Spathoglottis plicata alba

[pheli]

Originally Posted by sparkle orchids

Hi pheli,
Saw your picture of plicata alba. That's actually a Spa. tomentosa alba because of the lip. Are you from Taiwan? are there any other spath species in Taiwan?

Hi, I am from Taiwan. There is only one wild spa. found in this island. It is just Spa. plicata!
We have some species and crosses available here. But I seldom grow them.

[pheli]

Originally Posted by Mike O'C

Pheli I have not had much success with Spathoglottis plicata so I do not agree that it is "hardy" Maybe our winters are too cold. Sometimes goes down to 0C with occasional frost on the coldest winter nights but days stay around 20C (except yesterday went to 7C). I have only grown them in a pot both in full sun and in my greenhouse and they die just as quickly. Am I doing something wrong?

Most of the evergreen spa. dislike low temp. 10C is the lowest they can tolerate. These evergreen spa. are usually native to the humid areas of the world, so it is slight difficult to grow if your outdoor growing area is too dry for them.
Temp. is important of all. Sometimes, the cold front hit in winter( low than 10C), the plant would also wither here in my outdoor growing area.

[Mike O'C]

Originally Posted by sparkle orchids

Mike,
A common mistake with growing spathoglottis is overfeeding. They're extremely salt intolerant. Dont fertilize at all until it is fully rooted and even then use only Nutricote because its gentler.

Thanks S.O. for that bit of advice. Am a bit mean when it comes to feeding my orchids and don't do it too often so I do not think that that is why my Spathoglottis died off. Spoke to a friend in Durban today where it is warmer (Pheli suggested in a post that I read but cannot find now that the temperature here is at times too low) and he said that even in Durban where it gets hot and humid he struggles with Spathoglottis. So I don't know.