How to grow Platanthera ciliaris (yellow Fringe Orchid)
Aug 11, 2022 16:48:22 GMT -5
hcarlton and jgreen1025 like this
Post by meizzwang on Aug 11, 2022 16:48:22 GMT -5
Here's a nice orchid that is pretty widespread in the SE United States. While relatively common in what untouched habitats that still remain, it's extremely rare in cultivation, and very few have success with this plant. I'm starting to understand why: there's close to ZERO information on how to grow this thing, and the plants that people distribute tend to be on the verge of death! It also takes many years before a single tuber splits into multiple tubers, so it takes quite some time to propagate them.
Anyways, almost every last plant that I acquired was on the verge of death or had some serious fungal/bacterial infection that had to be surgically removed. In other words, from the get go, growers are destined to fail unless they either get lucky or take a really good guess at how to grow them and succeed the very first try with material that is in serious decline.
First off, the best time to acquire plants is during the winter dormancy period when they are tubers (shoots die down to the ground). A healthy tuber has lots of large, white, thick roots and zero black spots on the tuber/roots. That said, it's still possible to acquire and establish these plants during late spring/early summer, but it's a bit dicey: totally depends on the health of the plant. If you're buying something that's fully established and with great growth momentum, you can get it anytime of the year, but buying a plant with half of the roots cut off and no tuber in the spring/summer is a huge gamble.
Soil and Fertilizer:
I grow my plants in 100% peat and only use reverse osmosis water on them. I bet EB stone's African Violet mix would work, but haven't tried it. You can probably also grow them in sphagnum/pumice mix, pure sphagnum, or whatever you can think of that Sarracenia also grow in! I haven't tried it, so no blaming MW if it gives you trouble, pure peat is proven!
In terms of fertilizers, I start feeding them maxsea (1/4 strength, 1X per month) when the shoots have fully emerged. Do not fertilize them right when they start growing in the spring! Let the plant use up the nutrients in the tuber first, otherwise you may weaken the plant and make it more susceptible to rot. when exactly do you start fertilizing? Probably when the plant has 2-3 fully grown leaves on them. As soon as you see a flower spike or as soon as growth slows down in early to mid August (depends on where you are), that's when the plant should no longer receive anymore fertilizer. Be very careful to not over-do it and err on the side of caution when fertilizing (less is more). One over-feeding can cause the plant to almost immediately die! Also, if the plant is stressed out for some reason, don't fertilize, otherwise this can invite pathogens. It was cold and foggy here during the spring, and I saw a bacterial spot forming on one plant, so I stopped feeding it until the heat of the early summer kicked in.
Light
I'm still figuring this out! Initially, they were given full sun, but during the heat waves, the stems and even some leaves would turn black from heat stress, and this would set the plants back drastically. Now they are getting morning and early afternoon sun, and the rest of the day they'll get shade. I think part sun is what you want to aim for, or bright indirect light all day long. Just make sure the indirect light is powerful, otherwise your plants will get very leggy and fall over. Even if they're in part sun, they may still fall over, they do get tall!
Temperature:
Sarracenia temperature range is ideal: don't go below 20F potted, and put them in shade if temperatures go above 100F. I'm sure in part sun they can take 100F+, especially if they're acclimated to your environment, but it's always best to err on the side of caution.
I had some plants that started to emerge in April, and we had some late frosts that completely destroyed the outer sheeth of the emerging shoots. Luckily, they're so dense that only the outside was damaged, no plant was actually killed from the late frosts. However, if you have deep freezing (temps below 27F for more than a few hours), protect new shoots from these freezing events, otherwise I surmise they will be killed off. If the plants are potted in big enough pots, they can probably take down to 20F. In a bog, you probably don't have to worry about freezing. I keep my plants by the side of the house, so they only experience down to about 29F in the winter.
WATERING
Here's the tricky part that will either make or break your plants! The soil needs to be kept hydrated at all times during the grow season, but not waterlogged! If you sit these in water for long periods of time and the soil starts to get anaerobic, the thick, fleshy, air-loving roots will rot. On the other hand, if the soil dries out during the grow season, your plant will be dead! I keep them in 10X20 trays that only allow up to 1/2cm of water to accumulate in the tray (I poked a drainage hole in there). I fill the tray up in the morning, and by the evening, the water is completely all gone, but the soil in the pot is still fully hydrated. Plants are watered daily.
During the winter, when the plant has formed a tuber, I keep the pots out of the tray. They get rained on all winter long, but never sit in any water for any period of time. The soil even got dry on the top layer from our drought, but it wasn't a problem during the dormancy period.
Repotting:
Even with somewhat small tubers, these plants can form a ton of roots, so it's best to give them a big pot once they have gained good growth momentum. If you have a small, weak plant, keep it in a smaller pot until it starts growing strong....then the following winter dormancy period, they can be transplanted.
If you have a big, healthy, beefy tuber that grew very strong during the grow season, it can produce several side tubers by the time it goes dormant again! Most of the times though, one tuber will produce two plants, so you can expect doubling every year with proper care.
And now for some pics, taken 7/27/22. These might still be getting too much sun, as some of the flowers looked a little pale from too much light:
I live in a very windy area, and one of my plants fell over from being blown around too much. It didn't snap the stalk off, but it's got it's lean on (not pictured). These probably could benefit from being staked once the spike has formed:
One last thought: if your plant is pushing up a very dinky (tiny) spike with a small amount of flowers, this might take some will power to do, but I would recommend cutting it off. the flowers the next season will be so much bigger, and you can get a lot more tubers this way!
