Project 2017: Rupicolous Laelias

[Salixx]

I spent a lot of the week hemming and hawing, but I am going to settle on Laelia colnagoi and hope for the best.



I have found very little information on this plant, unfortunately, even for geographic information. It does hail from Brazil, but I am having trouble finding more detailed information. I purchased it from Cschaz on Ebay at the beginning of May. Culture information was limited to bright light and good air circulation.

My own culture is as follows:

Summer (June to ~September):

• Temp: 50-85F, occasionally into 90's. Possible lows in the high 40's as well.
• HR: 40-90%
• Light: Outdoors, eastern side of building. Direct sun from ~6:30am to 1:30pm, shade for the remainder of the day.
• Watering: 2-3 times per week with rain or R/O water once the media has dried. Fertilize with MSU once per week at 1/4-1/8 tsp/gal.

Predicted Winter Conditions (September to May)

• Temp: 58F-80F
• HR: 35-65%
• Light: Southern window, ~36''X48'', direct sun from dawn until around noon (enough to purple B. nodosa). Alternatively, I may make a light rack for the rupies and grow under LED.
• Watering: 1-2X per week, will fertilize if it remains in active growth through the winter. If not, no ferts.

Seller repotted into Kiwi bark last year, I haven't decided yet if I am going to put in into small LECA (hydroballs) like my other rupies, yet.

[orion141]

Looks great salixx!

[Salixx]

Thanks orion!

We've had quite a few scattered showers lately and a few down-pours, so I opted to put it in hydroballs since they dry out better than the kiwi bark and also are better aerated than the kiwi bark.

I also wanted to mention that cschaz has a few plants up on ebay that are BIN with free shipping. Three are $25-35 and there's also a three plant "starter pack" (my words, not his) for $50. I have purchased several plants from this seller and they have all been in great condition. He also has pictures of the actual plant you are buying.

For anyone interested who hasn't gotten a plant yet, it's worth checking out:
cschaz | eBay

[Cheddarbob14]

Great stuff Salixx, thanks for the info

[SaraJean]

Ok my first ever laelias came in! I am clueless about how to grow these, I actually only have one cattleya. The two I settled on were the laelia gloedeniana and a rupics cross laelia impanema beach. They are both far more yellow than I am used to seeing on an orchid but I am assuming, based on the color, that these were given some pretty high light. The hybrid is in a bark mix that I will leave and it has a 2 semi mature new growths. The l. gloedeniana has 3 new growths that are just starting out and is in some sort of sandy mixture. I was thinking about changing the sandy potting mix out for some rocks. I have some leca pellets and lava rock laying around but I'm concerned those might hold too much moisture. Maybe mix in some granite pieces? I will post next with the specifics on my climate but it's hot, humid and very wet so I want something quick drying

The first two pics are of the gloedeniana, with the fist one being a little closer to the true color. Also the purple on the leaves, anyone know it this is normal? There are three new growth but one of them looks a bit crunched

[Cheddarbob14]

Just an fyi, my blooming size that I bought at SVO was in all "normal" medium, the 2 smaller seedlings had the sphagnum ball in the middle of them.

[estación seca]

I would leave both those plants in the current pots, and consider repotting next year. Fred Clarke's plants arrive in Kiwi Bark that is in excellent shape. The other one is just making new growth, and has plenty of room in the current pot. I am surprised how fast mine dry out here, even in spring. I think these plants use a lot of water when in growth.

The bright yellow leaves and red spots (anthocyanin pigments) are signs the plants were grown with proper light. Refer back to those photos from time to time and compare the plants to them. In NO you are quite far south, so full sun all day long is probably not a good idea. If I lived in Michigan I would gradually move them into more and more sun all the time until they looked like that. I think they might eventually like full sun all day long in Michigan.

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I would leave both those plants in the current pots, and consider repotting next year. Fred Clarke's plants arrive in Kiwi Bark that is in excellent shape. The other one is just making new growth, and has plenty of room in the current pot. I am surprised how fast mine dry out here, even in spring. I think these plants use a lot of water when in growth.

I want to definitly leave the smaller one in same pot (that one came from Andys). The potting mix is whats throwing me off. It's something that I have not used before so I'm completely lost as to how to grow an orchid in this. It feels almost like my succulent mix. But, no time like the present to learn, I guess!

