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"difficult" epiphytes.

Every time the topic of epiphytic species comes up, the knee jerk response is to say that they are difficult to grow and unsuitable for beginners. Is this really true? I would like to hear from people who have had trouble growing these plants.

With the exception of U. quelchii, which has only ever limped along for me, I find my other species from Sec. Orchidiodes to be mostly trouble-free. And preliminary reports on U. jamesoniana indicate that it is also an easy grower. They are certainly less prone to drought damage than even U. livida!

So what do you think, is it time to retire the "difficult to grow" caveat for the more commonly available epiphytes?
 
Well, I lost both U. quelchii and U. asplundii as cuttings, and these are pretty much my only failures within the genus. I suppose it is easy for me to therefore generalize from the specific to the general case, and lord knows I hate that type of headset! Experience can also be a bad teacher, so this topic is of interest to me.

I have had reasonable success with U. alpina, and think this is the least "difficult" species, meaning I have never lost it. I wish my current U. asplundii was doing as well. It's doing ok, but hardly prospering. Same for U. geminiloba.

Also, they are not rapid growers by any means, which partly accounts for their rarity. Like any plant, once you learn the requirements of temperature and moisture, they do grow all by themselves. With some of the higher elevation forms, cool conditions seem to be a prerequisite: but even here there are those who will have success growing them in impossible conditions.

Too bad they are so hard to find, it would be good to experiemnt, and receive wider reports from other growers. For whatever reason, these plants are scarce, although they are appreciating a greater demand now than in the past.

So, I think that it is probably a combination of slow growth, and a more sensitive approach required during their real or imagined dormancy that is responsible for their short supply.

What other explanation could there be....other than these are snooty plants for snooty people who don't want a lot of other snooty people stealing their thunder?
 
They may not be difficult to grow, but they are darn hard for me to obtain.
 
I heard that U. campbelliana is a pain to grow... At any rate I have the same problem as Seandew, they are so hard to get a hold of.
BTW how fast does U. reniformis grow? I got a good size cutting ( the "leaf" is about an inch and a half across and it has a tuber) about a month ago and it hasn't been doing much yet.
smile_h_32.gif
 
I don't really think they're difficult... my new u. nelumbifolia is doing just fine, sending up new stolons and the like. I'm just confused on dormancy with species like u. reniformis. Does it really require it? I've heard "yes" and "no". And if it does.... how will it come about? ó_ò
 
I am growing U. alpina and unifolia from section Orchidioides, and reniformis, nephrophylla, and humboldtii from the section Iperua.  I don't know where longifolia is caterogized, but I'm growing that as well.  All are grown in my "Nepenthes" tank under the same conditions and soil mixtures, etc.  I've noticed that all are growing well (nephrophylla and humboldtii especially).  They are not any more "difficult" nor slower growing than my other tropical terrestrial utrics growing in the same terrarium.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]BTW how fast does U. reniformis grow? I got a good size cutting ( the "leaf" is about an inch and a half across and it has a tuber) about a month ago and it hasn't been doing much yet.

Icedragon, I recieved a similar sized cutting from another PFT member on 2/17/04.  It was the only "leaf".  On 4/4/04 I noticed another "leaf" emerge, but it was much smaller.  Just this week, on 6/21, I noticed a 2nd leaf emerging, a little larger in size.  It is a slow grower, but from what I have read this is normal behavior.

Just my 2 cents worth...

-Homer
 
Is the consensus that quelchii might want a dormancy? I thought this one was could come from permanently wet places (eg. wet bogs) as well as as an epiphyte. Does it form tubers?

I have found that the info on this site http://home.earthlink.net/~dionaea/endress2.html is quite good. I have not tried complete bone-dry conditions, although this year it is quite correct that the asplundii I have has stopped growing in summer without shedding leaves, whereas the endresii I have has shed its main leaves leaves (there are a few very tiny leaves hidden low down amonst the moss it's growing in). I hope both come back into good growth later this year.

