Mexipedium divisions

[Trimorph]

Hi everybody,
yesterday I received 3 Mexipedium devisions from private.
All are single growth, one with broken new growth, one with growing new growth and one with two beginning new growths.
They were pottet in an mixture of mostly sand, earth and smal stones with a little due of pine park and shredded winecork.
They could not been potted for a longer time and before cutting they seemed not to have had contact to the potting material either, because they were not rooted by themselves. But the appendix are there, I bared them under the dry foliage on the base.
I didn't trust in that potting material, so I took a new one. I made a mixture of perlite, crushed charcoal and a limy pottingmixture original made for Phrag. kovachii (indigrends: fine pinebark, crushed shells, perlite again, stoneflour and foam material) and added a few smal limestones I found in the sandmix.
They are watered with rainwater like my Phrags and the substrate is kept moist without water retention.

This is the result:

I placed them beneath my Phragmipedia, in 30cm distance to a fluora-neontube.

What do you think about the potting mixture?
And would you place them closer to then source of light?

Best regards,
Trimorph

 

[cnycharles]

i'd keep them shadier until you get some new root growth, especially since you mention it being so bright and hot in your house

 

[NYEric]

Good luck.

 

[Marc]

I wish you a lot of luck with those babies.

 

[get]

Congrats for the new adquisitions!
I wish you the best!

 

[wjs2nd]

I would say JPMC has had great luck with growing these. Here is the link to his post:
http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26397

Great looking plants.

 

[keithrs]

Mix looks good. Just make sure you have really good drainage. If you have too, bore holes every couple inches and cover the holes with screen mesh for windows. Give it good humidity, good waterings with low amounts of fert., and good air movement and you'll have a healthy mexi. These guys are slow to put on new roots so be patient.

 

[Trimorph]

Thanks to everybody for the good wishes.

And thank you for your advice!

I drilled 8 big holes in the box before potting and filled the more rough-textured part of the mix in first so that the finely part of the mix won't fall through it.

I'll keep reporting how the plants development is.

Best regards,
Trimorph

 

[Trimorph]

Update

Well, It looks like the Mexi liked the pottingmixture:

Best regards,
Trimorph

 

[NYEric]

Nice!

Why wont my mexi's bloom!? :sob:

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Wonderful! So how moist do you keep them compared to phrags or paphs? Light?

 

[couscous74]

Nice!

Why wont my mexi's bloom!? :sob:

Probably because you keep it right next to your Maxillaria oke:

 

[NYEric]

There's no place else to go. Maybe I keep mine too wet.

 

[cnycharles]

There's no place else to go. Maybe I keep mine too wet.

I think though you have it near where it gets really bright during part of the day, it's pretty shady the rest of the time. I think you need more total daylight. I had mine under lights before pretty close to fluorescent bulbs before it flowered, for about 16 hour days, and some of this winter before I moved had it underneath a spot fluorescent light. I don't think it can be too wet as long as it isn't standing water, meaning that the media is pretty airy also (frequent waterings while draining fairly quickly but leaving a little moisture behind). You could put it on one of your shelves underneath a spot fluorescent bulb

 

[Heather]

I always remember Marilyn's article saying water copiously during the summer months. Mine's in bloom with two spikes now.

 

[Trimorph]

Hi Orchid Boy,

It is standing between my Phrags but on a base of turned plasticpots. So it is very close to the neon tube. It is watered with rainwater before the pottingmaterial dries out. Because of the plasticpotbase overplus water can draining immediately, so it is never standing in water but always moist.

Good luck!
Trimorph

Wonderful! So how moist do you keep them compared to phrags or paphs? Light?

 

[NYEric]

Thanks for the advice. I will spend some time working on improving plant conditions this weekend.