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06-05-2007, 10:38 AM
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| Masdevallia guidance Was going to originally post this with sunshine's Dracula post but it's a bit different. Attached are pics of my Masdevallia setup and plants. I am really novice with masds. I keep the temp around 68 and the humidity in the low 70s. While they are continually putting up new leaves, no blooms are happening. I think the problem is not necessarily in my setup, but in the fact that they aren't getting the night time cool down. So my question, based on a comment about ice packs in the Dracula thread, is... would putting ice cubes into the tray at night have any effect? I had one person tell me to put them in the frig, but that scares me. How long? How often? They were purchased in bloom, will they not bloom again for another year? Would love some experienced input. Is there a better way to do my 'setup'? Thanks in advance!      |
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06-05-2007, 10:53 AM
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| http://retirees.uwaterloo.ca/~jerry/...es/masdev.html http://www.geocities.com/macaraorchi...evCulture.html http://www.mtbeenakorchids.com.au/CulturalNotes.htm I grow Masd,s in spagh and they can flower more than once a year. I hope the links help |
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06-05-2007, 10:54 AM
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| Hi Vivienne, Your set up looks good to me and your plants look incredibly good. The second pic is a bit too small for me to tell whether you've got spikes coming, but that would be where they'd come from. I think I see one on the right hand plant, but I'm not completely sure. My Masdies get a night time drop by being left by a window, which is naturally cooler in the winter, and my putting the heat down at night then as well. The window is left open at this time of year until fall, all night for cooling. I've never personally tried the ice or ice packs, because it just kind of seems messy and a pain in the a$$, though some growers in my society swear by them. Most Masdevallia species will bloom once per year or over a specific time of year. Overall, I've found that Masdevallia hybrids are usually pretty free blooming, putting out a spike whenever a growth is maturing or matured, or even when it really feels like it, though never at orchid show time ;-). As long as the plants are healthy, have good temps, good humidity and good light, they will eventually bloom for you. Julie |
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06-05-2007, 07:50 PM
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| Ice packs sound far too fiddly and almost like one of those bizare cultural things (like put your orchid in a bag under the sink to get it to bloom) we hear from well intended but completely unknowing florists. I think 68 is a good temp for most Masd. By the looks of it your plants are growing well and the leaves look clean and healthy. i wouldn't worry about them not blooming yet. I have 3 Masd.: 2 hybrids and a species. the species seems to flower erratically when ever it wants while the 2 hybrids seem to flower seasonally twice a year. As you're going into spring-summer, and if your Masd. are ones that flower seasonally, you're going out of the flowering season. My experience with maybe 15 plants over the years is that they flower best in winter. What kinds are they? Species? Hybrids? Which crosses?
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06-06-2007, 01:10 AM
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| Perhaps try giving them more light. Good growth but not flower can mean inadequate light. A bit like Cym's. Most Masd. like good light, it is the heat they dislike. I have talked with other about temperature drops & there are really only a few of the very cool growing species that need this. Most hybrids will grow happily in a warm house. and then there are the ones that just take there sweet time  .......waiting........waiting...... Cory |
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06-06-2007, 05:50 AM
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| Definitely light could be a factor, I find they need more light to flower than most people realise. If your temps are a constant level without a drop then that will also cause problems. Ice cubes......not sure it will help as it probably won't cool down the leaves.....but it could be worth a shot if it's not too fiddly like Kevin says. I grew the most beautiful veitchiana in a cool glasshouse for a while with temps that ranged from 2C to 40C and it survived in amazing conditions. I have never been able to get growth like that since. It's amazing how resilient some plants can be. |
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06-06-2007, 07:25 AM
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| Thanks everyone for your advice and input. I tried the ice cubes in the humidity tray... not hassle at all. Woke up and who knows what happened overnight but this morning, temp and humidity are where they always are. Kevin (you elusive chap you) - I haven't a clue what they are. Picked all 3 up at the grocery store where they were all marked 4" Phal in decorative pot. Obviously they aren't Phal and the non-decorative pots are 3". Spent a grand total of $25. If I were to guess, based on the blooms they had a purchase they would be Masd Copper Angel and Masd Golden Tang. They do get about 1-2 hours of indirect light (thru tinted skylights) and I rotate the tray so it's not always the same plant getting the most light. It sounds like I may just be being impatient. Like that's something new!  |
