Dendrophylax lindenii
Submitted by timsorchids on Sun, 10/08/2008 - 15:05
Dendrophylax lindenii (syn. Polyrrhiza lindenii)
Common name: (The Ghost orchid)
Hi All
Here is something to talk about.
Have a flask of this fascinating leafless species
Would like anyone's comments on how one should go about deflasking this species
It may be a struggle here in Melbourne
But you never know if you don't have a go
Any info would be greatly appreciated
Regards Tim
Snakey plants
It looks very tricky to me!!
Ian
can of worms
Hi Tim, If these were my plants I would suspend them in tepid distilled water for a short period, this would help to make them more pliable to seperate.
bernabu
It looks a mess
Hi bernabu
It looks a mess but will tease apart easy
thanks for the tip
It's growing info i'am after
Has anyone here grown this one before
Cheers Tim
Not tricky at all
Yes its a flask with about 15-20 plants
Plants will tease out ok the hard part will be in the growing/ Keeping them alive!!
As plants require 90% Humidity and warm conditions.
I am going to mount on cork and place inside Polyform box with water & some gravel in the bottom
Glass or plastic over top to keep the humidity in.
Maybe even heat mat under box??
Weird looking plants with no leaves just had to have a go.
Beautiful Blooms very large for size of plant
Cheers Tim
culture
Tim, I don't know what the growing conditions are like in Melbourne, but there bound to be better than here in West Yorkshire in the UK. I have a warm and a cool greenhouse and can grow most species (some more successfully than others).
I have grown two leafless species, a Chiloschista which I still have and a Microcoelia. I fastened them both with a broad piece of raffia (so as not to damage the roots)onto the top of a small clay pot then placed the inverted pot in a plastic saucer (not too near a fan)for air movement. The water keeps the clay pot just moist and it's easy to top up when necessary. When the roots adhere to the pot you can remove the raffia. You have a few plants of this species, so it might help to try this method with one or two.
bernabu
Hi Tim, I also bought a
Hi Tim,
I also bought a flask of this orchid recently at a show in Sydney, where did you get yours from?
I'm also trawling the web for information on how to look after these plants, my flask looks very similar to yours, with perhaps slightly less plants.
Maybe you can email me about it and we can follow eachother's successes failures
ndun5230@mail.usyd.edu.au
Success or Failure ???
Hi ndun
A Mate of mine bought this for me
Have not deflasked yet
I am waiting for the weather to warm up
and then i'm into them.
I am going to mount on cork and some other things
and mount inside polyfoam box with some water and gravel in bottom maybe a heat mat under box
when they harden off i will be putting them out the back with the rest
have couple igloos 4mW x 5mL about 3mH covered with plastic, I cover with 50-80% shade cloth in summer
and when the weather turns cold i will bring inside.
I am lucky have big sky light in back hall way (& a understanding girlfriend)
where i manage to grow a few Phalenopsis
These also get same treatment as above and I grow and flower these OK with out hot house!!
I have been looking on the net for info on the ghost orchid.
I think that eveyones trying to hard
no one looks after them in the wild
Meaning i dont think you have to pamper them to much
you just have to harden them off and a way you go
The hard bit will be getting them established
but after looking and reading
It will be tough to create the conditions these plants need for growing well
High humidity and warm
with a dry spell this is when they flower like most orchids when its wet they grow and when its dry they flower
There is definetly two seaons with this species as it grows in Florida,Cuba
Just like our top end when it rains it rains and when its dry its dry
So i like a challenge and this will be one!!
We might be able to grow it
But can we Flower it??
This may take 5-7 years!!!
I look forward to hearing how you go with growing this species
What were you going to do with yours??
Cheers Tim
Hi Tim Same idea as you, i
Hi Tim
Same idea as you, i have a fishtank with vermiculite in the bottom that soaks up the water and creates humidity, i have a fan at one end for a little air movement and a light on top for the ... light.
But as far as the medium goes, i think i'll still go with the bed of sphagnum moss idea, for its anti-bacterial property, and for a little more moisture to begin with. I'll lay the ghosts on top of the moss about halfway down a pot, so that the air movement from the fan doesn't hit the ghosts directly.. i don't like the idea of going straight from 100% wet flask medium to cork, it just seems like a massive jump for the ghosts. But it will be interesting to compare methods, between us we can figure out what is working and what isn't. I've even been thinking about preparing a few flasks, and replating a couple of the smallest ones straight into new flasks..
anyway, back to the sphag moss.. After a few months if they're doing ok on the moss, THEN i'll transfer them to cork or stick, but i'll keep them in some kind of tank culture, because i don't have a greenhouse, so they might get a vertical fishtank of their very own if they all work.
I know what you're saying about not pampering them, though since they have no water-storage ability, im hesitant to put them in a situation where they could dry out... and although i have a similar indoor spot like yours that grows Phals really well, i just don't think my spot is humid enough for these guys.
P.S. send me an email and i'll send you pictures of how they're going.
Nick
images
It would be great if you could post the photos as 'image' type content here so we can all see them Nick.
Regards wellsy