U. quelchii

[goods]

I got a good number of Orchidoides Utrics from Ron last year and while many did well, some did not enjoy my summer warmth. My U. quelchii was one of those. The plant dropped all of its leaves, and I've just kept the pot in my terrarium in the hopes that it may recover. I noticed these stringy growths in the pot the other day when I went digging around. I'm not sure if they've been there the whole time or are new growths, but I wanted to get more experienced thoughts on whether this is actually alive still. They haven't shown any signs of decomposition, so I have to assume it is still alive, though. Anyway, here are the pictures (sorry for the quality):

I'm referring to the upside-down "U" growth and the nub attached.

 

[Cthulhu138]

That doesn't look like Utricularia material to me. Looks like a stem or stolon of something else.

 

[Salgadoxx8]

mine also looked the same and was from the same source i also won it in the auction last year,
my quelchii also had those stiff- stringy stem looking things which grew very slowly until it gave up and turned brown followed by the leaves as well, all i can hope is good luck with yours! since mine rotted i would reccomend using pure live green sphangum moss which has better drainage, stagnant water may have been what killed mine using dead LFS

 

[Cthulhu138]

U.quelchii does best for me in net pots with a mix of perlite and dead lfs as a wick in the bottom half with a hefty top layer of live lfs. The plant itself never seems to leave the live top layer of moss. I also got mine from Ron last year and it's thriving. It's got 3 big leaves and is simultaneously putting out 2 even bigger ones. It's just about filled a 3" round net pot in the time I've had it.

 

[Cthulhu138]

This is the plant I got from Ron as a tiny division last year. No flowers yet but it's been growing slowly but very steadily.

 

[Salgadoxx8]

This is the plant I got from Ron as a tiny division last year. No flowers yet but it's been growing slowly but very steadily.

your quelchii is so full of life!! looks awesome! congratulations on keeping it well.

 

[RL7836]

This is the plant I got from Ron as a tiny division last year. No flowers yet but it's been growing slowly but very steadily.

Very healthy plant with some nice growth. Seeing this post prompted me to look at earlier pics of the mother plant in my growlist. I typically put the date in the pic name so it's not too tough to track time...

Here's the original parent plant on 15 Jan 2011 - looking even smaller than Johnny's plant (I received on 20 Sept 2010 as a tiny plant)

Same plant 6 months later (16 July 2011) - showing significant growth (honestly can't say I remember it growing this quickly - LOL)

A little less than 2 years from the original pic (21 Feb 2013). It was just after this pic was taken that I observed the 1st flower stalk (it ended up with 4 or 5 stalks iirc)

One of the flowers (I had a horrible time trying to get the pics to represent the actual flower color - took many photos but only kept 1 or 2)

I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to share some of this plant with others. I hope everyone gets a chance to see their plant take off & eventually flower.

On a side-note, I'm feeling a bit like a 5 year old as one of my U. campbelliana's (the other red-flowered Orchidioides) has decided to send up 5 stalks! So far, they're all still growing well - I sure hope they keep going & don't abort.

 

[Cthulhu138]

Haha, I've gotta say, that's the 1st U.quelchii shrub I've ever seen. Great job Ron.

 

[Tanukimo]

That shrub is amazing, and the flower is just breathtaking! I had the chance to acquire this plant a few weeks ago but missed it, and I still regret it. Although it seems like it would be difficult to transplant a species that requires living sphagnum moss.

 

[amphirion]

beautifully grown Ron! jaw dropping!

 

[RL7836]

Thanks for the comments - I definitely enjoy getting to see these plants take off & grow.

I had the chance to acquire this plant a few weeks ago but missed it, and I still regret it.

There will be some available in the spring (which is true most years iirc). There were at least 4 opportunities in the 2013 NASC.

Although it seems like it would be difficult to transplant a species that requires living sphagnum moss.

They don't require live LFS - that's just the way that I've found easiest to grow & maintain them (at least the larger ones). Others use different media (with success) & I've had several Orchidioides take off on treefern. The biggest problem in transplanting was just getting the courage to chop off all those leaves (most are growing through the small holes in the netpot). Overall, utrics are very receptive to being divided. An even easier route (but takes more patience) is to chop off those aerial roots (rolons) and place them in a sloppy/watery mix of live LFS. All those little leaves sprouted after going into the slop.

Look over here for the full post on this approach.

I really see no reasons why the Orchidioides are not more commonly grown. Between Pyro's approach & the huge wealth of info from many different growers shared in the Orchidioides discussion thread, anyone who can keep them from being fried in summer temps (ie: provide a reasonably cool growing location) can grow them.

 

[Cthulhu138]

Ron, did try floating the leaves you chopped off in R/O water ? I've had a lot of success getting plants from leaves of U.humboldtii, U.alpina and U.asplundii. Give it a shot and NEVER toss out those chopped off (or in my case, accidentally snapped off) leaves.

 

[RSS]

Another one of Ron's plants, just to show a difference method of growing them that works good for me in high humidity setups.

Photo taken when planted around 21 Nov 13

DSC_0795 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

And tonight 9 Feb 14, both photos were taken on watering day so they are usually drier than in the photo.

DSC_0079 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

The Utric is starting to make its way around the pole and into the sphagnum inside the jar.

There is always about 1/4" of water in the bottom of the jar, the only watering I do is misting once a week.

I'm also growing some of Ron's U. quelchii in a similar setup but without the tree fern poll. I've been slowly moving my Orchidioides over to modified slack pots. Basically a net pot suspending inside another pot with a small amount of water in the bottom.

Here is a small runner of U. quelchii I planted in just tree fern fibers around 12 Dec 2013, when I planted it you could not see any green in the pot. So it is growing and pretty fast for a U. quelchii under my care. This little piece is being kept in a wine chiller at 60 degrees constant temp. Yep, its a net pot inside another taller net pot inside a solo cup

DSC_0044 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

My summer temps always damage most of my Orchidioides, part of the reason I built the wine chiller doohickey as a test to verify high temps are the cause of the damage and not some other random dumb thing I'm doing. That and a lot of people told me it would not work

 

[East_to_west]

Thats literally EXACTLY how I'm growing my 'Jitka' haha. It's in a net pot in a mason jar, with a little bit of water in the bottom, and then theres some tree fern sticking out the top for it to climb on. Seems to work great! Looking good!

 

[RL7836]

Lots of ways of growing these guys! (not just in live LFS) LOL

Ron, did try floating the leaves you chopped off in R/O water ? I've had a lot of success getting plants from leaves of U.humboldtii, U.alpina and U.asplundii. Give it a shot and NEVER toss out those chopped off (or in my case, accidentally snapped off) leaves.

Yes - I've propagated from leaves but after the first few successes, I had a number of failures. When I tried the roots (like above pic), I got 100% success & since there's always roots hanging out, there's no shortage of propagation volunteers.

 

[goods]

I've been gone for a bit, and this thread really took off in the meantime! What I thought was a remaining piece is definitely not, so it's safe to say this one didn't like the very high summer temps I unfortunately had this summer. Please keep up the great posts with pictures, though! It definitely gives a good idea on the various methods that are successful with these species. I like the net pot method, and all of my remaining Orchidoides/Iperua are doing well that way. Now that I have the high temp issue worked out, I'm looking forward to spring and trying some of the species I've lost again!