Isabelia (Neolauchea) virginalis - Orchid Board

leslie123 · #1 11-04-2018, 11:01 PM

I got this Isabelia virginalis yesterday. I've wanted one for years, since I saw it on Andy's site, but kept putting it off. But yesterday they had one at the Seattle orchid sale, and once it was in my greedy little hands, there was no putting it down. If it grows well but never blooms I will still be happy - look at the netting on those little pseduobulbs! Isn't it cool!

From what I've read, I need to keep this drier but humid in the winter. I consider this autumn, so do I keep it watered now? Any culture suggestions? Now that I have it, I really don't want to kill it! If I mist it in the morning but it dries out in a few hours, is that sufficient? It'll be growing on a plant stand indoors, humidity 41-56. Should I put it in a terrarium for higher humidity?

Roberta · #2 11-04-2018, 11:58 PM

You really can't overwater a mounted plant. One of the things I have noticed in many trips to Andy's nursery (I help out at all the open houses so I'm there several times a year) is that he really doesn't worry about drying out in winter. I expect that when it's cold and things don't dry out as fast that the frequency of watering is reduced, and probably reduced more (especially in the areas that are exposed to the outside air) if cold is expected, but everything within an area gets watered the same. Mounted plants dry out quickly so that doesn't seem to be much of an issue. (With something like 700,000 plants or more, there's not a lot of individual handling and they're grouped mostly by temperature requirements)