Pleione Culture

[arcticshaun]

I just brought my Pleiones out of dormancy and started reviving them for the season. I added a few new Pleione last year (not that successfully), my bulbs have divided and bulbils have grown since a freezing disaster several seasons ago. I now have 4 BS bulbs and 4 lg bulbils of P. formosana, 1 nbs P. speciosa (pleionoides) and 1 nbs P. Tolima.
Pleione formosana bulbs just getting started.

After a 14 week dormancy in the refridgerator I will flower and grow these under lights until spring when some will go into the greenhouse and maybe garden (bright but not full sun). They are in cool windowsills now. I'm using a mix of coir, perlite, charcoal and small bark and I've just started using bone meal (lightly) this year. No water until roots start and even then not much until leaves are forming. I will fertilize regularly when the new growth is maturing and by late summer I'll cut back watering and stop fertilizing. Back to the fridge for the winter after the leaves drop.

Previous bloom (should get 4-6 this year off 4 bulbs)

These orchids have many varieties of species and hybrids that I would like to try. As my collection grows I'm going to stagger my dormancy seasons so as to have multiple blooming events throughout the year. Blooms aren't long-lasting (7-10 days at household temps maybe longer if kept cooler) but one bulb can produce two flowers successively to extend enjoyment. Never seem to be commonly available but when obtained can be a very enjoyable and easy to care for.

A related thread

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10272&highlight=pleione

and website
http://www.pleione.info/

Hopefully more flower porn in a few weeks

Shaun

 

[Elena]

Thanks for that Shaun! I really like Pleione maculata and would love to try growing it at some point so this is very useful!

I look forward to more pictures

 

[NYEric]

I've killed a bunch of them so all I can say is that you seem to have the required culture down. Enjoy.

 

[biothanasis]

Lovely!!! I have repurchased some pleione bulbs (one species and one hybrid) so that I try again, cause I lost them during summer period (I had more bulbs and more species)...!!! Thank you for the suggestions/advice!

 

[smartie2000]

Thanks for the tips. Now I should put my leafless bulbs in the fridge then...

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Shaun, good for you! I too love this genus, but unfortunately they aren't keen on the summers here - bloody hot! Some of the hybrids are just wonderful .

Thanks for that Shaun! I really like Pleione maculata and would love to try growing it at some point so this is very useful!

Beware Elena, this species is not tolerant of cold temperatures. In the fall after defoliation simply give it a dry period while maintaining the temperature above 10 C. The trick is to keep them dry, not cold.

 

[Elena]

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely keep that in mind. That suits me quite well, actually, because 10-12C is as cold as I can give in my conditions, anyway.

 

[cnycharles]

I'm glad someone is able to grow them well (since I haven't been able to so far) so please post lots of pictures when they flower!

 

[arcticshaun]

A bit more about the dormancy period. Before putting bulbs away I make sure they are clean and dry (no water for weeks before dormancy, leaves have dropped and roots fairly dry). I trim roots back to 1-2" and I might remove old bulbs if they just fall off but more often I remove the old growth when I pot the bulbs up. I pack the bulbs in dry peat in small storage containers sorted by size or type (bulbs, bulbils and other species hybrids), labels written on with date (not all bulbs were ready the same time). I didn't check them very often and they stayed there for about 14 weeks (there was some moisture build up by the time I removed the bulbs -this could lead to rot).
For my P.formosana this seems to work as the 'fridge is consistently cold (maybe too much so for P. maculata?). I haven't seen any growth yet on my bulbils or newest bulbs yet but I won't keep them as as cool as the BS bulbs so they can just start growing. I've grown these orchids under lights, in windowsills, in the greenhouse and in the garden but then again my summers are rarely hot and cool temperatures are usually just outside my door.
I also added the Orchid Digest -A Synopsis of the Genus Pleione by Cribb and Butterfield for more information about Pleione orchids. This hasn't helped my addiction to these plants at all.

Shaun

 

[Elena]

Well, I've been doing a little bit of reading up in the last couple of days and discovered that maculata is a difficult species to grow. Typical. If I do decide to give these a go at some point, I suppose I'll have to start with some hybrids first.

A few sources mentioned that it's best to treat maculata as an epiphyte and grow it in airy medium and a pond basket or other similar container.

 

[dan_t]

Maculatas aren't hard as such, just different to most of the rest of the Pleione species (exception being praecox).
I grow my maculatas in the greenhouse - minimum of 12oC in winter, higher in summer. It seems to do ok there, but they've only been there for a couple of years.
Elena - I've also heard you can grow them as epiphytes - I might try that next year (they start growth a lot earlier than other Pleiones, and are already thinking of putting out leaves!)

Dan