Dracula houtteana

[bcub30]

I have read on several sites that dracs can be grown sitting in a small pan of water. Has anyone tried this? I have the above stated Drac and seem to be watering on a daily basis! Would it be worth trying the hydroponic mehtod? I was told not to worry about overwatering the drac by the vendor. He said it wasnt possable. It is in a 6 inch net pot with NZ sphag.

Thanks Scott

[Phantasm]

Draculas need to be grown cool and moist. If you dry it out, it will die. They also can suffer much less light than most other plants. I have grown them at the lowest level in my greenhouse, hanging from my bottom shelfs and they grew and bloomed great even in the summer.

The problem with keeping them in a pan of water or s/h is that the bloom spikes are pendent and burrow down to the bottom of the basket. You probably won't get any flowers if you do that. You can throughly soak them in a saucer then take them out......

The flowers are rather fragile and cannot handle much heat or dry conditions. Keep it humid with some air.....

[jive turkey]

It is possible to rot Dracula roots, I do it all the time

I don't completely agree with Phantasm on the s/h part. I don't think it would be difficult to intercept a some spikes before they go down or gently pull the spikes out of the leca. I would think that some will make their way out of the leca too. But then again, I have never tried it.

I suppose you could grow your plant in a saucer if you wanted to try it. I would think the roots would rot unless there was very little water in the saucer otherwise it would be like a bog plant.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by jive turkey

It is possible to rot Dracula roots, I do it all the time

I don't completely agree with Phantasm on the s/h part. I don't think it would be difficult to intercept a some spikes before they go down or gently pull the spikes out of the leca. I would think that some will make their way out of the leca too. But then again, I have never tried it.

I suppose you could grow your plant in a saucer if you wanted to try it. I would think the roots would rot unless there was very little water in the saucer otherwise it would be like a bog plant.

The problem with manipulating the spikes is that they are pretty stiff and will break easily. You could try it and see if it works, but generally the spikes dive directly down and it might be a challenge. Possibly you could save a few and train them horizontally, but in my opinion you won't be seeing very many flowers. The plants get good size quickly and spotting a bunch of spikes before they get into the mix is almost impossible unless you pick at them daily.