Terrestrial orchids

[Tracy]

This Bletilla striata "Yokohama" was recommended to me as a good easy to grow terrestrial orchid to try.  I was able to see a nice bed of them in bloom so will try in a partially shaded spot.  I will be reporting back on this in the future but if you have any terrestrial orchids you are having success with or had problems with growing, share your experience.

[Tracy]

I elected for a moderately shady position in the garden for the Bletilla striata "Yokohama", under the shade of Pritchardia in the raised planter and an adjacent Dypsis heteromorpha.  I didn't do anything to the soil to amend it, just dug a hole in the sandy soil, put the plant in it and backfilled with the native soil.  Experiment #1.

[Tracy]

Experiment #2 involved extracting a 2" potted Dendrobium speciosum ssp grandiflora which had started to root into the potting soil of a potted tree where I had been keeping it most of this last year.  I then cut open the plastic container carefully to minimize any root trauma.  Final step was to dig out some sandy soil, backfill the hole with orchid bark and then plant the Dendrobium and backfill between the bark with a little bit of my sandy soil.  It is on a slight slope, so should get good drainage.  This is a mostly sunny spot, with some filtered light at certain points of the day which varies by season.

[Silas_Sancona]

15 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Experiment #2 involved extracting a 2" potted Dendrobium speciosum ssp grandiflora which had started to root into the potting soil of a potted tree where I had been keeping it most of this last year.  I then cut open the plastic container carefully to minimize any root trauma.  Final step was to dig out some sandy soil, backfill the hole with orchid bark and then plant the Dendrobium and backfill between the bark with a little bit of my sandy soil.  It is on a slight slope, so should get good drainage.  This is a mostly sunny spot, with some filtered light at certain points of the day which varies by season.

Interesting.. Does this Dendro. grow terrestrially?  Thought D. speciosum ( and friends ) were considered Lithophytes.  Was thinking of using Lava Pot Rock/ weathered Limestone/ Holey Rock when i resurrect my collection of these again.

[Gonzer]

Keep us posted on the progress of the Dendrobium. I love experiments like this.

[Tracy]

On 3/5/2021 at 9:31 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Interesting.. Does this Dendro. grow terrestrially?  Thought D. speciosum ( and friends ) were considered Lithophytes.  Was thinking of using Lava Pot Rock/ weathered Limestone/ Holey Rock when i resurrect my collection of these again.

The answer is yes, they are considered to be Lithophytes.  I was going to move another one that is in a plastic pot sitting on bark covered soil and realized it was rooted into both the bark and soil below.  This ssp grandifolia I am experimenting with had rooted into the potting soil of the pot I had set it into as well, which was what prompted me to try it.  I also ran the concept by a friend with far more orchid knowledge than I have and he said it could work if I used a lot of bark.  This one is in a lot of bark, on a slope and it has the rock below it to send out roots on if it likes.  So we shall see.  The growth medium isn't much different than what all my other potted D. speciosum are in so I'm quite hopeful.

[epiphyte]

One thing about Bletilla is that it grows easily from seed on NZ Sphagnum in a zip lock bag...

It's the seedling on the right next to an Aloe seedling.  I sow different seeds in a pot to hedge my bets that at least something will germinate.  

Reed-stem Epidendrum seeds germinate just as easily using the same method.  I'm curious if the same is true of Sobralias, Spathoglottis and Vanillas but haven't managed to find any seeds to experiment with.  

Regarding your Dendrobium speciosum experiment, generally it seems like the roots don't do so well when the bark starts breaking down and turning into soil.  Cymbidums and Reed-Stems are far more tolerant of broken down medium.  Loran Whitelock had a D. speciosum growing on a rock, I think it was volcanic...

[Stevetoad]

Mine like strong filtered light. The ones I have in shade arnt doing nearly as well. 

[Tracy]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:27 AM, epiphyte said:

Regarding your Dendrobium speciosum experiment, generally it seems like the roots don't do so well when the bark starts breaking down and turning into soil.  Cymbidums and Reed-Stems are far more tolerant of broken down medium.  Loran Whitelock had a D. speciosum growing on a rock, I think it was volcanic...

