Bulbophyllum fletcherianum?

[Theodoreorchidking]

This is my bulbophyllum fletcherianum that I got about 4 months ago. It lost a big leaf in the beginning I think do to the lack of roots and change in environment. It is growing back roots now. However I want to know if I'm giving it to much light and care tips if anyone else grows it. Also it is being grown under botanical leds spike producers.
Happy growing

 

[big923cattleya]

There are very few Bulbophyllums that like a lot of light. Very few!!!
Perhaps one of the best Bulbophyllum growers I know, Bill Thoms told me, Bright shade and wet. Yours looks to be too dry. Those round pseudobulbs should be tight, plump, just bursting with water. They should look like those big green olives in the supermarket!! Those look a bit desiccated or shriveled. Sphagnum can either be the best media in the world, or a death sentence, depending upon how you pack it in and how you water. The surface of your moss looks bone dry. Since the roots are typically shallow growing, a dry sphagnum surface is not advisable.
In lower light, that moss should really never dry out, never. A good indicator of too much light is the production of anthocyanin pigments, that purple color that can be easily seen in your images.
Fletcherianum and B. phalaenopsis might do much better for you in a basket or in a shallow plastic pot. A shallow pot is best like a "bulb pan". Bulbophyllums in general do not develop a deeply penetrating root system. The roots stay shallow. All of that wasted depth in the pot can easily lead to watering issues.

PS they like it warm too. 65-90.

 

[NYEric]

Interesting, we grow ours in good/fairly high light. They make lots of new growth but don't bloom. Hmmmm..

 

[Tom-DE]

Bulbophyllum is one of the biggest genera in orchids and growing habitats are quite different...I/C/W(temperature), different light levels...you name it!

 

[littlefrog]

Those big elephant tongue (what i call them) bulbos like B. phalaenopsis can take quite a bit of light. I've seen them grown well with vandas. One grower in Michigan (who is now out of business) grew absolutely huge ones hanging up high in his greenhouse.

I don't think you are giving too much light. If it is growing and the new leaves are similar or bigger than the old leaves, I'd say you are winning. If it looks stressed in any other way, then back off a bit. I'm not sure what the trick to blooming them is, but I suspect it is some combination of light level and daylength. I could bloom them in my old greenhouse but I can't bloom them (or grow them very well at all) under my lights.

 

[tnyr5]

They come from Papua new Guinea, close to the equator, so I really doubt day length is the trigger. They mostly grow on rocky slopes, so it seems that they can take light. However, the climate there is monsoonal, so for 8 months of the year, it rains every 2-3 days with cloud cover almost every day. That means for most of the year, they're only getting 150ish PAR (90% shade), even though they're growing exposed. During their "dry" season, which coincides with our summer, cloud cover slacks off to once every couple days, & rain slacks off to a sprinkle once a week. I put dry in quotes because this plant NEVER sees humidity below 85%, ever. It grows at about 500 meters (1640 ft) elevation, so to say it grows warm is a bit of an understatement; it grows HOT. Since the air is so saturated with moisture, temp drop at elevation is going to be less severe than usual, about 3.5°F per 1000ft (1.94°C). Extrapolating from monthly averages based on Port Moresby PNG, which is very close to sea level, that tells us this plant almost never sees temps below 70°F (21.1°C).

Based on all this: Grow it hot as hell 24/7/365, pot it in a very well drained substrate with a layer of something more moisture retentive at the actual root zone, water it every day or every other day, feed it *very* heavily, give it steam-room humidity & Phalaenopsis light for 9 months of the year. For the rest of the time, maintain the humidity, cut the ferts & water in half, and bump up the light by about 50%. It's a huge orchid, yours is probably too young to bloom.

 

[Theodoreorchidking]

They come from Papua new Guinea, close to the equator, so I really doubt day length is the trigger. They mostly grow on rocky slopes, so it seems that they can take light. However, the climate there is monsoonal, so for 8 months of the year, it rains every 2-3 days with cloud cover almost every day. That means for most of the year, they're only getting 150ish PAR (90% shade), even though they're growing exposed. During their "dry" season, which coincides with our summer, cloud cover slacks off to once every couple days, & rain slacks off to a sprinkle once a week. I put dry in quotes because this plant NEVER sees humidity below 85%, ever. It grows at about 500 meters (1640 ft) elevation, so to say it grows warm is a bit of an understatement; it grows HOT. Since the air is so saturated with moisture, temp drop at elevation is going to be less severe than usual, about 3.5°F per 1000ft (1.94°C). Extrapolating from monthly averages based on Port Moresby PNG, which is very close to sea level, that tells us this plant almost never sees temps below 70°F (21.1°C).

Based on all this: Grow it hot as hell 24/7/365, pot it in a very well drained substrate with a layer of something more moisture retentive at the actual root zone, water it every day or every other day, feed it *very* heavily, give it steam-room humidity & Phalaenopsis light for 9 months of the year. For the rest of the time, maintain the humidity, cut the ferts & water in half, and bump up the light by about 50%. It's a huge orchid, yours is probably too young to bloom.

Thank you so much

 

[Royal Rea]

I grow them outside covered all year around, Winter temperatures say 10 to 20 degrees C most days for 3 months . Summer (9 months) 20 degrees min to 28-30 degrees C, they get filtred sun in winter (5 hours) and morning sun in summer (1 hour) and shade. They thrive as I grow them on tree fern. Watering is everyday in Summer and once a week in Winter. Very easy.