Disa vendors in US?

[Black_Cat_Carnivores]

I can't seem to get his email from his page. It keeps coming up with an error. Could you either pm or email it to me please ?

[naoki]

Hmmm, the link at the bottom of the page is the email contact I use. I contacted him in Sept 2014, and the email address worked. But I sent you an email.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I'm ordering from Dr. Heinrich Beyrle in Germany. He has Disa sagittalis and Disa bracteata available.

Be forewarned that Disa bracteata can naturalize in a semi-arid desert type habitat, so do not let them set seed. This is by far the easiest Disa you can ever grow. It is the one and only Disa I've been able to successfully grow through dormancy without a problem, and I am currently waiting for it to sprout.

Disa sagittalis is not nearly as difficult to grow as either Disa tripetaloides, Disa aurata, or Disa uniflora, but they are not as easy to grow as Disa bracteata would be.

Out of Disa tripetaloides, Disa aurata, and Disa uniflora, I've found Disa uniflora to be far easier to bloom.

Disa tripetaloides is easier to grow than Disa aurata is, and both grow better vegetatively than Disa uniflora does.

All other Disas are extremely tricky to grow.

These have been my experiences, if you have any questions, you can ask.

If any of you guys are interested in ordering either Disa bracteata or Disa sagittalis, pm me.

Please be committed if and when you order your plants.

[Subrosa]

Phillip do you have any experience with D. fragrans or thodei?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Disa thodei, yes, but very limited.

Disa fragrans, no.

Disa thodei I haven't figured out yet, but I imagine they are not terribly difficult. They don't like it wet, but they don't like it dry, it's somewhere in between. The bulb is rather large, and they sprout all over the bulb. The bulb is more like a potato than any of the other Disas, just because of the multiple shoots that can come out of just 1 good sized bulb. They have a tendency to be strongly deciduous by nature, in other words, their seasonal cyclical clock is spot on, there is no ambiguity about it. If you're getting some from the southern hemisphere, you will have an incredibly difficult time trying to acclimate these to a northern hemisphere seasonal cycle. These are purely summer growing.

How are you getting a hold of Disa thodei? This isn't even out on the market yet. I grew them from seed. Only the strong seedlings with good roots and a big bulb can survive, all others are shaky. Like many other terrestrial orchids, roots are not plentiful. I've only seen no more than 3 roots per bulb and that is a pretty generous number.

Disa fragrans I imagine would be similar to Disa thodei. Again, these are not really out on the market, the only way to do this is from seed. I haven't had the opportunity to even get seedlings yet.

For now, if you're out for a sure fire success, I wouldn't really try these out yet, a lot of this is uncharted territory. There is a lot of room for failure, so if you don't mind having to rack your brain to find a viable long-term solution to grow these beauties, then the only way to reliably source tons of these is through seeds. And trust me, you will be going through tons of these to figure it out.

---------- Post added at 06:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:51 AM ----------

Btw, Disa cardinalis is growable, but they are a bit touchy. You see, they like it a bit warmer than Disa tripetaloides, Disa aurata, and Disa uniflora do. But they don't like to dry out, just as the other streamsides don't like to dry out.

I would actually grow Disa cardinalis indoors rather than outdoors.

[Subrosa]

I'm getting seed myself. I plan on an outdoor set up where I can control moisture completely, and which will provide a bit of thermal protection from my zone 6 winters.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

From what I understand, they can handle a light frost, I wouldn't subject them to that though. So, yeah, a protected site is not a bad idea.

Just a fyi, they need to be flasked, do not just sprinkle seeds on soil hoping that it'll work, because I guarantee it won't.

Grow in moderately bright indirect light. Do not grow in full sun, they will burn. They are not subjected to that in the wild.

---------- Post added at 06:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 AM ----------

If you're either a pro or enlisting a pro to help you flask, then they shouldn't be as difficult to flask as some of the other deciduous Disas are. They are still extremely difficult to flask, but they aren't nearly as tough to sow as some of the more exotic ones are. Keep in mind, I'm speaking in relative terms here - again, I'm by no means saying they're easy to sow.

[Subrosa]

I was debating whether to send them out for flasking. Guess this settles it.

[Coldgrower]

Subrosa, may I ask your seed source for the Disas? I am finding D. thodei so far evergreen and very easy, like the streamside disa (unless the seed I got was not what it was stated as). you can see a picture of the D. thodei on the deflasking Disa thread.

[Subrosa]

Silverhill