As for my quelchii, this has died back in response to a drier period. It doesn't look like it wanted to do this - the leaves have shrivelled rather than detached (like they do for endresii). However, there are live shoots under the soil level and I have recommenced moister conditions for it. I have a hunch that some more shading might help.

Alpina like it kinda moist all year, never wet, for me. One of my clones is coming up with flowers at the moment - probably in response to the summer sun.

As all my plants sit in a sunny greenhouse with shading, and they naturally get a drier summer. They don't sit in water and the sunshine dries the pots (plastic mesh) out faster than in winter without having to moderate watering quite so much. I guess I water the "dormant" plants about once or twice a week in hot weather (20-30C), and spray the surface of the moss if it's looking dried out as necessary.
 
I tend to find the same habits with my plants that you all observe. I think the cavet of "difficult"on;y really applies to the fact that compared to things like livida and sandersonii they are "difficult" and I also feel (and maybe it is just me personally) that they are somewhat more difficult to establish as cuttings but that is usually because when a cutting is offered it is just a single leaf and a scant amount of stolon. I am sure it would be just as difficult to get a pot of livida going off just one leaf.

The main problem I find with these plants is that they are very sensitive to compacted media. Once the media starts to pack down the plants start to decline.

Rob, in answer to your question yes quelchii does form tubers but it is not an obligate epiphyte and Taylor indicates that it grows terrestrially as well as arboreally
 
That's a very good point about the number of leaves on a start Pyro. It's a lot easier to start a fire with a torch vs a match. Thought you might appreciate the analogy!

As to compact medium, I totally agree. My current protocol is to get them established in good loose live LFS, in pots sitting in tray water, in warm conditions. Once the stolons start to make their way out of the pot via drain holes or side holes melted in the pot, I simply fill the surrounding space with loose strands of live LFS. The stolons then become lolons all through the airy moss, which is kept living by frequent misting and occasional watering. I then allow the pots to dry a bit more, which oddly enough seems to stimulate the lolon growth in the more moist airy sections. There is no compaction to deal with at all. Plants are then kept as cool as possible in the summer with a few hours of direct sunlight in the morning or late afternoon. Air circulation via a fan is a big plus to the cooling: the combination of the loose moist moss and a breeze moving through it is most effective, providing good humidity can be maintained.

Those side holes in my pots are working very well for me! U. alpina now is filling the terrarium it is in. Last year it was a tuber with 2 small leaves.


If anyone by the name of Homer knows a source for U. unifolia, I have MUCH to trade for a start of it. You might want to pass that on to your source.....

Meanwhile,my search continues for these most wanted plants. Mr. Jones will not let me rest until I have them in good cultivation. I've only been looking for them since the 60's! Just talking about them makes me jittery.
 
  • #10
I PM'd Homer and he provided the source but when I checked the site all I see listed uniflora. I am thinking that maybe Homer confused the two (as happens quite often) but I am going to check with the source to be sure.
 
  • #11
Well, let me say some things I think from my observations of U.jamesoniana in its natural habitat.

First, lets not mix species from section Iperua and Orchidioides as they grow in different conditions.

I think the plants form section Orchidioides can be easy or difficult depending on the elevation the plant comes from. For the highland species like quelchii, unifolia and campbelliana a good drop in temperature during the night will be needed. Without it the plants will grow slowly, become weaker and dissapear in the long term.

Species from lowlands like U.alpina should be easy and fast growers.

Last week i got plants of U.jamesoniana from two new locations. One i collected at an elevation of 1100m (3600ft), can be considered a lowland form and i hope it will grow easier than the first form i got. My father coincidentially found another plant when he was collecting some sphagnum for his ocrhids. The plant from an elevation around 2000m has more purple colored flowers but might be harder to grow. time will tell.

About the dry dormancy requirement, what i have seen is that all habitats will have a drier period with less rain when the plants will get dry but the important thing is that relative humidity will always be high by the presence of nearby water streams or the presence of night/morning fogs.

Regards.
 
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