Originally Posted by estación seca

The bright yellow leaves and red spots (anthocyanin pigments) are signs the plants were grown with proper light. Refer back to those photos from time to time and compare the plants to them. In NO you are quite far south, so full sun all day long is probably not a good idea.

So maybe a happy medium between my dens and vandas? Again, next to no experience with cattleya types over here. Going to attempt not to burn these. That's good to know about the color though! Thank you

[JFeathersmith]

I am excited to see this as the project! So excited I ordered two plants from Miranda Orchids, a Laelia endsfeldzii and a longipes (aka lucasiana). The endsfeldzii was referred to as an "easy grower." Here's hoping!

Here is info I put together from Cattleya Source, ISOPE, and some weather/climate pages.

Laelia longipes (lucasiana)

Temps:

Highs (avg): 70-78F
Lows (avg): 52-62F

Record highs can hit upper 90s; record lows typically to near freezing (with a record of 1 F in 2017).

Cool to cold growing (IOSPE). Cool to intermediate (Cattleya Source).

Light: Bright; some grow in full sun at 1,955 meters (IOSPE).

Water: Lots of water for several months, tapering off to a dry winter rest and then tapering back up after the rest.

In its native area, there are several inches of rain per month for 5 months (Nov-March), and nearly dry conditions in the middle of the year (Jun-Aug, <1 inch rain per month). Months in between get 4 or less inches/month. Needs a dry winter rest.

Fertilizer: Haven't found anything on this yet.

Other: Grow Laelia longipes like other rupicolous laelias in an inorganic potting mix (Cattleya Source).

Laelia endsfeldzii

Temps:

Highs (avg): 70-77F
Lows (avg): 54-64F

Record highs in upper 90s to 100; record lows to near freezing (with 1 record of 1 F, apparently!!).

Warm to cool growing (IOSPE). Cool to intermediate (Cattleya Source).

HR:
63-78%

Light: Bright

Water: Lots of water for several months, tapering off to a dry winter rest and then tapering up again after the rest.

In its native area, there are several inches of rain per month for 5 months (Nov-March), and nearly dry conditions in the middle of the year (Jun-Aug, <1 inch rain per month). Needs a "long dry winter rest with occasional mistings."

Fertilizer: I haven't found anything to fill in here yet.

Other: "Grow like other rupicolous laelias" which means inorganic potting material (Cattleya Source). Well drained mix (IOSPE).

References (both species):

Laelia longipes - Cattleya Source
IOSPE PHOTOS
Records and Averages
Climate in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Laelia endsfeldzii - Cattleya Source
http://www.orchidspecies.com/laeliaensfeldzii.htm
http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/rec...-44.660?iso=BR

My conditions:

I'm currently growing in an apartment in Portland, Oregon, on/near windows. Temps inside in the summer sometimes get to the low 80s (I do not have air conditioning) but are mostly in the low to mid 70s, and I rarely let it get below 64 in the winter. I've got space on a nice south-facing window, so light should not be a problem. Humidity is mostly going to be lower than they'd get in the wild, though sometimes it's up around 60 in here.

HOWEVER, I'm working on moving to Central Oregon in the near future, which is much more arid, but I should get somewhat brighter light there, what with it not being constantly rainy for several months out of the year. I'm probably buying a humidifier when I get there because I have a lot of orchids and other tropicals already and while I've gotten by in Portland without one, I don't feel so good about doing that in the "desert." (And I know, I have no business buying more plants right now buuuuuut these are small, it won't be tricky to move them.)

[estación seca]

Many rupicolous Laelias get brighter sun all day long than do many Vandas, and live in areas very much hotter. (Not all of them!) I keep moving mine into more light until they start to show a little burning.

---------- Post added at 05:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:58 PM ----------

Be careful reading about "average highs." Average temperatures are useless for a gardener.

Does this mean the average of all high temperatures for one whole year? This is harmful information because it will mislead you. Summers are consistently warmer than winters, and the plant needs this swing. Every day in the summer these plants see much higher temperatures than 75 F.

The information needed is the typical day and night temperature range throughout the year, as well as the lowest and highest temperatures recorded. With this you can see what they expect, and the extremes they can tolerate.