growing besseae x wallisii

[philoserenus]

i'm wondering how you would grow this particular cross. right now it is in a very open bark mix and i water it pretty much 2-3x a week.

should i be sitting this in water (like primary x longifolium) or should it be drier (like primary x caudatum)?

i hear a mix of culture for x besseae; some saying drier, some sitting in water... so which one is more right?

thanks

 

[cnycharles]

well, my favorite reply to most questions is 'it depends'. I think from seeing culture posts here and other places, the temperature of your growing area and the media you are using and your general humidity can affect if your plant will grow better standing in water or just being watered alot. there are some in my orchid club that water their besseaes and hybrids a lot and they do fine; others have them standing in a little water. also depends on if you change the water a lot or have it circulating to keep it fresher. I had (not have, unfortunately :sob: ) a yellow besseae and it did not like being in standing water. Other red ones seemed to like it a lot better than my usual inattention to watering them enough. I think if your growing area is fairly warm, then a pot in water may work well, if it is pretty cool or slightly cool and you use a clay pot which can cook the media even more, then it might make it too cool to grow in your water. you would just have to experiment a little

to answer your direct question a little better, maybe try a media that is paph-like in retention; slightly moist and holds a little water but not wet like a phrag standing in water. also could use regular potting media and try at first standing it in a shallow saucer that will dry out quickly or just put a little in and then dump it after a day. just something that won't soak a lot of the bottom of the pot but hopefully prevent the mix from drying out

 

[NYEric]

I tailor make my mixes depending on how the plants are doing; but I usually have a mix that includes materials which vary in their water retaining qualities. leca, spongerock [coarse perlite] and charcoal mixed w/ diatomite and bark or coconut husk chips. I grow my hybrids sitting in water, my straight besseae a little drier.

 

[philoserenus]

hey guys, thanks for the detailed replies, it is greatly appreciated =)

 

[Kevin]

I grow my hybrids sitting in water, my straight besseae a little drier.

I thought besseae was a 'wet grower'. Do you treat it just like the caudatum group, then?

 

[NYEric]

I find that they, especially flavum, drown if they sit in the water all the time unless they're larger multigrowth plants. They're still wet but not sitting deep in the water trays.

 

[philoserenus]

i guess there is a difference after all. all my xlongifolium sits in water that pretty much immerses 1/2 the pot and they seem to love it. but i'm only only sitting the xbesseae in about 1" of water rather... i dun wanna run the same risk xp

 

[NYEric]

All of my phrags and pleuros get watered every day, and most others about every other day. I just would be careful setting straight besseae in water. I also recommend checking for pests. Although Glen Decker stated that he doesn't get pests on the leaves I find they're all suseptible to pests; and especially pearcei and its hybrids seem to be a treat to scale!!!!!!

 

[philoserenus]

actually i was lucky enough to have the opportunities to meet glen decker and hear him talk about his experiences with phrags and especially phrag. kovachii. if you go to the Southern Ontario Orchid Society (SOOS)'s webpage, ther most recent newsletter has an article that was written based on his presentation for the society at the beginning of august

 

[NYEric]

THanx.