Design and she sells on ebay under the name mostlyspecies.

I can't tell you much about culture since I don't grow them, but I think some of our UK members have a lot of experience. Charles and Margaret Baker covered the genus in one of their excellent species culture books and you can also buy their individual culture sheets at Orchid Culture -- Charles and Margaret Baker.

Good luck, let us know what you find!

--Nat

[tanlu]

Thanks for those links. I actually just ended up taking my chances on Ebay and purchased two pleione maculata bulbs for $8. That's the gamble one has to take when shopping on a budget. I just hope they arrive healthy, and they should have leaves on them by now.

Does anyone know how long their flowers last? I'm assuming a few weeks?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Pleiones are cool growers. You'd need a cool house not a greenhouse.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Pleione maculata is one of the intermediate growing species.

[tanlu]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Pleione maculata is one of the intermediate growing species.

Thanks for the info Phillip. I got one coming in the mail now! Sounds like you have success growing them. Would you say they're easier to grow than other orchids?

Are there special conditions needed to get them to flower? When they bloom how long does the flower last?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Never grown them.

Asked around about them so many times, it's ridiculous, and all I get is I'm too warm to grow a good majority of them.

They are terrestrial orchids.

Depending on where Pleione maculata comes from, it may like lots of calcium.

If it's from China, the place is chock full of limestone mountains.

If it's from Thailand, it's also loaded with limestone hills and forests.

Either way, limestone or calcium might be involved.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I just found some photos of them in the wild...

Pleione maculata | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

That's limestone that colony is sitting on, with leaf litter and some dried reeds, along with some organic debris.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Here's Pleione formosana in situ:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1349/...d7c97f0a42.jpg

Same thing. Limestone bedrock, with leaf litter, dried grass, and organic debris.

Come to think of it, it grows like a Cymbidium except with limestone.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Just got a Pleione formosana.

I'll tell you how it goes.

It's supposed to be one of the species I can grow.