The bud is still hanging on this morning… and it is looking good. Last time it bloomed I had it in the nano-vivarium, and the growing conditions in this vivarium are so much better, so I really cannot figure out what the problem is. At this point I am keeping both fingers and toes crossed hoping it will make it all the way. Stay tuned…
…and as promised. Here are a few more photos of the tropical weed “freeloader” that is very happily growing on the piece of bark the Leptotes unicolor is mounted on. I rather like it, it looks natural and very rain forest like. I can’t help but wondering what it is. Does anyone know what it can be?
Hi Karma. Sorry to hear about the bud blast. I can see what you are saying about conflicting information on the web. I mean, cool to warm, warm to cool…which one is people?!? Here’s some things i found that maybe you already know, but might trigger something that you can use.
L. bicolor, has the broadest range in terms of evironment. So they are found in both cloud forest and the dryer woods. Maybe this is why there are the different temps stated all over the web. I also read, they don’t like excessive humidity, and do best with intermediate temps, and filtered sunlight. Now, this last one kind of got me thinking, especially with the new pics.
Maybe the bottom bud is doing better, because it is the furthest one from the light?? You said you had it in the nanovivarium prior to moving it into the better conditions of this vivarium. Maybe it is still adjusting to its new environment, and hopefully it will only be for this one growth season.
As for the tropical weed, i agree with you about it being a neat little thing. At first with the other photo, i thought it was gingko, but clearly the leaves are a different shape with the new pics. I just hope it isn’t sapping all the nutrients from the leptotes. Maybe readjusting that will help, or possibly seperating the two if leptotes doesn’t recover. It does lend itself to making the scenery look more authentic. Your on your way to a mini rainforest Karma 🙂
I’ll continue to look around and see if i can find something else out. We’ll figure it out Karma!! Oh, and here’s something fun i found out about leptotes. There are records of the flowers and fruits being used just like vanilla in milk, ice cream, tea, and candies, as well as it growing as a lithophyte 🙂
Mmmmm Leptotes ice cream….. Thanks a lot Joan for trying to help me solve this dilemma… Interesting to hear that your research lead to you to advice on less light and lower humidity – my research lead to the direct opposite!! :O The advice I found was to grow them bright, Cattleya/Dendrobium levels and very high humidity. I have been growing it lower in the viv, at Phalaenopsis/Aerengis levels, since that is what it had before in the nano, but perhaps it would like more light? It is a member of the Cattleya Alliance after all… But I really don’t think lack of light is the problem either since it is actually setting buds. Sigh. Talk about confusing! Perhaps I’d be better off just trying to placate the flower gods with some voodoo or something…? 😉
Oh… and the tropical weed… I don’t see many roots from it at all so I don’t think they compete too much with each other since it is mounted and get the nutrients in the water not the potting medium. But who knows… but I like the rain forest feel… wonder what it is though…
Weed update…
A friend on Flickr told me that the freeloader on the Leptotes might be a tropical fern called Phlebodium aureum ‘Glaucum’. Aparently these can grow pretty big so I might have to think of separate accommodations for it in a year… Thanks Dudlik!