A photo of C. arietinum in situ

[cnycharles]

Hello again,
I'd be interested in trying a few, there are ways to help keep soil temps cool in the summer indoors, and the rest of the time it is work to keep the temps up to 65˚! The plants that I've seen in NY so far grow in pine duff and moss underneath evergreens on top of limestone. The ones in Vermont were in a regular woodland setting though the soil base was likely more standard acidic like what is down south (not so much limestone bedrock underneath).

 

[TheLorax]

Are you considering growing C. arietinum inside year round? If so, I don't believe you will enjoy much success. That plant is going to need a dormancy.

 

[cnycharles]

I wouldn't be growing inside year round unless I did go the route of putting it in the refrigerator, or enclosing in wire screen mesh and placing 'in ground' outdoors somewhere for the winter. I know of people in the area that take grass pink corms out of the pot and put in the refrigerator, though I'm not sure I would want to go quite that route with a cyp.

 

[kentuckiense]

I hate to be a downer, but the idea of pot culturing arietinum terrifies me.

 

[cnycharles]

hey, if someone can successfully grow acaule in a pot using vinegar water, then anything is possible! i'm sure it's difficult...

 

[TheLorax]

Umm, I'm using vinegar water on my newly planted C. acaule that I have in a raised bed outside.

I found this online while looking for information on pot culturing orchids that might be of interest to others-
http://www.ladyslipper.com/cyppot.htm

 

[kentuckiense]

hey, if someone can successfully grow acaule in a pot using vinegar water, then anything is possible! i'm sure it's difficult...

Yeah, but you can walk into any pine-dominated woods in the eastern USA and find acaule.

 

[cnycharles]

yes, that just goes to show that we really should leave them where they are happy and want to grow, and go there to enjoy them. I have no desire to try and grow acaule in a pot, or even in a planting bed. there are many spots around here where I can just go outside and see them. I don't have a burning desire to grow areitinum in a pot either, but it would likely be the first step in getting it to size and then finding a proper spot outdoors and planting it there. after all, it's only in flower for maybe three weeks and then there is very little to look at. I think there are spots in ny where ram's head used to be before logging and disturbance but now many of those spots haven't been used and could likely have orchids back there again. I'd like to do some work with a friend in orchid reintroduction and this could be a first step at figuring out how to do it.