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There is a wholesale sobralia nursery in California.
Oz Gardens, or ozgardens.com
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Sobralia callosa
 

Helloo Brett,

I realize that your post was from a while back, but I am curious to know whether you were you successful with the two plants of S. callosa? Are you still growning either of them?

I ask because on two occasions I've tried a plant of this particular Sobralia species and managed to kill both of them. S. decora, on the other hand, grew successfully & well for me for years...

Now I've decided to try S. callosa again and am hoping for better luck.

With that in mind I am wondering whther you might share what you are doing to succeed with the S. callosas. Food - watering - medium???

Any suggestion would be welcomed as I think this Costarrican species produces the neatest little hot-pink flowers and I'd really like to succeed with it this time.

Regards & TIA . . .

Paul Mitchell
Tampa, FL / Alajuela, Costa Rica
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I grow them in sphagnum moss and styrofoam. They like to me moist, but not wet most of the time. I fertilise them at 1/2 strength of a normal flower and grow type fertiliser.

I do find that you are better to get larger divisions. Small divisions are much harder to re-establish. They resent being divided very much.

More on Sobralia callosa . . .
 

Hello again Brett. I hope you will bear with me as I ask a couple more questions here.

Just so I properly understand the potting medium you mentioned when you wrote sphahgmum moss and styrofoam — is the styrofoam like those 'styro packing peanuts' or is it smaller pieces, or perhaps those tiny styro pearls? And the sphagnum, is long fibers, or chopped fibers, or maybe milled sphagnum? Of course the size of the styrofoam, etc. would be dependent on the size of the pot, and since S. callosa only gets so tall I cannot imagine putting it into any larger than a 4- or 5-inch pot... And because it won't want to dry out, then plastic should be better than using clay pots, yes?

And is this same mix something that you use for any other Sobralia species?

My little plant is not a division, but you make a sensible suggestion about a larger division being easier to get established. I was always told by one local grower that it's best to just keep repotting your Sobralia into larger pots without dividing until it eventually grows far apart enough in the pot that it will more naturally separate into two pieces the next time it is repotted, causing minimal trauma to the roots.

My new plant is a potted & established seedling S. callosa from a Hawaiian orchid nursery and it is in a 3-inch pot right now and won't need to be moved up right away. The plant itself is overall about 8.5-inches tall with maybe a dozen canes/stems and several new growths just starting. It arrived potted in small seedling bark. I'll leave it in that mix and let it get really well established before I repot it later on trying not to disturb the root ball unless there is some reason to wash off any of the bark that has broken down.

(The plant itself of this species, with its glossy, ribbed & dark green, narrow, leathery leaves somehow manages to suggest to me that it is a sort of miniature artificial interior accent plant.)

Aside from your waterining and medium suggestions, where do you keep your S. callosa plants? Indoors / outside? Much shade or higher light? How humid an environment to they seem to want?

OK — TIA (again)

Regards,

Paul Mitchell
Tampa, FL / Alajuela, Costa Rica
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