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Maxillaria tenuifolia

Dave S.

NECPS President
I bought a Maxillaria tenuifolia (Coconut Orchid) last summer at the RI Orchid Show. I purchased it when it was in bloom. I was moving plants around in my lowland terrarium and found that it bloomed:

maxtencoconut2.jpg


I have three that I'm growing in lowland, intermediate and highland conditions. I have read that it does get down to a low in the 50F range.

It is fragrant with a strong smell of coconut. If I was limited to only grow one orchid, this one would be it.
 
before I trading it for something I wanted a whole lot. I remember the Max, but not what I got for it. I also had a Max hematoglossa and traded it for some cloud forest species I mostly killed. Moral of the story - I shoulda kept both of them.
 
ill check tags but do yah think yah sent it to me Bruce? if its the orchid im thinking of i might be able to divide it
 
how expensive are they actually? do they make good house plants like Phals.?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (glider14 @ Mar. 27 2006,7:33)]how expensive are they actually? do they make good house plants like Phals.?
I spent $25 on this one, but you can get them cheaper for smaller plants. I am growing one outside a terrarium and it is doing OK. It is supposed to be an easy orchid to grow.
 
What happened to my message?!?  I swear it made sense when I typed it.  Maybe I did send that Max to you Rattler.  If I did, I hope you like it and thanks for offering me a piece of it.  I know I sent the other Max to someone in California.  But I'm trying to cut the orchid collection back by 1/2 or more in the next couple months, and I would probably put it in the upcoming auction if I still had it.
 
checked the tag last night and its one of the ones you sent me.

Glider, havent bloomed mine yet but its growing just fine outside a terrarium for me. humidity in my house must be all of 15% right now do to it being winter and the furnace is going. its growing just fine
 
Well I wish someone could shed some light on how to bloom this sucker. I have one that is filling a 6 inch basket and its more than bloom sized, yet it refuses to bloom. I think its the non blooming variety. I have done everything from trying to fry it with full sun to letting it get dry. I duno what to do next. It is already really yellow from getting so much sun last summer. LOL I have two Max's and both are a pain to bloom. The other is a rufiscens (sp) yellow form, and its growing like a weed, but not flowering either. I duno I am about to give up on it.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (JB_OrchidGuy @ April 11 2006,2:46)]Well I wish someone could shed some light on how to bloom this sucker.  
I keep mine warm, 70-80F in medium light with a long photo-period. A friend of mine who bought his at the same time as me is also in bloom. I don't think I fertilized it even once during the past year. My guess would be that the orchid needs to be underpotted and over three years old. I have kept it wet/damp all the time like a lowland nep.
 
  • #10
Welly My tenufolia is plenty big enough to bloom. Its filling a 6 inch basket. I don;t buy the underpotting thing that people talk about. The plants are not underpotted in nature and bloom. It may not like drying out like it does in the basket that could be the problem. I may try to pot it in a plastic pot. It should be loaded with blooms, but isn't so its time to change something. Thanks!
 
  • #11
We put orchids in pots or baskets because it works better than mounting for most of us. But epiphytes are always underpotted in nature because they're clinging to a tree or have found a spot where they can get some roots into a cranny with some accumulated organic matter. It isn't just orchids who are more likely to bloom if underpotted. The same is true for lots of plants that aren't epiphytes.
 
  • #12
Well, Bruse the reason I say that they are not underpoted in nature is because its basicly true.  Now you are absolutely correct in saying the roots go and find little noocks and crannys, but its not like the entire root ball is rootbound.  There was a discusion on anohter forum about this, and a guy was going experments by overpotting some plants.  They put off less arial roots and seem to do fine too.  We kind of force the plant to go arial by not giving it enough pot room.  Now I know that your not going to keep some orchids in a pot no matter how are you try, but if you think about it the medium in the pot simulates those little nooks and crannys your talking about in the wild witht he space inbetween the medium.  Underpotting is a big issue when it comes to growing semihydro too.  Since the roots can literaly fill all the nooks and choke itself off if left in semihydro for so long without the roots being disturbed.  Its good for the first few years  After being there for a while and never disturbing the roots the plant can become choked.  I don;t have a problem with mounting an orchid if the orchid will do better.  I have plenty of mounts as it is so more isn't anymore of a chore to maintain.  I just think that sometimes we do things because it is what everyone says is the right thing, but sometimes its not nessisarily true.  I take what people say as a guideline not as gospel.  Also think about it from this point too.  Some mounts do not have all the nnoks and crannys for the roots to go into and those plants bloom fine too.  So not to totaly discount your take on it, I just think that its not as detramental as its being put.  Overpotting I don;t think is as bad as some people make it out to be.  Some of the main reasons I have heard for not overpotting is not for the plants sake, but for the growers.  It take more medium for larger pots and if there is not roots in the entire pot it can be a waste.  The bigger pots hold moisture longer since the roots are not absorbing the water, and they take up more space.  So that right there is the reason I think many people do not overpot, but it has been turned into oh the plantws do better underpotted.  So I duno the correct answer.   I know the reported best answer and I know the accepted answer, but are they really the accurate answer as far as the plant is concerned, or does it work so its assumed to be correct.  There is alot of variables I think.  Thats why I stress that everythin any orchid grower tells you on how to grow an orchid should only be looked at as a guideline and not the concrete way to do it.  Since what works for me may not work for you, but the advice give a guideline on where to start, but needs to be tweeked for your conditions and grow style.
 
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