Thanks for the advice Carlos.  When I sent a picture to Gene, he said, you better not show that one to Carlos.....  The good news is that the rock on the downhill side extends under most of the bark, so I'm hoping that the roots eventually start attaching to it as well and it grows onto the rock.  I have this little Dendrobium below mounted to a piece of wood that I propped up on arock adjacent to this faux rock fountain.  It has been there for a couple of years and last year I noticed that it had attached to the fountain and was growing up the side, so I know how Dendrobium's are good lithophytes.

 

14 hours ago, Stevetoad said:

Mine like strong filtered light. The ones I have in shade arnt doing nearly as well. 

Steve thanks for that advice. Mine should get good am light before getting filtered mid-day and pm shade.  If it doesn't do well there, I'll move it to a sunnier spot.  I've even thought about getting another and trying it in a little more exposed spot.  Yours are beautiful specimens!

[msporty]

Anyone (Tracy?) have any experience with Eulophia petersii in the ground? I’ve been dividing clumps in pots for years and I was going to try some in the ground this Spring. I’m out of town, otherwise I’d post a few pictures...

 

Clearly the prefer winter-dry conditions but Cyphostemma and other winter dormant plants seem to adapt to SoCal winters without much issue. 
 

This thread has motivated me to try my Dendrobium speciosum in the ground too! Thanks for all the photos everyone. 

[Silas_Sancona]

31 minutes ago, msporty said:

Anyone (Tracy?) have any experience with Eulophia petersii in the ground? I’ve been dividing clumps in pots for years and I was going to try some in the ground this Spring. I’m out of town, otherwise I’d post a few pictures...

 

Clearly the prefer winter-dry conditions but Cyphostemma and other winter dormant plants seem to adapt to SoCal winters without much issue. 
 

This thread has motivated me to try my Dendrobium speciosum in the ground too! Thanks for all the photos everyone. 

If you're going to try E. petersii in the ground, plant it in lots of gravel, ..no clay, bark, or humus/peat.. Pref. of Volcanic or Granite origin ( likes somewhat acidic conditions, grows on sandy soil atop Granite Domes in habitat ) Agree, don't see why it would not do well in the ground  in S. Cal if grown in the right soil..  Think there are other sp. ( much harder to track down, even seed though ) that will tolerate more typical soil conditions. Those should be more commonly grown.

[tropicbreeze]

I have Habenaria rumphii, Habenaria halata, Geodorum densiflorum, Empusa habenarina, Nervilia holochila growing native on my place. They come out in the wet season and then die back to tubers in the dry season.

But I also have Eulophia graminea which is an out of control introduced weed spreading like wildfire. It seems impossible to control and forms dense thickets. The only way to kill it is to throw it on the fire pile. You have to make sure you get every bit of root and tuber out otherwise it comes straight back.

[greysrigging]

2 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

I have Habenaria rumphii, Habenaria halata, Geodorum densiflorum, Empusa habenarina, Nervilia holochila growing native on my place. They come out in the wet season and then die back to tubers in the dry season.

But I also have Eulophia graminea which is an out of control introduced weed spreading like wildfire. It seems impossible to control and forms dense thickets. The only way to kill it is to throw it on the fire pile. You have to make sure you get every bit of root and tuber out otherwise it comes straight back.

Dreadfull weed in Darwin, seems to be spread by the 'jungle mulch' sold from the local dumps..... strangely enough, before I knew what it was, I dug it up from my sons place and potted it up in good potting mix, and cultivated it....never really liked it although it did flower and set seed. Now disappeared naturally.....go figure ? Every gardener in Darwin is over run with stuff, and I couldn't grow it ? I reckon its not fussed on shady sparse palm root ridden soils and in competition with all the hundreds of of other plants in my suburban jungle garden.
Keeps reapperaring at my sons place...you have to remove every single bulb, bulblet and root, then bin and burn !
But not at my place.... refuses to grow....haha.

