how do you grow these dews?

[FarmerDave]

Hello everyone!
in 2007 i have set a goal to obatain and grow one of the folllowing plants, but I don't know exactly how to grow them 'perfectly'.
So i come to you all to ask which one of these is easiest to grow and what conditions do they need.

Thanks!

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

Well, I am doing ok with my petiolis complex. The only one I am growing is paradoxa. It is flowering, but hasn't had much dew since summer. The 3 I recived from Pyro are just surviveing and one kicked the bucket. So I cannot give you much advice on those.

I don;t grow gramnifolia I don't think. So no go on that one.

Now Regia is pretty easy. I hear it doesn't like it too hot, but mine survived over the summer here in Ga. It has just exploded during the winter though. Covered in Dew and REAL sticky. It is being grown in live sphag and I have it sitting in a tray of water that I let dry out for a few days before watering again. I find that all my dews respond better if they are not constantly sitting in water. I will fill the water just under the soil level, but then not refill it till it has been try for a few days. The peat or LFS never dires out and is always atleast damp.

I am sure there are alot more experienced people that can give you better pointers. That is hwo I have done it with luck so far.

 

[Not a Number]

Quote[/b] (JB_OrchidGuy @ Dec. 27 2006,6:57)]Well, I am doing ok with my petiolis complex. The only one I am growing is paradoxa. It is flowering, but hasn't had much dew since summer. The 3 I recived from Pyro are just surviveing and one kicked the bucket. So I cannot give you much advice on those.

How are you growing your D. paradoxa? I have about 8-9 plants, and 3 or so just sort of disintegrated. The leaves (dewless) just sort of shriveled up and fell apart. When I touched the plant with some tweezers - all the leaves including the fuzzy part where the growing point should be just flew apart kind of like a dandelion. There's maybe the bottom most row or two of leaves left and a kind of woody stem were the fuzzy part was.

 

[FarmerDave]

wow that stinks!

Quote[/b] ] have about 8-9 plants, and 3 or so just sort of disintegrated. The leaves (dewless) just sort of shriveled up and fell apart. When I touched the plant with some tweezers - all the leaves including the fuzzy part where the growing point should be just flew apart kind of like a dandelion. There's maybe the bottom most row or two of leaves left and a kind of woody stem were the fuzzy part was.

 

[Pyro]

None of these are exactly "easy" plants.

For Petiolaris complex you will need to provide stable warm conditions. I would definitly suggest you start with paradoxa because it is the most robust. If you can not keep it alive then do not bother trying any of the other species because you are doomed to failure. My techniqe (just one of many) is to take a 10 gallon tank and flip it on its side then silicon a small (10cm) side wall onto it. To cover the open portion I make up a screen/plastic top that I can not really describe but I might have pics of somewhere. For reference the small sides are now front and back. I put a 10-20G reptile heat mat on the back and then wrap the back bottom and full glass side with foil and then stick lights on top. Watering is by adding no more than 2cm water and letting it stand until dry before adding more. I have gone up to a week dry with no adverse effects. My media is 2/1/1 sand/LFS/pine bark mulch and I use tall-style 6cm pots.

For D. graminifolia and D. regia I find that high elevation treatment is best. D. regia may be able to take the heat some (as JB noted though I lost 3 regia to the heat of Atl summer so...). I use live sphag for graminifolia and it does great. For the regia I have I use a variety of media, some are in LFS some in a pine bark mulch/perlite mix and some in a sand/peat mix. All seem to be happy.

 

[Not a Number]

Quote[/b] (Farmer Dave @ Dec. 27 2006,10:04)]wow that stinks!

Yep, although I found evidence that looked like a bug or something. Probing around in the moss - I saw one leaf waggling even after I turned off the fan - and that's when the first plant "exploded" - I found a silk nest/tube and what looked like seeds or caterpillar poop. No critter that I could find though.

The odd thing was the center part with the fuzz was still green and the new leaves still looked normal.

 

[Not a Number]

Quote[/b] (Pyro @ Dec. 28 2006,3:58)]None of these are exactly "easy" plants.

For Petiolaris complex you will need to provide stable warm conditions. I would definitly suggest you start with paradoxa because it is the most robust. If you can not keep it alive then do not bother trying any of the other species because you are doomed to failure. My techniqe (just one of many) is to take a 10 gallon tank and flip it on its side then silicon a small (10cm) side wall onto it. To cover the open portion I make up a screen/plastic top that I can not really describe but I might have pics of somewhere. For reference the small sides are now front and back. I put a 10-20G reptile heat mat on the back and then wrap the back bottom and full glass side with foil and then stick lights on top. Watering is by adding no more than 2cm water and letting it stand until dry before adding more. I have gone up to a week dry with no adverse effects. My media is 2/1/1 sand/LFS/pine bark mulch and I use tall-style 5cm pots.

I used a sand/peat mix 2 parts sand to 1 part peat, and was letting the tray go dry between waterings (every 2nd day or so). The plants were in seed tray "plugs" four or five plants per plug. I just planted them plug 'n all for the time being, intent on repotting later on - the plants appear dormant.

I put them in my tank, which drops to around 68F at night and is usually around 72F during the day.

I've only had the plants a couple weeks.

So deep/tall pots are best for this complex?

 

[Pyro]

Quote[/b] (Not a Number @ Dec. 28 2006,7:58)]So deep/tall pots are best for this complex?

These plants by and large have deep root systems. Most people I know use a 15-20cm pot. However, given space limitations I need something that is not quite so broad. The 6cm tall pots give me the depth I need without sacrificing valuable lateral space. So I get 32 pots/10G tank vs 16.

 

[Clint]

Josh, what about that D. falconeri I sent you?