Pleurothallids

[Ragged Robin]

Just come back from a break...thanks Paul for posting the Pleurothallus shiedei plant - it certainly has lush leaves for such a diminuitive flower!  I love the markings on the Dryadella zebrina flower and the flower has bags of character even if it is tiny.

I see you keep them quit wet in the pots, presumably they have been outside in rain?  Pleione and Orchidaceae are part of my being from early years, they are just so fascinating in their diversity and survive where other plants give up the ghost!

[Hristo]

Just caught up with this thread, fab plants Paul.
I've always loved the Masies and the Draculas, but, as the story so often goes, I only seem able to kill them!
I stopped trying to grow them ( from young seedlings from Dick Warren ) 10 years ago, or is that stopped killing them? 

[Paul T]

A somewhat belated thanks for the responses.  It is going to take me AGES to catch on everything.

The Pleurothallus shiedei seems to like the Sphagnum moss, and it stays much wetter there (and obviously is enjoying it).  Most Masds that I grow in Sphagnum moss die, so I tend to move them into a coir chip that seems to be working for my conditions.

Chris,

I have found that you need to find the right growing media for your conditions.  As I mention above, sphagnum moss, which suits many other people, is almost always terminal for me here.  The other big thing with these of course is the summer temps not going over 28'C if at all possible.  According to the books that is the temp, and certainly I lost my whole colletion a few years ago when we had a week of 38-41'C and the house got up to the mid 30s and above.  Literally within a fortnight every one of them died as they had been too hot.  Since then we have had the ceiling and walls better insulated and now we barely get above 30 in the house at all, and then only for short periods, and they seem to be fine with that.

[Hristo]

Hi Paul,
Given where they grow that all makes a great deal of sense. Sadly my window of opportunity for growing these little treasures
has passed. It would be too expensive I fear to maintain their minimum temperatures and it would be tough maintaining the lower temps
in the summer combined with the right humidity levels, no, I fear I shall have to admire them from afar and from the pages of the forum!

[Paul T]

Chris,

Lets not mention the humidity bit to my plants..... they don't get nearly enough of it and still do OK.    The maximum temps in summer ARE something that needs to be attended to though.  Ours were solved with the better insulation of the house, which is why I have started collecting a few of the Pleuros again. At the moment while I am not working I am misting the plants once every day or two, just to try to increase the humidity, but when I was working they never got that and yet still survived just fine.  I also have a small fan near them for some air movement, but other than that they get nothing special at all.

[Hristo]

Paul,
I remember the days...had a fish tank in Aberdeen, never saw fish, only Masies and Draculas and some other little orchids on bark. Twas easy to keep the humidity levels up!!

[Paul T]

Nah, mine are in the open, not a terrarium.  I'd be worried about too much humidity and rotting them if I put them in a fish tank. 

[Hristo]

LOL, reinforces the point that what works for one grower in one set of conditions doesn't always work for another!
Orchids that once grew poorly for me in the UK now grow superbly here, whilst others that were happy in the UK
have simply given in!!! 

[Paul T]

Or Chris, it could just be my crappy and "feast or famine" watering technique!! 

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

A few of the Pleurothallids on our show table at last night's (so all photographed with a flash) local Orchid Society meeting.....

Masdevallia 'Mary Staal' x triangularis
Masdevallia 'Charisma'
Masdevallia Partizan 'Cinnamon'  Just amazing colourations on some of these.  Just a few of the lovely Masdevallia hybrids we had there.

Plus

Porroglossum meridionale, a tiny species, not much bigger than my spider-like Pleurothallis shiedei that I have posted previously.

Please click on the picture for a larger version.

[Ragged Robin]

Wicked, Paul, what shapes and colouration - would love to know more about these orchids in the wild, do they live in deep jungle?

[Paul T]

Robin,

I "think" that most of the Masdevallias are South American, up in the jungles in the Ecuador region etc (as an example).  I think they're quite widespread, and very, very diverse.  Commonly called "cat's bum orchids" as the basic flower shape on some of the larger species in particular is very like the shape of a cat walking away from you with it's tail held high. 

[Ragged Robin]

 

[Maggi Young]

Commonly called "cat's bum orchids" as the basic flower shape on some of the larger species in particular is very like the shape of a cat walking away from you with it's tail held high. 

And to think we are often told of how "romantic" orchids are!

[Hristo]

Anthropomorphism I reckon, we regard our flowers as maybe works of art, and rightly so, but maybe forget that the bottom line from the plants point of view is 'sex'. Lets face it we rarely regard the sexual organs of other kingdoms with an air of romanticism......