 

[tropicbreeze]

2 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Dreadfull weed in Darwin, seems to be spread by the 'jungle mulch' sold from the local dumps..... strangely enough, before I knew what it was, I dug it up from my sons place and potted it up in good potting mix, and cultivated it....never really liked it although it did flower and set seed. Now disappeared naturally.....go figure ? Every gardener in Darwin is over run with stuff, and I couldn't grow it ? I reckon its not fussed on shady sparse palm root ridden soils and in competition with all the hundreds of of other plants in my suburban jungle garden.
Keeps reapperaring at my sons place...you have to remove every single bulb, bulblet and root, then bin and burn !
But not at my place.... refuses to grow....haha.

It loves mulch, but like most orchids the seed is very fine and blown about by the wind. The bush chooks pick up the seed on their legs and spread it as well. It comes up a lot where they've been active. You only need one tiny seed to germinate and by end of season you have a big clump growing with hundreds of flowers and millions of seeds being scattered. If you have sprinklers on them during the dry season that'll rot them out. They need a very dry dry season.

The Geodorum likes similar conditions and is doing well. Never grows in the watered gardens, needs the same seasonal dryness. The Habenaria are not quite swamp plants but do like it very wet. They responded well to the very wet start to this season. The Empusa like swamp but with a good canopy cover and shade. The Nervilia can spend a bit of time inundated following high rain events but like the water to get away. They also seem to like a bit of canopy to keep most of the direct sun off of them.

The only cultivated terrestrials I have here are Spathoglottis in a few colours.

 

[Tracy]

On 3/6/2021 at 2:30 AM, Gonzer said:

Keep us posted on the progress of the Dendrobium. I love experiments like this.

 

On 3/5/2021 at 9:31 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Interesting.. Does this Dendro. grow terrestrially?  Thought D. speciosum ( and friends ) were considered Lithophytes.  Was thinking of using Lava Pot Rock/ weathered Limestone/ Holey Rock when i resurrect my collection of these again.

Not quite a year later and I just noticed this Dendrobium speciosum ssp grandiflora has two new growth points on it.  Nathan, you are accurate that these are typically growing as Lithophytes.  The adjacent rocks actually run underneath this, with a shallow layer of bark mixed with a planting soil which has run down and mixed with the bark, so I'm trying to simulate a dirt pocket on a rock.  Thus far it has also avoided being run over by the dogs or dug up by the puppy.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed as the new growth continues to emerge. The experiment continues.

[Silas_Sancona]

13 minutes ago, Tracy said:

 

Not quite a year later and I just noticed this Dendrobium speciosum ssp grandiflora has two new growth points on it.  Nathan, you are accurate that these are typically growing as Lithophytes.  The adjacent rocks actually run underneath this, with a shallow layer of bark mixed with a planting soil which has run down and mixed with the bark, so I'm trying to simulate a dirt pocket on a rock.  Thus far it has also avoided being run over by the dogs or dug up by the puppy.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed as the new growth continues to emerge. The experiment continues.

Nice.. May be trialing a couple of these /  kinganum on rocks myself under the Olive out front next fall  ..after i have a good idea of how dense the shade beneath it is through the summer, and how good the coverage from the sprinklers will be, esp. once i get them fixed / re-oriented.

[realarch]

Some Phaius tankervillae, (I think), nuns cap orchid. Common plant, but beautiful none the less. 

Tim

[Silas_Sancona]

13 minutes ago, realarch said:

Some Phaius tankervillae, (I think), nuns cap orchid. Common plant, but beautiful none the less. 

Tim

Yep, P. tankervillae.  Have thought about trialing these in a pot, in shade here also.

[Cindy Adair]

I am enjoying this topic. Thanks to all!

My Phaius hybrid is just opening up.

There’s a rhinoceros beetle or tarantula hole at the base but so far the plant looks fine so I am not attacking the critter who made the hole…