The plants Ecuagenera sells are divisions. But they are not freshly collected. They have not had any success germinating seeds in vitro. If anyone here has ever tried to buy a plant from Ecuagenera, they will know how hard it is to get from them. They only get few division every few years.
As for the orange on the roots. That species of selenpedium grows in an area with very iron rich soils. Those soils have significant oxidation and have a distinct and obvious orange colour. The high iron content may be the secret to growing them. Ecuagenera grows thiers in a mix which is mostly soil from the area where plants can still be found in the wild. Orange on the roots is reminants of the soil, not an infection.
Kyle
I think some of those here in the forum know me as a trader as well, for quite large shipments here and there, so I have been on the side of the wholesalers for many years before. I know what I am talking about, and what the professionnals will never dare to tell any hobbyist, or small operation... but that they will say to their partners or huge customers of course.
I can say, publicly, that many plants that Ecuagenera sells are jungle collected, and freshly.
I think there is a time for fun, and a time to stop the stories as well. That they can fool many people, like Arias, by asking the collectors to pick up clean looking plants is one thing, but the truth is otherwise. They have a garden, and store both cultivated plants, sometimes for sale sometimes not, and jungle plants that they replace every few months or years when they collapse. That's the rule, the real one...
I can show on this forum some sanderianum, rothschildianum, big clumps. Everyone will agree that they are "seed grown", or "divisions", but in fact they were collected few days before the picture.
I am not talking about the orangish color outside of the roots, but the orange color when you cut the roots, this is a very serious disease, known already by quite a few growers unfortunately, that likes to spread after in a nursery or greenhouse when it is introduced by the way.
As for the sightseeing, all those kind of nurseries select spots to bring the tourists that come. Thoses spots will never be collected. Au Yong exported from Sarawak some dozen thousands wild collected stonei over the years, but he always kept one small spot untouched for 30 years. That's where Phillip Cribb, and all the people went to see stonei in the wild. He had so good collectors in Bakun area and two others places that he could get half a thousands stonei collected from ther wild with pristine leaves within 2-3 days.
Ecuagenera does like that, like they had the project, apparently collapsed by someone, to introduce some kovachii from Peru to grow in the "wild" and "discover" them, information direct from Portilla family to 3 different wholesalers. They said at the same time that they would be able to supply wild kovachii precultivated - another term that the hobbyists and most of the Customs in the world have never heard before I guess - quite soon. Because they have been reported to the CITES in Switzerland by a german nursery, they could never effectively complete their project. But that shows how the things are really working.
I had 5 of thoses selenipedium several years ago, no specific problem to grow thoses in normal paph mix, after cutting the sick roots, and a dip in Terraclor + Banrot. As a professionnal, I know as well that the sickness in the roots of the plants I got is coming for sure from jungle plants that have been freshly removed, not "divisions". If a "division" had that, then the motherplants would be long gone... They grew for a few years until I moved to Vietnam, and I passed them to someone who let them dry out a bit too much. The plants collapsed.
One last thing, the plants must have a new growth around 5-8cm maximum, not more. They are rooting seasonally, so if you have a new growth that is too big, the plants will be unable to root until the next new growth starts, which will never happen, as they will not have enough roots to support any new growth. It is a tricky plant to choose in fact, but it you choose it well, it is not that difficult to grow. I never bloomed it though...
