2 Disa uniflora

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John M

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These 2 have come into bloom out of season. They should be summer bloomers; but, it is nice to see them now. Growing in 4" clay pots. They are thoroughly watered every 2 days. I do not stand them in a puddle. I prefer to water often and keep the mix flushed out and well oxygenated. I really LOVE Disas!

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These are very nice John. Very nice. One day I will try these again.
Can you provide your cultural details?
 
Gorgeous! We have Wally Orchard speaking on them next year! Super excited.
 
Thanks for your nice comments everyone!

These are very nice John. Very nice. One day I will try these again. Can you provide your cultural details?

Mike, I normally use just rain water or R.O. water. In the summer, when everything needs watering so much more often, I may run out of both; so, I use water from a nearby stream to thoroughly soak and flush the pots, followed by a much smaller amount of rain or R.O. to wash out leftover stream water residue. What minerals are left behind don't seem to do any damage. I don't get many brown leaf tips.

To be happy, Disas must have lots of air movement. It helps cool the foliage via evaporation and if you use clay pots like me, the increased evaporation from the sides of the pot also cools the root zone too. I never have trouble with heat stress in the summer; but, my plants get tons of air movement and heavy, daily watering. Of course, all that air means that the mix must be wet at all times so that the roots can constantly meet the water needs of the foliage. A Disa will NOT survive going completely dry, not even just once.

Also, Disas need good, strong light. They like about 50% shade in summer and full sun in winter. If the winter days are very short and/or there are a lot of cloudy days, supplemental light works miracles in keeping the Disas happy and growing. Although, they slow down quite a bit, they do not stop growing in the winter, unless there is not enough light. If that happens, odds are that the plants will stess and decline and then just give up and rot. LOTS of air movement and strong light is critical in the winter, as well as in the summer. Of course, summer days are long; but, the winter days need to be short; but, the light intensity needs to be strong. They do well in a greenhouse in the winter in areas where the skies are clear and bright. Otherwise it's best to grow them with supplemental lights. If using fluorescents, put the plants very close to the bulbs (about ~6" away)....but you can run the lights for only 8 or 9 hours a day.

I use plain water (rain or R.O.) from about October though January, during the time of short days. If there are a decent number of bright days; or if they're growing with artificial lights, a very light feeding could be done about once a month. Then as the days grow longer and there are more clear, sunny days, I begin foliar feeding with a spray of complete hydroponic fertilizer about twice a month; but without Calcium Nitrate....Disas seem to get plenty calcium over the summer from the occasions when I use the stream water. I spray the plants with fertilizer solution after they are watered. The next few months (Spring), is when most plants will put on the bulk of their annual growth and in the case of BS plants, they will begin to develop flower spikes. During this time, I water often, feed about once a week (weakly), give tons of air movement and bright light. When the buds are beginning to colour up, I stop feeding entirely. Even if they have not begun to spike or bud/bloom yet, I still stop feeding in late June (high summer), no matter what. Plus, when I stop the feeding, I thoroughly flush the pots with lots and lots of clear water to wash out all nutrient residue from the root zone.

The plants must be starved when the days are longest and brightest to make them switch gears and begin making starch and storing it in newly forming tubers. Towards the end of blooming the new tubers should be sending up new growth......poking up through the potting mix. When you see that, you can resume feeding again; but, not agressively....maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks until October, which is when you stop feeding again.

My mix is made up of 1 part peat moss, 1 part perlite (with the dust and fines filtered out), 1 part small CHC and 2 parts chopped, white, absorbent florist's foam. This is not the green "Oasis" foam bricks. This is a stiff foam that is often used in brick form (wrapped in plastic), to make free standing funeral arrangements (large, floral crosses, etc.). Florist supply companies sell it in bulk and I guess a florist could sell you some out of their stock. They use it to fill clear glass vases as a means to hold up top heavy flower stems; but, being pure white, it looks good, too. They use the cheaper, ugly, green florist foam in opaque vases because nobody is going to see what's inside anyway. This stiff, white florist foam, in it's chopped up form, is hard like perlite; but, the water flows through it and allows air back inside. The result is a nice mix of water retention and air invasion, which keeps the Disa roots very happy. If you can't find this chopped foam, you can use a large grade of perlite (sponge rock). Basically, I started using this foam as a spong rock replacement. It serves the same purpose and like sponge rock, it does not break down.

Temperatures in my greenhouse go down to about 55*F at night and up to 80*F during the sunny days. In my basement where I grow them under lights too, temps are about 60*F at night and not much higher during the day.

Ozpaph, you could easily grow these in a basement room if you used clay pots and stood them in trays with 1/4" of water at all times.....with good air movement 24/7 blowing on the plants and pots, increasing the cooling effect as water evaporated from the foliage and the sides of the pots. Also of course, you'd need good, strong artificial lights. I use 4 eight foot fluorescent tubes over a table 2' wide and 8' long and I have the foliage about 6" away from the lights. Watch that flower spikes don't grow up into the lights and touch them. As plants come into flower, you need to move them to a bright spot with more head room.

Also, don't get the flowers wet. Wet flowers quickly succumb to black spotting. Even high humidity without enough brisk air movement can cause black spotting and mouldy pollen, which ruins the look of the flowers. I like to bring the blooming plants up to the house while they're in bloom because I can still keep a close eye on their watering needs; but, the humidity in the house is not going to cause spotting.

....And finally, keep in mind that bright light intensifies the colour. A brightly coloured flower will slowly lose the intensity and begin to look washed out if it's moved to a shady spot. If it's moved back to bright light, the colour intensity will return.
 
Thanks John. That's excellent information......though we don't have basements in Australia (well certainly not within 1000 miles of here) so I'd have no hope of keeping the plants under 80F unless they sat in front of an airconditioner.

Grow them and post the flowers so we can all enjoy them!
 
Wow John, theses are fantastic ! Thank you for all the details about your culture.
I tried my hand at Disa ( hybrids from France) this year and I have a few clumps growing very well under lights in my cold room (they were outside in the summer), hope to see some blooms soon!
Do you have any other species aside from D. uniflora?
 
Thank you John. Couldn't ask for more! I think mu biggest hurdle would be keeping it cool enough in summer. When it's really hot, you can't escape the heat. I don't have air con. I don't like it. Both house and G/H have evap cooling. Rain water is no problem.
They have been grown well in Melbourne area so it is possible....
Beautiful plants!
 

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