Promenaea

[dionysus]

okay, i bought this promeneae on ebay, and i have been treating it like a Phragmipedium. it seemed to be okay with it, though its leaves did turn lighter. some of the pseudobulbs are dormant, but they are coming back quickly, and one is even on top of another one forming two bulbs in a stack! the kind is 'limelight x meadow gold'. any culture tips would be appreciated, like watering, flowering inflorecences, light and heat. thanks!

[kmarch]

Promenaea (check your spelling it's "aea" nor "eae") are cool growing orchids from the Brazillian hills. Their culture is not the same as for Phrags.

Promenaea like cool temperatures (approx 55F winter nights up to approx 75F summer days) and should be watered year-round, never allowing them to dry out, and they prefer quite high humidity. Their leaves are more delicate than other orchids though and prone to various kinds of spotting and rot so the air circulation must be excellent, and I dont' mean just an open window 20 feet away, I'm talking nearby fans constantly going. They do not require nearly as much light as Phrags (which do better with fairly high light levels). Promenaea love a clean fresh environment so annual repotting is recommended. their roots are fine so use a small grade mix that retains moisture. Using a fairly shallow pot will prevent the mix form staying too soggy.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I have a Promenaea xanthina that I have not done well with and was told it needs Catt light, so it was moved in with the Catts a few months ago, and seems to be doing well.

[dionysus]

thanks. i have it sitting in a tray along with my bealara, odontoglossum, and oncidium. hopefully there it will be doing fine. for some reason, i have had it sitting in a semi-stagnant greenhouse, and it has been doing considerably well. it also got eaten by one of my cats, but it is still healthy. any suggestions on reactivating the dormant pseudobulbs? i have one sitting in water, and it has a small root poking out, but the other one is still inactive.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by dionysus

i have had it sitting in a semi-stagnant greenhouse, and it has been doing considerably well.

Well maybe for the time being but it won't stay healthy in satgnant conditions. Promenaea like pretty much all orchids like and need lots of fresh air movement. It sounds like oyu really should install a couple of fans to get some good air circulation.

Originally Posted by dionysus

any suggestions on reactivating the dormant pseudobulbs? i have one sitting in water, and it has a small root poking out, but the other one is still inactive.

It sounds like you may have some fundamental missunderstandings about back-bulbs. Once an orchid looses leaves off a mature pseudobulb, sometimes refered to as a back bulb, they don't re-grow leaves or roots. In some species like Lycaste, these old leafless bulbs might rebloom but that's about all they'll do. New growths can come off the base too, but the leafless pseudobulb won't "reactivate".

You have one back bulb sitting in water? So have you removed it? Removign a single back-bulb like that isn't generally recommended. Instead, leave the back bulbs on as they will help nourish new growths.