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06-07-2007, 04:58 AM
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| Quote:
Give them more.......this time of year (winter) I give mine indirect sun through 70% white shade cloth all day long. They need more light than you would expect to flower. A friend of mine gives them a few hours and found out that because part of the day the light was blocked by trees (the rest of the day they got light through shade cloth) that none of them flowered. I think more light is definitely needed. What does everyone else think? |
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06-07-2007, 06:26 AM
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| Quote:
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06-07-2007, 06:46 AM
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| I have a small masd. and I have it in a south basement window. It gets consist light from morning til afternoon. It was doing nothing for me on top of the entertainment unit in the livingroom( found out I was cooking it by leaving it there), now it has put out 2 countem 2 new leaves so I am very hopeful that my spindilly little masd is on its way to being a big beautiful masd. |
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06-07-2007, 08:45 AM
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| Bolero - 1-2 hours of light... I have to explain my atrium/orchid room. I did make it sound a bit odd in the lighting. It's something (the lighting in this room) that hounds me daily. The atrium is 10' x 22' with 3 4' x 6' skylights which are tinted. The room is always flooded with light but you can also track the sun's movement easily. If that makes any sense. When I wrote 'indirect' light I meant that the light from the skylights is actually falling directly on the plant, but it has partial shading from the shelving above it (see pic of setup above). The light level problem: I have been unable to get my camera to give me a light level that makes any sense in this room. My camera, and all the charts I've been given, end up telling me there are around 1000fc in the room when taking the reading in the sun's direct path thru the skylight. That doesn't make much sense since I have new growth on all 40+ plants in the room and have brought Phals, Oncs, Paphs and Phrags to bloom. Have a catt (my first) which has 7 spikes of buds growing nicely. I'm a quite puzzled Geek with the lighting and tinted skylights, but it all seems to be working. I think I am just being impatient with my masds. Time (and a full scientific analysis) will tell. LOL |
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06-07-2007, 07:46 PM
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| not long - maybe 2 months. What I'm mostly curious about with Masds is if one would always get a bloom with a new leaf or not. I'm getting lots of new leaf growth, just no flowers so wanted to find out. I took some pics of my atrium today. Had my digital camera set to ISO 100 and f8.0. Received the following readings... where the sun is obviously hitting = 1/250 = 1000fc where the sun is not hitting (3 inches to either side) = 1/30 = 125fc Do my plants look like they are 'starving' for light? Driving me nuts I tell you! I guess I really just need to break down and buy a proper light meter. |
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06-07-2007, 08:01 PM
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| you first pic is like a little jungle ( nice ) with the second pic i would remove the tv orchids dont need to watch tv. but with removeing the tv you have room for more orchids hehe just a thought |
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06-07-2007, 09:29 PM
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| LOL but then I can't watch my shows with my 'chids. No seriously, I was sitting in the atrium earlier thinking, with the TV there I can't put any plants above it (water dripping) and there's a big empty space above it. Was thinking I could put the TV on a platform higher up the wall and put orchids on the top shelf. Or heck, just get another set of shelves to add to that. |
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06-07-2007, 10:17 PM
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| They can flower with each new growth but only produce flowers (mostly) at certain times of the year. I would think you should get flowers in the next growing season. 2 months isn't long to have them and I'm not surprised that you haven't got flowers then. They don't flower as soon as they get a new growth.......give it time. You have probably missed their growing period for this year (but I'm guessing on that point). |
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06-07-2007, 10:47 PM
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| Thanks Bolero. They were at the end of their bloom when I picked them up, so that's probably it. Just wanted to verify. Still leaves me with the nagging light level issue but I'm not going to worry about that too much. |
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06-08-2007, 02:02 AM
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| Quote:
If you have other plants that have similar light requirements flowering no problems then you should be ok. Masdevallia's will generally bloom later in the season than a lot of other orchids so I would guess from April to May would be the right season for you. Although it does depend on the plant.......some may bloom earlier and some may bloom later. Good luck with them, if you have new growth now then hopefully you will have a bumper crop of flowers for next time. ;-) Darren |
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