Dracula Saulii only grows 2inches leaves...

[Julien]

Hi there,
I have been struggling to keep two Dracula Saulii alive after a bacterial/fungus attack. After installing then in a paludarium they now seem healthy and are sprouting new leaves here and there but the leaves seem to stay rather short (about 2 inches long) and I have no idea what I should modify to make them healthier.

Their living conditions are:
Temp: 22°C/72F (night temp tbd),
Rh:74%
Light: 2800 Lux, 10-12 hours/day (IKEA LED made for plant growth)
potting: sphagnum moss
watered by RO with 200ppm of Orchid focus growth (water them with a copper watering can to avoid any more fungal/bacterial contamination)

any tip would be welcome !!

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

I am not familiar with this species, and my usual research sources have very little about it - like no elevation data. It is possible that your paludarium is a little bit warmer than would be ideal for a higher-elevation species (which many Draculas are) the 22 deg C should be fine as a high temperature, but ideal night temperature should probably be around 15 deg C, or even a bit lower. I did find a photo of the flower - it is wonderful! So I do hope that this will grow and flower for you.

[Julien]

Thanks for your answer,
it is listed as "intermediate-cool" by the seller so I guess 70F is ok.
One thing I was wondering is how loose should the sphagnum moss be? Because here the medium is loose but not to the point of having air mouvement in it (as I have read somewhere that draculas like...).
I will keep an eye on the night temperature though

[Roberta]

I grow my Draculas in plastic baskets (net pots) with sphagnum fairly loose. Draculas do need to be grown in net pots/baskets, since the flowers tend to come from the bottom or sides. With the high humidity in the paludarium, mounted should work also.