Jewel Ludisia discolor

[Rosim_in_BR]

Ludisia discolor is maybe the most well-known of the so called jewel orchids. The leaves are very attractive, but so are the strange white flowers. You hardly recongnize an orchid there! This species grows well here, like a weed!

[Lisa]

I think they are extreamly beautiful but I sure haven't had much luck with mine... I know I am doing something wrong but haven't figured it out. She is in a fine bark mixture now and subdued lighting. Is there a secret? She has two long stringy stems and sparse small leaves.

[greenbean]

Great shots of the flowers, Muaro! I think they are underappreciated, even though the leaves ARE my favorite feature of jewel orchids.

Lisa, I have one in sphagnum moss in an eastern window, on the side with the screen. It gets around 3000 f.c. (briefly around 5000 on summer mornings) and probably 2000 (maybe up to 3000) f.c. on bright winter days (in western Washington winters, "bright" is relative...and rare). The cutting was just getting well established and started to grow when I had to leave for college. I went home for a weekend a couple weeks later, and found the moss bone dry, yet the ludisia showed no signs of stress and a brandnew, fully grown, gorgeous leaf.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that these orchids are pretty resilient. How much light does yours get, Lisa? Try holding a piece of white paper about a foot behind (relative to light source) your ludisia. If there is a fuzzy shadow, there should be just enough light for it to grow. Repeat a few times throughout the day to get an idea of how the light fluctuates. Yours may not be getting adequate light. I was going to say that bark probably doesn't stay moist enough for ludisias, but then I remembered that my parents let the sphag my ludisia is growing in dry to a crisp while I was away. Besides, it sounds like a light issue to me.

[Lisa]

Thanks so much for your suggestions... maybe I need to re plant into sphag and increase the light a bit. I was told or read where they don't like sunlight but need a shady area. Mine is with about 100 paphs and phals, under lights, but in a place where the light is minimal. I will play mad scientist and see what happens.

[greenbean]

Sphag may or may not be a good option for you. I'm used to sphag, so I've learned how to handle it. Some people love it, others hate it. Still, if your current conditions aren't making it happy, it can't hurt too much to try something else.

Still, I think it might be the light. Go ahead and play "mad scientist" ( ) and move it around a bit. When something doesn't work, you try something else!

[Nic100]

I bought this same orchid just this weekend. It's looking good right now, but it's obviously been in some optimum conditions. It's potted in standard potting soil at the moment but I've been advised to try it in a shallow pot with pumice and a layer of sphagnum (see thread '2 new orchid additions...') - sorry I'd post a link but that's a bit beyond my capabilities before I've had my morning coffee!

I'll confess I bought it for the foliage, which I think is really beautiful. It makes a really lovely contrast to the sea of green I've got going on at the moment!

[RosieC]

Cool pics Mauro.

I was tempted by one of these a while back and now I wish I had got it.

[camille1585]

Great photo Mauro!Although I really do love the leaves, i'm impatient for mine to bloom!
Ethan, bark does work for these. I work mine as a rooted cutting from a friend, and it's potted up in a mixture of small bark, perlite and hydroton. Does great, and it usually stays a bit dry. Mine is also is bright indirect light, sitting with the phals.

[Rosim_in_BR]

Originally Posted by Lisa

I think they are extreamly beautiful but I sure haven't had much luck with mine... I know I am doing something wrong but haven't figured it out. She is in a fine bark mixture now and subdued lighting. Is there a secret? She has two long stringy stems and sparse small leaves.

As Yvan says, you most likely have light issues, Lisa. I have two pots (divisions of the same plant), one on the bench, receiving less light, and the other (the one in the photo) hanging together the cattleyas. Both are in clay pots and sphagnum. The one on the bench receiving less light has noticeably more difficulty to developed than that hanging.

[Lisa]

Thanks everyone! This weekend I will try a change for her and hope I hit the right spot... I would love to have her fill out and get bigger.