Anyways, I'll update this thread as I learn more about this orchid! Feel free to post pics of your plants or any questions you may have, I probably didn't cover everything.
Anyways, almost every last plant that I acquired was on the verge of death or had some serious fungal/bacterial infection that had to be surgically removed. In other words, from the get go, growers are destined to fail unless they either get lucky or take a really good guess at how to grow them and succeed the very first try with material that is in serious decline.
First off, the best time to acquire plants is during the winter dormancy period when they are tubers (shoots die down to the ground). A healthy tuber has lots of large, white, thick roots and zero black spots on the tuber/roots. That said, it's still possible to acquire and establish these plants during late spring/early summer, but it's a bit dicey: totally depends on the health of the plant. If you're buying something that's fully established and with great growth momentum, you can get it anytime of the year, but buying a plant with half of the roots cut off and no tuber in the spring/summer is a huge gamble.
Soil and Fertilizer:
I grow my plants in 100% peat and only use reverse osmosis water on them. I bet EB stone's African Violet mix would work, but haven't tried it. You can probably also grow them in sphagnum/pumice mix, pure sphagnum, or whatever you can think of that Sarracenia also grow in! I haven't tried it, so no blaming MW if it gives you trouble, pure peat is proven!
In terms of fertilizers, I start feeding them maxsea (1/4 strength, 1X per month) when the shoots have fully emerged. Do not fertilize them right when they start growing in the spring! Let the plant use up the nutrients in the tuber first, otherwise you may weaken the plant and make it more susceptible to rot. when exactly do you start fertilizing? Probably when the plant has 2-3 fully grown leaves on them. As soon as you see a flower spike or as soon as growth slows down in early to mid August (depends on where you are), that's when the plant should no longer receive anymore fertilizer. Be very careful to not over-do it and err on the side of caution when fertilizing (less is more). One over-feeding can cause the plant to almost immediately die! Also, if the plant is stressed out for some reason, don't fertilize, otherwise this can invite pathogens. It was cold and foggy here during the spring, and I saw a bacterial spot forming on one plant, so I stopped feeding it until the heat of the early summer kicked in.
Light
I'm still figuring this out! Initially, they were given full sun, but during the heat waves, the stems and even some leaves would turn black from heat stress, and this would set the plants back drastically. Now they are getting morning and early afternoon sun, and the rest of the day they'll get shade. I think part sun is what you want to aim for, or bright indirect light all day long. Just make sure the indirect light is powerful, otherwise your plants will get very leggy and fall over. Even if they're in part sun, they may still fall over, they do get tall!
Temperature:
Sarracenia temperature range is ideal: don't go below 20F potted, and put them in shade if temperatures go above 100F. I'm sure in part sun they can take 100F+, especially if they're acclimated to your environment, but it's always best to err on the side of caution.
I had some plants that started to emerge in April, and we had some late frosts that completely destroyed the outer sheeth of the emerging shoots. Luckily, they're so dense that only the outside was damaged, no plant was actually killed from the late frosts. However, if you have deep freezing (temps below 27F for more than a few hours), protect new shoots from these freezing events, otherwise I surmise they will be killed off. If the plants are potted in big enough pots, they can probably take down to 20F. In a bog, you probably don't have to worry about freezing. I keep my plants by the side of the house, so they only experience down to about 29F in the winter.
WATERING
Here's the tricky part that will either make or break your plants! The soil needs to be kept hydrated at all times during the grow season, but not waterlogged! If you sit these in water for long periods of time and the soil starts to get anaerobic, the thick, fleshy, air-loving roots will rot. On the other hand, if the soil dries out during the grow season, your plant will be dead! I keep them in 10X20 trays that only allow up to 1/2cm of water to accumulate in the tray (I poked a drainage hole in there). I fill the tray up in the morning, and by the evening, the water is completely all gone, but the soil in the pot is still fully hydrated. Plants are watered daily.
During the winter, when the plant has formed a tuber, I keep the pots out of the tray. They get rained on all winter long, but never sit in any water for any period of time. The soil even got dry on the top layer from our drought, but it wasn't a problem during the dormancy period.
Repotting:
Even with somewhat small tubers, these plants can form a ton of roots, so it's best to give them a big pot once they have gained good growth momentum. If you have a small, weak plant, keep it in a smaller pot until it starts growing strong....then the following winter dormancy period, they can be transplanted.
If you have a big, healthy, beefy tuber that grew very strong during the grow season, it can produce several side tubers by the time it goes dormant again! Most of the times though, one tuber will produce two plants, so you can expect doubling every year with proper care.
And now for some pics, taken 7/27/22. These might still be getting too much sun, as some of the flowers looked a little pale from too much light:
I live in a very windy area, and one of my plants fell over from being blown around too much. It didn't snap the stalk off, but it's got it's lean on (not pictured). These probably could benefit from being staked once the spike has formed:
One last thought: if your plant is pushing up a very dinky (tiny) spike with a small amount of flowers, this might take some will power to do, but I would recommend cutting it off. the flowers the next season will be so much bigger, and you can get a lot more tubers this way!
Anyways, I'll update this thread as I learn more about this orchid! Feel free to post pics of your plants or any questions you may have, I probably didn't cover everything.