Chamaeangis (Microterangis) hariotiana

[PHRAG]

I posted in-bud photos of this a while back. It started blooming, and shows no signs of slowing down. This one is cool for two reasons. 1. It blooms all the way up the spike. In the photos, you can see more buds developing as the old ones bloom. 2. Bright orange flowers on an Angraecoid.

 

[Ron-NY]

new one for me...cool!!

 

[SlipperFan]

How neat is that! OK, another for my wish list!

 

[Heather]

John, you should really get one of those. : )

 

[couscous74]

Cute lil flowers. Wish I could pronounce the name. :wink:

 

[Greenpaph]

Nice photos! Especially of the flowers themselves!

 

[TADD]

Hey Phrag what culture do you give this beaut? Daily misting?

 

[PHRAG]

The culture for my mounted plants is all the same. I soak them every three days or so. Some have shown that they want slightly more water than this, so I use a little sphag on those to give them an added boost. Otherwise, the only moisture my mounted orchids get is the humidity of the greenhouse, which lately has been hovering around 90%. Here are my recorded high/low numbers for the past week...

Day high: 80F
Night low: 69F
Humidity high: Off the meter (fog so thick you could barely see the plants)
Humidity low: 70-75%

 

[TADD]

Thanks! I just inherited a tiny piece of this, and am wondering what to do with it... I will mount it with a touch of sphag on tree fern. My Dome keeps the humidity at around 85-95%. Thanks!

 

[gonewild]

John,
How do you keep your humidity so high in the desert?

 

[PHRAG]

+

=

Indoor rainforest.

 

[gonewild]

=

Indoor rainforest.[/QUOTE]

Must be nice to sit in there.
Do you have problem keeping it cool in the summer?

 

[PHRAG]

I had temps pushing 82-83 degrees F last summer, which was a little warm for some of the orchids I had. But now I have nothing but intermediate/warm growers and I switched to the cool mist system and temps so far this year have stayed under 80 even on the warmest days. Though, we haven't hit 100 degrees yet.

One of the benefits of an indoor greenhouse though, is the air conditioning keeps temps relatively low in the room.

 

[gonewild]

Excellent! I love hot and humid air.
Does your humidifier actually raise the humidity that high or is it more from the trapped moisture? I could not find a humidifier that had settings higher than 55% around here.
Do you have air circulating fans?

 

[PHRAG]

Not sure what you mean by trapping moisture.

I have the greenhouse running on computer controlled timers. I run it from my laptop. The humidifier comes on three times a day for 30 minutes. During this time, the greenhouse is completely fogged up. Humidity spikes so high that my hygrometer reads "Error." Condensation appears on the foliage and pots.

From morning until night the humidity never drops below 80%. At night, temps run cooler and the humidity hovers around 75%. The humidity never drops below 70% at night, even though the humidifier stays off.

I have a fan in there that runs about 15 hours a day.

 

[gonewild]

I meant the moisture does not leave the green house so the humidity builds up. Do you vent in outside air?

Having the humidifier come on without a humidistat in the closed environment is a good idea.

Your system sort of reverses nature with dryer air at night. Not that I have any idea if that would make a difference? Obviously your plants like it.

Do you have your computer programed to make an occasional storm in the rainforest? You know with high winds and torrential rain? :evil:

 

[PHRAG]

I have the greenhouse door open at the top, so there is some amount of air exchange.

So, humidity is higher at night in the "real world" orchid environments? I don't have the humidifier come on at night since the temps are cooler and I don't want to encourage rot.

I just looked in the greenhouse and the humidity meter reads 72%, almost six hours after the last 30 minute humidifier cycle.

 

[gonewild]

Yes, in the low jungle at night the humidity goes to 100%. Even when the daytime air is relatively dry. During the dry season when there seems to be no moisture and things are very dry at night the tree canopy drips and gives everything a little drink. As the sun rises it is extremely dry again. But night temperatures are still warm with only a small day/night variation.
Even in the high jungle and cloud forest I've seen the same thing.

Interestingly when you clear away the trees to make a farm or city it changes everything and the night humidity does not go so high in those areas. The smaller plants on the ground don't get the drips from the canopy and everything is screwed up. It even rains less in areas cleared for cities, storms drop their water over the forests more than the cleared areas. I never could quite figure out how such a small clearing could effect a storm front but it does. OOPs straying off subject... the humidity runs 60-80% in the day and 95-100% at night in the low jungle in Southeast Peru.