Ludisia discolor

[RenéeS]

Thank you Ross! I am very scared putting them in pure Sphagnum, they are in normal soil at te moment and absolutely flourishing in it.. The problem with the soil now is that it stays wet/moist very long and I'm afraid of rot. But sphag on the other hand, dries out too fast here. I was actually thinking about mixing some bark, sphag and soil and potting them in that.

What other kinds of jewels do you grow?? I have Macodes petola and an Anoectochilus roxburgiana, which went home with my mom today because it's not doing so well here while hers are doing great. They must be more susceptible to the cold nights here. Got the idea that Macodes and Ludisia can handle alot more .

Ross I am quite jealous of the fact you have a tank you can grow yours in

[Blueszz]

Reneé, mine grows in a shallow terra cotta pot (more a bowl), about 20 cm wide. The terra cotta helps to dry the medium faster. Even with a bowl that is so wide I need to water every week...
I mixed some perlite, with bark and cocosoil and it does very well... Normal room temps in NL but at night a bit colder than average I think (as low as 15 C).

Nicole

[Nic100]

Nicole, what's cocosoil??

Out of curiosity, once it's done flowering do you just cut the spikes back. Mine has 3 new shoots which I assume it will spike from (fingers crossed) next time.

Lucky it's pretty because still no fragrance!!

[RenéeS]

Nicole, thanks for your reply . Where do you get that mix from? I've not frown in anything other then bark/sphag or soil for the jewels, but very willing to try when others have had succes with their way of growing. Here the night temp is 10-12 degrees (yikes) and I'm very scared for my orchids at times but they seem to handle it well!

Nic100: When done flowering I do cut the spikes off, I leave about 2-3 centimetres on the spike. Goodluck with the new shoots!

[Nic100]

Thanks for the advice, Renée!

[Ross]

Originally Posted by RenéeS

What other kinds of jewels do you grow?? I have Macodes petola and an Anoectochilus roxburgiana, which went home with my mom today because it's not doing so well here while hers are doing great. They must be more susceptible to the cold nights here. Got the idea that Macodes and Ludisia can handle alot more .

Ross I am quite jealous of the fact you have a tank you can grow yours in

Here's a picture of mine right after I got them a couple years ago They are much larger and range over the bottom of the tank now. I grow in sphagnum because of the constant wetness. Soil would be a mistake for my situation. If yours is continually moist, that's good. They like that. Here's a picture of one in bloom This one is also much larger now and has multiple stalks and multiple spikes each year.

[Blueszz]

Cocosoil... it's like powdered cocohusk chips. I found it a year ago at Action but never seen this year. They have a website: Wat is Coco-Potgrond...
I never heard of this product before but I really like it, also for other plants. It's not fertilized and when you handle it you don't get those ugly black hands

I just mixed it with the bark and perlite. A while ago a bought a huge bag of perlite in a grow shop/head shop. Made my own mix. If you can't find perlite I always can ship something to you. It's very light weight! I have a 70 liter bag, a live time suply LOL

Rosie, after they are done flowering you can cut the spikes back, just like you would do with Oncidiums. The new growths are the ones that will flower next year.

Nicole

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Blueszz

Rosie, after they are done flowering you can cut the spikes back, just like you would do with Oncidiums. The new growths are the ones that will flower next year.

Thanks Nicole, the spikes have extended but not opened yet. Like other people have said, these are great for the foliage though, so while I'm excited about getting flowers I'm loving them just how they are.

[Nic100]

Originally Posted by Blueszz

Cocosoil... it's like powdered cocohusk chips. I found it a year ago at Action but never seen this year. They have a website: Wat is Coco-Potgrond...
I never heard of this product before but I really like it, also for other plants. It's not fertilized and when you handle it you don't get those ugly black hands

I just mixed it with the bark and perlite. A while ago a bought a huge bag of perlite in a grow shop/head shop. Made my own mix. If you can't find perlite I always can ship something to you.

Thanks Nicole - I've seen perlite quite a lot, but never cocosoil - I'll check out the website!

[calvin_orchidL]

If there is a single orchid in my collection that suffers the most abuse, it's this one. I've had it in African violet soil for about 4 years, I water it randomly when I remember to (ie either once a week, or once a MONTH) and for some mysterious reason, it never complains at all. I've left it outside until first frost by accident one year (these are apparently tropical) and it looked pretty sad, but sprung back within a month (and the good part of that story is that the cold killed every single last scale that was infesting this guy!)

I think the danger of this one could be over-caring...plop it somewhere mildly shady but not totally dark. You're right in that the soil can stay wet for long periods of time...so just water less frequently When I remember to water mine, the soil (on top at least) is bone dry, although I suspect it's still slightly moist on the bottom.

PS - cocosoil/coire is a much more environmentally sound product compared to regular 'potting soil' you buy at the nursery, which is in fact PEAT (aka the dead parts of sphagnum underneath the live stuff in sphagnum bogs). Harvesting of peat is not really an environmentally friendly process, and basically any soil you buy in a store is peat. Try it and let us know how it works!