John M
Orchid Addict
I don't normally post non-slipper photos on this forum; but, here is a neat terrestrial that I like and it's common enough that anybody who wants to try one should be able to find it.
Cultural info:
It took just 7 weeks for my Bletilla plants to go from completely dormant to blooming. I've got 2 plants in separate pots. I allowed my plants to remain outside last fall and go dormant naturally. Then, I put them into my unheated family room, right on a cold, leaky, draughty windowsill (which was very likely much colder than the ambient ~40-somthing * F of the rest of the room). Although, they did not get down to freezing, they had to be very close. I took the dormant pots out of the cold and put them into the greenhouse on January 12, in the warmest, brightest spot.
{Day temps in their new location have been about 70*F - 75*F on cloudy days and up to 85+*F for a few hours on sunny afternoons. Nighttime temps have been about 60*F - 64*F.}
Three days later, I repotted them out of the coconut husk based orchid mix they grew in last summer and put them into ProMix HP. I changed the medium because I thought that the tuberoids should've been larger and the blooming last summer was nothing spectacular in terms of bud count. So I decided that they probably needed more food than just the little I give my tropical, epiphytic orchids. ProMix has a fertilizer included that I am hoping will give the plants a bit of a boost at the start this year and help to improve next year's flower count.
I also upsized from a 6" clay pot to a 7" clay pot for each plant. They had grown quite a bit (last summer) and had multiple leads; although while repotting, I managed to break off 2 leads from each plant's tuberoid! I was using my fingers to clean away the old potting medium instead of a jet of water. I had forgotten how very delicate and brittle the growing points can be! Even so, that left one plant with 4 leads and the other, 6 leads, still intact. I watered just a little until I saw new growth about 3 days later. Once the growths were about 3" tall (about 10 days later) and the leaves were unfurling, I began watering regularly as well as standing the pots in an inch of water 24/7.
They grew REALLY fast! Each plant has a mix of both "blind" and flowering growths (2 growths on each plant has a flower spike). The first flower opened on Monday. Now, there are 2 flowers open. The flower count is low (just two flowers on this first spike that is blooming). The other spike on that plant looks like it will only have 2 or 3 buds in total. The other plant is a few days behind; but, it's got sturdier spikes that will each have 3 flowers....still, not so great. This species can have up to a dozen flowers per spike. Of course, these are blooming on the strength that they stored last summer. So, with heavier feeding this season and a better soil mixture, I expect to get a better flower count next year. Also, I'm wondering if the pastel colour varieties are simply less robust and just won't ever grow as tall and hold as many flowers as the regular purple form?
Cultural info:
It took just 7 weeks for my Bletilla plants to go from completely dormant to blooming. I've got 2 plants in separate pots. I allowed my plants to remain outside last fall and go dormant naturally. Then, I put them into my unheated family room, right on a cold, leaky, draughty windowsill (which was very likely much colder than the ambient ~40-somthing * F of the rest of the room). Although, they did not get down to freezing, they had to be very close. I took the dormant pots out of the cold and put them into the greenhouse on January 12, in the warmest, brightest spot.
{Day temps in their new location have been about 70*F - 75*F on cloudy days and up to 85+*F for a few hours on sunny afternoons. Nighttime temps have been about 60*F - 64*F.}
Three days later, I repotted them out of the coconut husk based orchid mix they grew in last summer and put them into ProMix HP. I changed the medium because I thought that the tuberoids should've been larger and the blooming last summer was nothing spectacular in terms of bud count. So I decided that they probably needed more food than just the little I give my tropical, epiphytic orchids. ProMix has a fertilizer included that I am hoping will give the plants a bit of a boost at the start this year and help to improve next year's flower count.
I also upsized from a 6" clay pot to a 7" clay pot for each plant. They had grown quite a bit (last summer) and had multiple leads; although while repotting, I managed to break off 2 leads from each plant's tuberoid! I was using my fingers to clean away the old potting medium instead of a jet of water. I had forgotten how very delicate and brittle the growing points can be! Even so, that left one plant with 4 leads and the other, 6 leads, still intact. I watered just a little until I saw new growth about 3 days later. Once the growths were about 3" tall (about 10 days later) and the leaves were unfurling, I began watering regularly as well as standing the pots in an inch of water 24/7.
They grew REALLY fast! Each plant has a mix of both "blind" and flowering growths (2 growths on each plant has a flower spike). The first flower opened on Monday. Now, there are 2 flowers open. The flower count is low (just two flowers on this first spike that is blooming). The other spike on that plant looks like it will only have 2 or 3 buds in total. The other plant is a few days behind; but, it's got sturdier spikes that will each have 3 flowers....still, not so great. This species can have up to a dozen flowers per spike. Of course, these are blooming on the strength that they stored last summer. So, with heavier feeding this season and a better soil mixture, I expect to get a better flower count next year. Also, I'm wondering if the pastel colour varieties are simply less robust and just won't ever grow as tall and hold as many flowers as the regular purple form?
! I left them outside for winter! Jean
