Which Mexican Laelias Receive Less Water Than Lawns Do?

[epiphyte]

According to this pdf document the typical lawn in Southern California receives an average of 82 inches to 110 inches (2,083 mm to 2,794 mm) of water per year.

Which of the following Laelias of Mexico receive less water per year in their native habitat?

Laelia albida
Laelia anceps
Laelia aurea
Laelia autumnalis
Laelia eyermaniana
Laelia furfuracea
Laelia gouldiana
Laelia rubescens
Laelia speciosa
Laelia superbiens

[kmarch]

Is a poll the best way to determine the answer to this question? Can't the data just be looked up somewhere, like through Baker & Baker?

[fred]

I am wondering the same thing Kevin also why would that be put under Orchid Care Cultivation.

[made4engineering]

This is some kind of silly guessing game right?

[articuno75]

Reminds me of the Game Show that had Drew Carey in it called The Power of 10

[PhalPal]

Do we just pick one, or many??

[epiphyte]

kmarch: I actually know the answer(s) to my question but was interested to see how many other people know the answer(s) as well...or were at least curious enough to look up the answer(s). A poll is likely to elicit more responses in that people generally find responding to polls less work than writing a response. In a sense my post was intended to function as a participatory and bilaterally didactic exercise intended to encourage exploration and thought.

fred: My post is concerning water requirements of the Mexican Laelias which is somewhat related to orchid care cultivation. But feel free to move the post to a more appropriate category.

made4engineering: Oh man, I'm a big fan of silly guessing games. It drives my friends crazy. My intent wasn't to create a silly guessing game but perhaps its second nature for me. My intent was more to create an open book pop quiz...or perhaps a survey of sorts. After a couple of days I'll post the correct answer(s) and people can score their own quizzes.

articuno75: Hmmm...I'm not familiar with that show. Although, I think an orchid quiz show would be entertaining and informative.

PhalPal: Howdy! Feel free to pick as many as you like.

[fred]

epiphyte
I am fine with leaving this thread in this section with your above reply.
I have never heard of anyone comparing watering orchids with Quote] Your Typical Lawn
Hence some of the reply,s

[PhalPal]

Personally, I really wanna know!! I know a couple of them but will look up others because they grow great outside in hot, dry areas. I have three new spikes on my anceps! Woo Hoo!! Gotta love those little purple nubs.

[kmarch]

Ok, so it's sort of a test your Laelia knowledge sort of thing. That's cool. But I have a question: Are you talking cumulatively? Average per month? I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of the rock laelias get no or almost no water during certain months.

[PhalPal]

Without doing any research, I'm going to say ALL of them.

[epiphyte]

fred: Well...using the lawn helps put the water requirements in perspective (like a yard stick) as the majority of home owners here in Southern California have lawns.

kmarch: it's cumulatively...the sum of all the months.

[sandra]

It's got to be all of them. Mexico is dry, the southern areas, the wettest and I doubt it receives 30 inches, average per year. I stayed in Puerta Villarta for a year once while working with someone who made a film there and it's dry but their tequilla is great.

[articuno75]

So what's the answer to this?

[epiphyte]

There are actually two different sets of answers. The first is from the book, "Laelias of Mexico"...

Laelia albida: 24-43 in / 600-1100 mm
Laelia anceps: 47-83 in / 1200-2100 mm
Laelia aurea: 35-79 in / 900-2000 mm
Laelia autumnalis: 28-51 in / 700-1300 mm
Laelia eyermaniana: 31-43.3 in / 800-1100 mm
Laelia furfuracea: 28-39 in / 700-1000 mm
Laelia gouldiana: < 20 in / 500 mm
Laelia rubescens: 26-91 in / 650-2300 mm
Laelia speciosa: 28-39 in / 700-1000 mm
Laelia superbiens: 47-71 in / 1200-1800 mm

the second is from the Orchid Culture website...

Laelia albida: 19 in / 483 mm
Laelia anceps: 35 in / 889 mm
Laelia aurea: 26 in / 660 mm
Laelia autumnalis: 18 in / 457 mm
Laelia eyermaniana: 40 in / 1016 mm
Laelia furfuracea: 27 in / 686 mm
Laelia gouldiana: 11 in / 279 mm
Laelia rubescens: 34 in / 864 mm
Laelia speciosa: 14 in / 356 mm
Laelia superbiens: 26 in / 660 mm

*phew*, converting the unit measurements took way too long.

As you can see, the quantity of water received is significantly lower from the Orchid Culture website. Not sure which one is more accurate.

From a cursory glance, based on the Orchid Culture website, the Brazilian Laelias receive roughly twice as much water as the Mexican Laelias do...which is still a little under or right around as much water as the typical lawn here in Southern California.

My main point is that many yards here in So Cal currently receive sufficient water to satisfy the water requirements of quite a few epiphytic orchids. It's really just a matter of somehow redirecting sprinklers to apply water to trunks and branches of trees where orchids are mounted and/or suspending mounted orchids where they will be in the path of sprinklers.

Here's a chart based on the data from the Orchid Culture website to help visualize the differences in quantity of water received.

[kmarch]

epi,

I suspect the Orchid Culture stats are annual averages while the other stats are ranges? Maybe?

Anyway this is great info and the lesson I take away is: Rock Laelias? Step away from the watering can!

[NancyH]

HI Guys,
That was a really interesting comparison. But I am curious about the Laelias (rock) that would be dry at certian times of the year. What are their names? If you compare the watering to lawns (I live in Central Cal) that is ALLOT of water. With daily misting it would take drenchings to get to those inches of moisture. I water my Laelias that are mounted on bark everyday except for the dark or foggy days. My Laelia ancepts are in a bark/cork mixture and I just water them when almost dry. They all seem to be happy. Thanks for going to all the trouble to put the graph and information together.
Nancy