My Masdevallia herraadurae

[patticake]

11/05/08
My plant arrived today! Yay! It was in great shape as were the other plants that I have gotten from Joe. I repotted it into my trusty Schultz mix. I had some left from my Paph flask repots, so I used it here. (large chunks removed, and a little chopped sphag added)

Here we go!

[fred]

well done Patti
congrats on the arrival of your Masdie, looks like a very nice plant

[janet_a]

mine's taking the postal service tour of DC somewhere--i grow in an eastern windowsill where the humidity will stay around 50% this winter if i'm lucky. does the collective wisdom think i should repot the plant into bark when it comes or keep it in the sphag? (i'm a masdie newbie. )

[patticake]

I grow mine in the basement at the far end of my lights. It's about 65F during the winter, and about 70-75F in the summer. I re-potted mine because I water a lot, and while they like to be moist, they were staying too moist when I had mine in sphag. It's about 50% humidity in my basement, and I keep a gentle fan going in their direction.

[amersault]

ooooh i can't wait!!!

[lmartiny]

Mine is on the way and I was reading up on them and printed off a culture sheet from the AOS site. What a neat flower it has.

[NicC]

I got mine today and the pictures above about show it arrival condition which was very good,(although it unpotted as I was opening it) It is in fibrous sphagnum. I have put it in the "import quarantine area out of habit. It is in a place I can observe it closely. I am tempted to repot into my mix of chopped sphagnum, tree fern fibers, and charcoal but I will hold as is for awhile.
Nick

[jim blanford]

I got mine today and it looks just like yours Patti. I not sure about repotting, I wonder if it would look o.k. Neo. style, I haven't had much experience these plants that may be the wrong way to go. I'll keep reading the post and see what others do. Jim

[brookn]

Jim I actually saw one of these somewhere potted Neo style, and it was growing well that way.

[jbigio]

The rest of the plants went out today! I grow all mine in moss but that doesn't mean that you should. As I said lets have some fun and try all different ways to grow them and we can all learn something. with a little luck some of you will also get the Masd bug and start collecting them as well. Good luck to all any problems let me know
Joe

[patticake]

Thanks, all! My first couple, I kept them in the sphag, and they started losing leaves like crazy. They did much better after the re-pot, for me. That's why I re-potted this one right away. Every one has different conditions, so it might not be the right move for some. I spritz mine every day, and even when I didn't, the sphag stayed too wet for my growing conditions. I'm excited!

Thanks Joe, for this new project.

[Greenhouse Gal]

The plants look beautiful. I can't wait for mine to get here.

[janet_a]

mine's here in the office today; i think i'll probably keep it in the sphag for the moment, as the growing area has a fan on it 22/7.

i was at al's over the weekend and he has his large masdies potted in straight primeagra/hydroton/aliflor, water 3x/week, right in front of the swamp cooler. the little ones are in sphag on the benches.

[amersault]

so how well do these plants take to being repotted? do they resent root disturbance or are they generally tolerant of this?

[jbigio]

Hi they should do well with reporting I potted all 60 of them when I got they and not one had a problem.

[patticake]

Every time I repot one, it usually drops a leaf or two over a week or so. Then they start popping new leaves.

Here's a group shot of my 5. The new one is in the bottom right. I took the label off the pot and put it on a stake.

[kninum]

what is the one just behind the new one?- i love the leaves

[patticake]

That one I bought when I went to visit Carter & Holmes last August. It's Masdevallia Fool's Gold x meijiana. I loved the leaves when I saw it. It's grown about 8 or 9 new ones since then. I have no idea what the bloom will look like, since it's a cross. I just liked it, and it asked to come home with me.

[lmartiny]

Um.....I have a question. What is potting neo-style?

[patticake]

It's a way of potting Neofinetias in the old world Japanese style. It's in a "ball" or eggshaped clump of sphagnum moss. The inside of the mass can be solid or hollow.

[lmartiny]

Thanks Patti. I don't think I will tackle that form of potting.

[patticake]

I don't blame you! I'm not crazy about it with my Neos!!! I have some that came potted that way that are going to be UN-potted that way soon!

[dr_frnkblck]

What is the advantage of using so much moss in such a small pot or is it just decorative? Do you water normally?

[lmartiny]

What in the world was that???

[amersault]

looks like one got thru the Net.... arg

[lmartiny]

I got mine today. He looks fine. I'm going to leave him potted as he is for now and water before I leave town for the weekend.

[fred]

got through maybe but the good news now is that member has had there email address and IP address Blocked

back to the topic

[solay]

I ordered one too. Hope it'll survive longer than my tinker belle did. Can't wait to get mine.

Patti, yours look good. You seem to have figured out how to keep them alive.

[patticake]

Thanks, Solay- Alive, yes...I've not gotten one to bloom yet. I think it's the cool temps of my basement with the fan. I water them every day, but the bark mix dries quicker than the moss, so I don't think the moss would be watered as much.

Hey...What did I miss? Did someone diss my thread and I missed it? Thanks Fred, for being on guard as usual!!

[lmartiny]

No one dissed your thread Patti. Some Kook logged on and made an appearance.

[Greenhouse Gal]

I am so happy. My plant arrived Friday. It was waiting on the porch when I got home. It was still fairly warm here on Friday so the wait was not a problem. The plant looks lovely, much like all the others pictured so far.
My plant is going to stay at the office, about 67-76 F over the last four days where I plan to put it. It will be in a dish over a fish tank for humidity and have light from a desk light, I think the timer is set for thirteen hour days, I will have to check that. A little extra from the overhead fluorescents when I am in the office. I plan on repotting to a bark mix soon.
Thanks again Joe the plant looks wonderful. I will try and post a picture later this week.

[dr_frnkblck]

I received my Masd. Friday. It also looks similar to everyone else's pics. I have taken pics to document the condition it should be in. I'll post when I get a chance. I have left mine in the moss it was shipped in for now.