care for epi calanthum?

[Lucinda Brown]

Hi, Anybody out there who can give me a few pointers on epi calanthums? I have had one for awhile and it's gotten a new growth in the pot. The top of the original plant looks healthy and is growing, sloooowly! But the older leaves on the original plant are wrinkly. What am I doing wrong? I haven't been able to find out much on computer about this one, except that they grow on bare rocks, naturally. Help!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I grow mine pretty much like other reedstemmed Epis, tho I don't push the light quite as much as with the other Epis. I think you just need to be patient. The plant will bloom when the largest growing growth reaches the right length. The good thing about my plant is that once it blooms, the same stem will rebloom several times over. I have it in small bark and water it at least twice as often as the rest of my orchids. This guy likes Catt light. I give the rest of my Epis Vanda light or better. I would think that the wrinkling is from old age. It does appear that they are relatively slow growers, so the old canes maybe a little older than suspected. Cynthia

http://www.pbase.com/schnitz/image/37521942/large