PO Box 24425 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33307 US
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SPECIES:
This group has a wide area f origins so checking the area of the country that they come from is really important. Generally, they enjoy a lot of air flow through their root system, so larger mixes or mounting is ideal for them. Seasonal periods f lessening water are also ideal.
Potting or Mounting: If you live where you can mount plants onto trees outside, then it definitely can be done. Just remember though, if you live in an area where it is pretty arid, you will have to increase humidity and make sure that you water plants often enough during the growing season.
For potting, you want pots on the smaller size. I find that clay pots and plastic pots work well with most of these species. I prefer plastic pots for mine. As a medium, Aliflor/Hydroton/leca by itself although I sometimes will mix in a little bit of sphagnum moss or coco-peat to the pellets. The main thing to remember is to keep each plant into a pot which might seem small for its size. During the growing season, this plant will usually dry pretty quickly and if grown outside, can tolerate the rains of a rainy season. If you are worried about plants falling over due to the small pot, I tend to use hangers on my plants and hang them, especially until the roots really get established. Once roots are really established, you can remove pot hangers and set the potted plant into a larger pot for display purposes while in bloom, but while growing, I always hang them. If you have them mounted on trees, then you obviously don’t have to worry about this. Mounting on wood can also be beneficial, though plants can become quite large and heavy.
Light: I give these plants as much possible light that I can. Many get bright filtered light, some get a little bit of direct early morning sun, until about 11 AM. So about the same as a Cattleya.
Water: These types like quite a bit of water while actively growing and a drier, but not completely dry winter period. Only lessen the water, do not stop it completely.
his section is characterized by pseudobulbs whose leaves have leaf sheaths which are covered in fine black hairs. This is how the section gets it's alternative name the "Nigro-Hirsute type".
Pseudobulbs are typically long for the plants and quite robust. Leaves are carried all along the canes (pseudobulbs)with the leaf sheaths being covered in the previously mentioned black hairs. The leaves of this group remain attached to the canes for many years. Inflorescences are produced on the upper portions of the canes from the leaf nodes. Each inflorescence produces from one to seven flowers. Flowers tend to be mostly white, though some flowers are yellow or even green. Lips are usually white, yellow, green or orange or a combination of these clors
Characterized by the unusually long, robust pseudobulbs carrying leaves all along the length with leaf sheaths that are covered in black hairs and last for several years and have 1 to 3 flowers in a group in the upper part of the stem that are large, showy, waxy, thin, longlasting usually with white predominate flowers that have a 3 lobed lip apex.
Commonly grown species include: bellatulum, cruentum, dearie, draconis, formosum, infundibulum, lowii, parthenium, sanderae, senile, trigonopus