Epi. Hokulea in S/H?

[Fabolusus]

Sorry for all the back to back posts... I have 3 orchids that are actively growing roots and leaves that I was planning on transfering to s/h, one phal, one catt and an epi. hokulea... I found info on the catt and phal, but nothing on the epi... Will it do well in s/h?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The Epi will probably do well in anything, as this is a reed stemmed Epidendrum, the weeds of the orchid world. They like a lot of water, so you might want to not let the reservoir dry out as often as you would other orchids. Give it the highest light of all your orchids. More light and they will be shorter before blooming. Give them low light and they will reach for the ceiling before blooming. Any temp, just not wet and cold, or you will have bad spots.

[Fabolusus]

Thanks for the advise! I will definitely post an update in a month or so...

[Fabolusus]

So...it's been way longer than one month. (I accidentally stumbled upon this post on google!) When I bought this last October, there were several others that were the same size that were in bloom. Mine has doubled in size from 4 growths to 8, but still no sign of blooming. I grow it next to my Brassavola and Brassavola hybrids, all of which have bloomed for me in the past. What can I do help it to bloom?

[jerrymeola]

There is probably nothing you need to do.

They normally bloom in the spring and it was probably too young last year. The light levels of Bassovolla Cattleya is adequate.

[Vivienne]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

Give it the highest light of all your orchids. More light and they will be shorter before blooming. Give them low light and they will reach for the ceiling before blooming. Any temp, just not wet and cold, or you will have bad spots.

I guess that confirms that the tinting on the skylights in my atrium block enough sun for Epi. Hokulea not to bloom. I've had mine since May 2007 and while I really didn't expect it to bloom just yet, it has at least doubled in height and can best be described as reaching for the ceiling! Up to the master bath untinted skylight it goes!

[Vivienne]

Another observation I have made with this is the more the plant 'reaches for the ceiling' the further apart the leaves are. Will try to get a pic later today.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The new growths need to get tall enough to bloom. The older growths probably stopped growing without blooming, so the newer ones that are still growing are what you can expect blooms from when they get tall enough, depending on light.

[jerrymeola]

Reed stems get very large. One of my Punta Gorda customers swears 'never again' because she can not see the flowers they are 10 feet up above the oak tree under which it is planted.

It will keep growing up.

They can look very nice in a house by placing a small 2 foot trellis in an 8-10 inch pot and growing on it.

[Vivienne]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

Reed stems get very large. One of my Punta Gorda customers swears 'never again' because she can not see the flowers they are 10 feet up above the oak tree under which it is planted.

It will keep growing up.

They can look very nice in a house by placing a small 2 foot trellis in an 8-10 inch pot and growing on it.

I'm not going to argue with that. Here is a pic of my Epi. back in May... and a pic of it this morning (currently 22" tall from base of mount). Do you think it might be time to put it in a pot? Maybe just put the mount in a pot with no media? Maybe I'll just get a trellis (gonna need more than 2') and tie it to the trellis?

[Vivienne]

Have been thinking about this today and can't decide what to do with it. I thought I might get some of that lattice available at Home Depot/Lowe's... but isn't that usually treated with/for something? I do have a bamboo trellis but it's about 1-2" shorter than the plant. Any suggestions?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If you are just going to attach the mount to the bottom of the lattice, I am sure it will not matter what they have done to the lattice, as you will be tying the canes to the lattice with something like twist ties. If you pot the plant up, often the canes can just be tied to each other, or a single long tie can be used around the whole thing. With good rooting in a pot, a separate support (cane/rod/trellis) usually isn't necessary.

[Vivienne]

Thanks Cynthia. This plant has been on a bark mount for all it's life I believe. The roots have gone right thru to the back of the bark and it entirely top heavy. I'm going to have to figure out something in the near future. Thankfully it won't be anything dramatic... just a support mechanism.