Presenting in my thread:
The ‘Dove Orchid’, ‘Holy Ghost Orchid’ or Peristeria elata. This orchid is native to South America from Panama, through Ecuador all the way to Colombia….this can be found growing near the edge of hardwood forests, as these hardwood forest trees lose their leaves in the fall, the Peristerias are exposed to full sun throughout the dry, cool winter. I read that having good, bright light during the rest period is especially beneficial to flowering. This is the national flower of Panama and a protected endangered species. So...NEVER purchase orchid specimens taken from the "wild"….
When the plant is in active growth in the warm months, I water liberally and feed it weakly weekly fertilizer outdoors on my fire escape. The emerging new keikis grow very rapidly during this time. Peristerias need an orchid mix that will drain freely, but enjoy a tight fit in their pot. A mix that allows stagnating at the roots will be quite a problem. Use a mix that will allow you to water at least four to five times a week in the heat of summer, supplying fresh water to the roots on a steady flow. I have repotted this last spring on a ten inches tall by 12 inches diameter porcelain pot on medium bark mix, lava rock, coco chips, sponge rock, charcoal and tree fern shards.
I give this plant intermediate to warm temps but on winter days in the mid-70s and nights never below 60F. And maintain at least 50% or higher in the humidifier with attached oscillating fan. In the warm summer months this is outside in direct sunlight from dawn to 11am then it is shaded by the neighboring buildings and then gets direct sun by 4pm to dusk. In the winter it is placed on the south facing bay window getting even longer daylight than in summer.
The roots are hairy like a Paphiopedilum but elata needs moisture at all times except in winter rest yet be careful: overwatering can cause several problems such as root rot and infectious bacteria/fungus in the potting medium even if like to maintain pseudo bulbs to be plump, round, and full; if they start shriveling during winter rest=I spray it a bit….I try to mimic the dry season by waiting it to dry in between watering for the rest period. I wait until the flowers are spent and the mature leaves fall or else I start winter rest from the end of November through mid to late January.
Flowering season is usually late spring so I don’t know why this flowered early for me. I was worried about the dirty dark sandy spotting of the outer petals but I looked at the pictures of this flower and they all have that dirty black sandblastings outside of the flowers including the stems. The spikes can reach up to nearly 3 feet in height(mine is only 2 feet but my longest leaf is 4 feet and my longest bulb is eight inches=this can be a dauntingly large plant) with up to 27 wonderful thick waxy white flowers with a dove inside that has purple spots on its tail (on the flower lip). The flowers are long lasting (2-3 months) and are extremely fragrant like a heady classy expensive designer perfume bottle.
I got this specimen plant from an orchid farm in Connecticut three years ago….other species of Peristeria include a beautiful bright red species, Peristeria guttata. There are more or less 22 species in this genus but all of them are quite rare in cultivation. The few plants I found that are for sale on the internet are quite expensive since like my orchid plant=it is in the list of endangered species.
Peristeria elata (Dove Orchid)
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