Oh this is sooo exciting! My very first flask baby to flower – and she did it in record time! This Oerstedella centradenia came from Roellke in Germany and it was flasked out in May of 2008. That makes a trip from flask to flower of no more than 1,5 years. Impressive!
Both of the original shoots are producing buds now, and there are two new shoots coming as well. The first flower just opened and it is a beauty! Edit: New photo with more open flowers. It is going to look quite impressive when the rest of the buds open up. Oerstedella centradenia, also synonymous with Epidendrum centradenia, can be found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama – and now in Gothenburg… It likes wet warm conditions. So, I have been growing it mounted on EpiWeb in the warm vivarium hanging pretty close to the lights, spraying the roots daily and dipping weekly. Obviously the little lady thinks I got it right.
I actually got it in a trade with a Norwegian friend of mine this spring and it has been growing like gang busters ever since. There are roots everywhere! Check out how much it has grown since I got it in April (it is the larger one of the two in the picture on the left) until now in November. It is hard to believe it is the same plant. The original EpiWeb pad is the moss-covered piece in the second picture, mounted onto 3 times larger piece – just to give you a sense of scale.
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Wow! Your plants are so healthy and gorgeous, I’m really envious. Especially when I look at those roots. My one and only phal is currently struggling through an adaptation to Semi-hydroponics. The recent drop in temperature and dry air of southern California does not help one bit… I really like your blog, keep it up!
Hi MT. Thanks!! 🙂 Great to hear you enjoy the blog. Yes, those roots are fantastic! But almost all the plants in the vivarium has nice and healthy roots. The high humidity really is the trick. We are asking a lot for some of these orchids to thrive on the windowsill in our dry climates…´we have similar problems here. In the winter when we turn on the heat the relative humidity in our homes drop to almost nothing, worse than any Santa Ana for the orchids… but nothing a good humidifier cannot fix. Makes us breathe a lot easier too. I have one Phal keiki in semi-hydro with volcanic rocks. It is doing great. It is almost as big as the mother plant now. Good luck with yours. 🙂
I got an Oerstedella centradenia as a ‘Xmas gift about a week ago. It was collected from the forest in Guatemala, I believe. I had no idea how to grow it since it is attached to a small twig, a whole mass of roots, stems and leaves, but after reading your comments and seeing the photos I have a better idea of how to take care of it. I live in San Salvador, Central America, and I grow my plants outside in the garden. This time of the year, which is the dry season is also the coolest month of the year. During the day we have 20°C in the shade and at night the temp drops to 14°C. I will keep my O. centradenia moist.
I like your blog. Cool!
Thanks a lot Leon. It is nice to hear that you like my blog. 🙂 Also nice to know I could be of some assistance with your xmas Oerstedella. Like I said, mine like it nice and warm, humid, and pretty bright. But I also get drops to about 14-15 degrees at night this time a year, so it will probably do great in your garden. How nice to be able to grow outdoors year round. Today we woke up to about 5 cm of snow outside here… Have a very nice xmas!