Angraecum Lemforde White Beauty cultural advice needed

[smweaver]

Okay, I couldn't resist purchasing a hybrid earlier today that I found for sale: Angraecum Lemforde White Beauty. I know that it's a primary hybrid of Ang. sesquipedale x magdalenae (or is it the other way around?). But since sesquipedale likes warm temperatures and magdalenae's a highland plant that enjoys a cool and dry winter rest, I'm at a loss for what kind of temperature range this hybrid will appreciate at night. For now I have it spending the night with the Idas, where it's going to get rather cool (last night the minimum temp recorded on the thermometer in that area was just under 54 F). If it would be better to place it in the same area with my sesquipedale (where the minimum night temp doesn't fall below 64 C), by all means will someone please let me know so that I don't turn the poor thing into an ice cube?! Any additional cultural advice/wisdom not relating to temperatures will also, of course, be much appreciated. Also, does anyone know how tall this hybrid needs to get before it will be likely to flower? Thank you!

Steve

[cneos]

First of all, don't shock it ... what temps was the plant getting and for how long before you bought it? - ask the vendor/person from whom you bought the plant...

Our greenhouse is run in the cool to intermediate temp range (average 60 night - 80 day). Our angraecoids get bright, filtered light (they're under the vandae); mounted ones get daily watering / fogging; potted plants watered every week to 10 days depending on season.

I've seen Lemford White Beauty in flower on plants that are only 6 to 8" tall for sale at the GNYOS show.

The big no-no on angraecum is DO NOT DISTURB ITS ROOTS.

[smweaver]

It came from Oak Hill Gardens (the tag in the pot is one of theirs). The plant is around eight inches tall (not including the pot), and since it's solidly established in its pot, I had no intentions of repotting it (learned long ago about the Angraecum resentment of root disturbance, so I'm very careful about that aspect of their culture--or try to be). Nice dark green leaves on it, with a lot of powdery material that makes the leaves look almost glaucous in appearance. I've got it growing beside my Ang. sesquipedale right now, where it gets lots of sunlight in the morning hours. I'll give it a little less light until it becomes acclimated to the high light levels that the sesquipedale is grown in (five to six hours of direct sun per day right now). Thank you for your response.

[Norden]

Can you tell me more about Ang. sesquipedale?

I finally decided to up my orchid game and go for an Ang. sesquipedale. I have grow lights I plan to use on it, and I am not sure how to give it the humidity it needs. Glad to read in the posts that they do not like repotting. Also was glad to read about the nighttime temperatures, as I could not find more information in my books about the range for these.

[Kevinator]

I actually have a clone of lemforde and I can say that it grows healthily but the leaves come out horizontally pleated. I repotted mine a year ago and it still kept on growing and even put out a flower! It can tolerate more light than sesquipedale but is more prone to sunburn if you exceed its limit. It is also more temperature tolerant than sesquipedale as mine handled average night temperatures of 56 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter (recommended minimum temp for sesquipedale is 60). Mine was 6 inches tall when I bought it three years ago in bloom.

[AussieVanda]

Google Angraecum blogspot, very good info on angraecum's, good write up of lemford white as well.

---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 PM ----------

I'm an Angraecoid beginner BTW. I've gone the repot it when I get it mantra. If I can't see the roots then I have a tendancy to doubt the condition they may be in. Has paid off. All of mine are potted in oversized vanda square plastic slatted pots into a mixture of volcanic rock, charcoal and polysterene.

---------- Post added at 04:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------

I've gone oversize so they can grow into it and hopefully never be repotted again.

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by Norden

Can you tell me more about Ang. sesquipedale?

I finally decided to up my orchid game and go for an Ang. sesquipedale. I have grow lights I plan to use on it, and I am not sure how to give it the humidity it needs. Glad to read in the posts that they do not like repotting. Also was glad to read about the nighttime temperatures, as I could not find more information in my books about the range for these.

Sesquipedale, in my experience, is a pretty tolerant species. In spite of the standard boilerplate about it supposedly not like being repotted, I've never had a problem with either of my two plants sulking after a repot. I think the trick is to make sure that it's actively growing, which for me means that the plants usually get repotted in the early spring when I see new roots being initiated.

In its habitat the species may grow year round thanks to fairly uniformly warm/hot conditions in coastal Madagascar. But my plants have to make due with being in an intermediate-to-cool sunroom during the winter, so they sort of undergo a forced semi-dormancy (they flower fine during the winter, but that's about it as far as noticeable activity goes).

During the warm months they go outdoors, and they absolutely LOVE high humidity, heat, lots of water and sunshine, taking full morning sun from about 7 AM until noon, when they're protected for the rest of the day by an overhead pergola (which still lets in maybe 60 to 70% of sunlight). I can see lots of root and leaf growth from spring through fall, and the plants consistently produce multiple spikes every winter. The only drawback is that they have wide leaf spans and take up a lot of room horizontally (which is probably not a problem if you live in a year-round warm weather climate), and to me the flowers don't smell particularly nice. They don't stink, but the scent is nothing like magdalenae's, eburneum's, or that of Lemforde (which thankfully inherited magdalenae's fragrance and not sesquipedale's).

Good luck with your plant.

Steve

[Norden]

smweaver, thanks for the detailed write up. My Ang. sesquipedale is finishing off its bloom, so once spring hits and warmer temperatures (hopefully sooner than later in Ohio), I will repot in hopes of new growth. So far, I have really enjoyed its difference compared to my other orchids.

[Dulcinea]

Hello! I purchased a good (blooming) size os this plant five years ago. I grow it outside in my “summer house” with part shade Mat through part of September. After some nights of 40° temps I got my orchids inside again. They’re all in my “orchid house” under natural ligh from the south and light fixtures above. The temp is set for 55° night, 65° days. If it’s sunny it gets much warmer. I usually water this plant once a week. Until recently the only bud it ever had died immature way down in the Lea. I repotted it about nine months ago into a clay pot with large holes. It’s planted high in the pot with about 1” of roots exposed. It’s now in bloom! I don’t even know what I did to get it to bloom. It’s under high light inside.

Please lead me in the right direction by telling me how you bloom these plants.

[Dulcinea]

What is the best potting medium for Angraecum Lemford White Beauty?