Papilionanthe (Vanda) teres 'A-doribil'

[estación seca]

This came to me from Bill Thoms of bulbophyllums.com in October 2020.



In the background is my Ponderosa lemon tree, in flower now.

I set the 3 foot/1meter bare-root stick upright on the concrete slab in my sunroom, leaning against a window. It gets a good soaking by being sprayed with my mineral-laden tap water every morning before the sun hits it. Not many plants of any kind can tolerate that amount of heat and sun.

The flowers are about 3.5"/8.9cm across and 3.25"/8.25cm tall. They're supposed to be lightly fragrant. I haven't noticed that yet.





Unfortunately I just found out Bill has retired from orchid selling. His plants went to Krull-Smith, which does not have them listed yet. He still has his Bulbophyllums book available on bulbophyllums.com. I highly recommend it to anybody wanting to grow Bulbophyllums.

[jcec1]

Wow huge flowers, I'd love to be able to grow these but my windowsills aren't big enough neither is it sunny enough.

[estación seca]

I was worried I couldn't give it enough sun, but the few hours of direct Arizona winter sun through the window were enough. I can't put something like this outside. It's either too cold, too hot or the humidity is far too low. If I were growing with lights I would put the plant between two long LED arrays set vertically.

A few years ago I talked to a local Florida vendor at the Tamiami show. They sold Renanthera and terete Vanda species and hybrids. In addition to potted plants, they had for sale stack after stack of various tip cuttings, wisely cut to lengths that just fit into wheel-on overhead bin luggage. Each had roots sprouting all up and down the cuttings. I don't recall the price but it was much less than I've paid for a lot of other orchids.

They told me they are no-fuss full sun landscape plants in southern Florida. They said they require at least 4 hours of direct sun each day to flower, and 6 hours or more per day is better.

They said they tell people in Florida to just plant the bottom of the cutting in the garden, in soil, and water it heavily. They said it would not rot, but would root and grow. (Florida soil is almost entirely sand.)

They told me I could put the bottom of the cutting into a pot with garden soil, bark, whatever I wanted, but heavy watering was key. I asked about just standing them upright and spraying every day. They said that would work.

I took home a Renanthera hyrid and a terete hybrid. They did well bare-root until they were eaten by rats. A big reason I want to go back to the Tamiami show is to get more of these cuttings.

So when I visited bulbophyllums.com last fall and saw this offered, I jumped. I'm glad I did.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Oooooh. (big eyes)

I just spent my birthday stipend on plants already but I see I now have one more for the “need” list

[estación seca]

I'll see whether I can dig out the name of the vendor at the Tamiami show.

Edit: I wrote to Bart Motes. He thinks it was probably B. L. Orchids.

[DeaC]

Super bloom. I saw 'A-doribil' and immediately thought BT. Sorry he's leaving the business.

[SADE2020]

Hermosa!!!! Love 💕 the color...

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by SADE2020

Hermosa!!!! Love 💕 the color...

You could grow it outside most of the year.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I was worried I couldn't give it enough sun, but the few hours of direct Arizona winter sun through the window were enough. I can't put something like this outside. It's either too cold, too hot or the humidity is far too low. If I were growing with lights I would put the plant between two long LED arrays set vertically.

A few years ago I talked to a local Florida vendor at the Tamiami show. They sold Renanthera and terete Vanda species and hybrids. In addition to potted plants, they had for sale stack after stack of various tip cuttings, wisely cut to lengths that just fit into wheel-on overhead bin luggage. Each had roots sprouting all up and down the cuttings. I don't recall the price but it was much less than I've paid for a lot of other orchids.

They told me they are no-fuss full sun landscape plants in southern Florida. They said they require at least 4 hours of direct sun each day to flower, and 6 hours or more per day is better.

They said they tell people in Florida to just plant the bottom of the cutting in the garden, in soil, and water it heavily. They said it would not rot, but would root and grow. (Florida soil is almost entirely sand.)

They told me I could put the bottom of the cutting into a pot with garden soil, bark, whatever I wanted, but heavy watering was key. I asked about just standing them upright and spraying every day. They said that would work.

I took home a Renanthera hyrid and a terete hybrid. They did well bare-root until they were eaten by rats. A big reason I want to go back to the Tamiami show is to get more of these cuttings.

So when I visited bulbophyllums.com last fall and saw this offered, I jumped. I'm glad I did.

you are correct but no one is telling the people of florida this!!

i see so many Paps on the trunks of palm trees and they are huge sprawling messes of awesome with nary a flower in sight.


they need to me in the SUN!

the key, for me, was the trick i was taugh of lashing the cutting to a stick with 8-10 inches below the cutting. stick it into the ground juuuust above the soil and then the roots will explore and find their way into whatever they want.

they are awesome on frangipani bc they are leafless so much LOL

[SFLguy]

It’s a beautiful Ple. teres, if I’m not mistaken, it recently got an AM/AOS added on to the name 👍