Pterostylis progress

[cnycharles]

An update of my most recent attempt to grow a few pterostylis donated from friend David Mellard down in georgia. He grows them famously in his greenhouse, usually in straight potting soil.


Planter with three different species: pterostylis erecta at top, p curta 'mellow spirit' in middle, and p ophioglossa in the foreground


The ophioglossa, not liking my conditions. May have had too much shade near the edge of the window


The curta, much happier and robust. One tall flower spike emerging very quickly, others starting


The erecta, small but a little better than the ophioglossa. Also may have had too much shade


Curta spike


Another curta spike just starting


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[NYEric]

Cool. My curtas whorled up a while ago but no progress since. Keep us posted.

 

[Ozpaph]

nice job

 

[abax]

I want to see that bloom...well, two blooms. This experiment looks exciting.

 

[cnycharles]

I had some curta or nutans a few years ago that came up and flowered, but at the time I had to move my plants and all and they didn't survive the moving. I think a larger pot that doesn't dry immediately or stay too wet will help long term

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Charles, keep them happy and they'll fill that container. What are you growing them in?

 

[cnycharles]

Since David grows them in basic potting mix I just used the same but with some sand added. Since i'm not growing in a greenhouse like he is I thought I might need slightly more drainage

 

[cnycharles]

Quick pic with flash, wouldn't focus. Opened very quickly. Need daylight


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[Secundino]

Wow! Love them little things - arisarum-lookalikes! I had them once, but never got them to flower. They lived two years only. A pity.

Waiting for the open flower!

Congrats !

 

[naoki]

Very nice, Charles!

 

[cnycharles]

More open pics
















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[cnycharles]

Here are the dormant p curta tubers I just dug up!




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[KyushuCalanthe]

Nice Charles. After some pretty bad neglect on my part, I've lost most of mine, but have a few popping now and then. Really not difficult plants if you care for them.

 

[NYEric]

Why am I not seeing the update photo? My curtas , just went dormant!???

 

[cnycharles]

Why am I not seeing the update photo? My curtas , just went dormant!???

I posted the last picture with Tapatalk. I can see it in the web browser also.
I had the planter under a 24 hr light for a while and they were growing like crazy. I decided to stop watering and they dried back, so these are likely on a different schedule than yours. If you want to multiply them, keep them under 24 hr light and they will keep expanding for awhile

 

[NYEric]

Cool, I can see on my PC at work. Thanks for the info.

 

[naoki]

Nice!

 

[emydura]

Looking good Charles.

In the southern hemisphere we are at the other end of the cycle. The leaves are popping up and flowers are developing in the earlier flowering species. I have started growing some Australian terrestrial orchids in the last year or so. I have a few now but by far the easiest to grow is Pterostylis curta. It is an absolute weed. It is incredible how fast this species can multiply. These type of orchids really look at there best when seen in mass flowerings. If you grow them well, this will take only a few years for curta.

I have four clones of this species. This one had 20 tubers last year, this year it had 46. I repotted it in a much bigger pot a few weeks ago and it has filled it out nicely. I dare say it will have well over 100 tubers next season. The second photo is of a beautiful variegated clone of curta. Not sure if it is available outside of Australia, but well worth grabbing if you can get it.

 

[Ozpaph]

they look great David.

 

[NYEric]

Nice. I wish we could get more Australian native species here.

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