Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: sjusovare on November 18, 2009, 08:52:42 PM
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Hello, this is my 1st post here... ;)
I have several pleione praecox from different sources, however I never succeed to get any flower.
The buds in autumn are always fine, but once they get 2 cm tall they just cease growing and then seem to dry.. untill new growth in spring.
Has anyone else encountered such issues?
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Hi Sjusovare
First of all WELCOME
I wonder if you are growing these cool all year round ?
I found in my early experience with Praecox that it flowered very badly or never if grown like this.
I now give a small amount of warmth ( 8-12 deg c )from early January which increases as spring gets nearer. Grown like this I find all flower every year now. :) :) :)
Eric
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Hi Eric
Actually they are actually on the opposite side of the spectrum considering I grow them as for maculata in the greenhouse during spring/summer and in the house autumn/winter.
Basically they never go below 16C and can get heat peaks up to 35 during the summer.
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Hi Sjusovare, or may I call you Glis glis? ;D
Welcome to the Forum!!
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Hi Eric
Actually they are actually on the opposite side of the spectrum considering I grow them as for maculata in the greenhouse during spring/summer and in the house autumn/winter.
Basically they never go below 16C and can get heat peaks up to 35 during the summer.
Hi Sjusovare
These temperatures are fine for Maculata but I feel this could be your problem and I would reduce the temperatures for Praecox. I leave Praecox in a frost-free greenhouse until Jan where the temperature often goes very near freezing before moving to a very cool spot indoors in Jan until June.
Eric
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Hi Sjusovare, or may I call you Glis glis? ;D
Welcome to the Forum!!
Maggi Glis Glis live in the Chilterns after first escaping in this area. ;D ;D ;D
Eric
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Far from an expert I have noticed that the Nordic countries have much drier indoor temperatures than England (and maybe the whole UK) and southern Europe due to the big difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures in Winter. Central Europe may be the same as the Nordic countries.
Maybe this is something that people forget as a difference?
Maybe Sjusovare is using a humidifier while we in Portugal have a de-humidifier going most of the time. Some people in the Nordic countries use the bathroom to grow orchids due to the higher humidity.
This may be obvious to many but maybe not to all. I assumed Sjusovare is from the Nordic countries. (This is why indication of country is of some significance).
All the best
Joakim
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Hi Sjusovare
I grow my praecox outdoor during the summer and the temperatures must be kept below 28 C, rather less. In the winter I keep them around 4 C. I found in this conditions they grow very well and flower regularly every year.
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hello everyone ;)
Joakim, actually I'm in the Loire valley, central France (yes, I know, my nickname is swedish though :P ).
Actually, I had thought about dry atmosphere, but putting them under a glass bell did not help.
By the way, they are grown on pure living sphagnum moss.
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Hi sjusovare,
my Pln praecox spent the summer outdoors in a semi shaded position. I took them indoors in mid October when we had a cold spell. Haven't watered them since then. All (90) are flowering well, some started earlier, some later. They are now in my potting shed which I keep just frost free. I'll re-pot them after flowering. Hope this helps
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Hello Maren,
I will try the cold way then ;) thanks.
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I'm using this thread since I have another Pleione praecox question. Hope this is okay here.
Does anyone know about differences between Pleione praecox and Pleione praecox f. wallichiana? An orchid nursery is offering both of them but does not show a picture of f. wallichiana.
Greets
Thomas
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Hi Thomas,
This seems to be a case of the wrong use of names. Pleione praecox was once thought to be a Coelogyne and for a time went by the name of Coelogyne wallichiana. So Pleione praecox and C. wallichiana are synonyms i.e. the same thing, with P. praecox being the correct name. There is no such thing botanically as P. praecox f. wallichiana. As P. praecox is a very variable species, I guess they are simply offering two differing forms and differentiating them using an invalid name.
Cheers
Paul
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Thank you Paul,
I would like to have different forms of Pleione praecox but doubt that I can rely on this since they don't show a picture of the one named f. wallichiana. I guess they got the plants from somewhere else there they came with these names.
Greets
Thomas
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Hello Thomas,
if it's not too expensive, why not buy one and see what happens. Although I have to admit this may not be good advice. I do this all the time and end up with surprising plants. My quest for P. albiflora has resulted in a number of excellent plants of P. grandiflora and even P. aurita. :o ??? And an extremely expensive P. praecox v reichenbachiana had the experts debating whether it was one or just an ordinary praecox. I suppose the fun is in the expectation...
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You're absolutely right Maren,
the fun is in the expectation. The P. praecox and P. praecox f. wallichiana aren't expensive at all - 5.95 Euro so I could take the risk. The problem is that I don't want to pay shipment and all for just one plant (and maybe nothing special) so I would be tempted to order more plants. Either other Pleione which I already have or other orchids for which I don't really have the space. ::)
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Hi Thomas, I know the dilemma, but if in doubt, I tend to go for what I want and not what I don't want. It's the same in supermarkets. Buy one get one free, and the free one ends up in the bin. Human nature, I guess....Good luck anyway. :)