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Indiana Gardener

Got Drosera?
This is my first success with any kind of orchid. I've been wanting this one for about 5 years. I just got a couple this past Christmas. Thanks to some expert advice from the grower, The Wild Orchid Company, I have blooms! :)

H. radiata has too many common names to keep up with. It's called Egret Orchid, Egret flower, Egret Grass, and sagisou サギソウ. Even the taxonomists couldn't agree on a genus. So Habenaria radaiata is also known as Pecteilis radiata.

A lot of info on this species online says to grow it in all kinds of medium mixes consisting of peat moss, perlite, and coarse sand. Every grower claims their mix is it and if you don't use theirs, your bulbs will rot. The grower told me to skip all of that and grow them in straight perlite. So I did and they have done great.

The thing about this species is that it only grows in bog fed by snow run off from mountains. In the summer they are very wet, but as soon as cold weather comes to the mountains, their water supply is turned off and their summer bog becomes almost a winter desert. They have very strict and distinct wet and dry seasons that must be followed. This is why they can rot so easily. The perlite allows for good aeration to the roots to prevent rot, but care still must be taken in the spring and fall transitional periods not to water too much or too little before they go into the fridge for winter.

h-radiata-3.jpg


h-radiata-1.jpg


The bloom really does look like an egret, but it's the size of my thumb nail. :)
h-radiata-2.jpg



David
 
Aww that's cute! Nice!
 
Beautiful!
 
That's small enough to be a Utric flower!
 
That's great. I'm impressed when people are successful with tricky species like that.
 
Hi David,

Are you still growing the species? I just received a couple of bulbs which I planted in sphagnum moss. I read that you grown it in pure perlite. Do you fertilise it? Or it is just pure water throughout? Thanks!
 
it's a nice and great success
 
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