petiolaris complex

[chloroplast]

Hello everyone,

What is your favorite potting mix to use for the petiolaris complex (d. paradoxa, broomensis, ordensis, etc.)?

I've been thinking of using a 1:1 LFSerlite mix, or perhaps pure new zealand LFS. Any thoughts as to whether this would work?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Pyro]

IIRC Lowrie recomends a 3:2 perliteeat mix with the exception being falconerii which he recommends 1:1 peat:sand.

I use a rather unorthodox mix at the moment; 2:1:1 sand:LFSine bark mulch. This works great for me under my conditions but I am not going to swear by it for everyone to use. In the past I have had success with 1:1 and 2:1 peat:sand and I find that a couple live sphag heads right next to the plant are often beneficial (at least under my conditions.)

 

[homer]

I've had great success with equal parts peat and perlite with D. ordensis. Silica sand and peat work great for D. falconeri under my care. My main concern is making sure the soil media is free of excess minerals or pathogens (moss, etc)

-Homer

 

[jimscott]

I am using peat & sand, with LFS on top, whic is now live LFS Ron Lane sent me a petiolaris-dilatato that was in peat and sand.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I used LFS/perlite pretty much 50/50 with some laterite mixed in (available at tropical fish stores) with good success. The aim is for a light mix that will dry off quickly when dormancy is noted. Also avoid overpotting the Pets - it takes longer to dry off the medium is there is a lot of it, and the plants can rot quite quickly once dormancy sets in.

 

[chloroplast]

Wow. Thank you all for the valuable input. I really appreciate it.

 

[RL7836]

Quote[/b] (Pyro @ May 03 2006,2:47)]

Quote[/b] ]I use a rather unorthodox mix at the moment; 2:1:1 sand:LFSine bark mulch.

You swapped out your local laterite for mulch (& now you're sharing your secret recipe!)

Quote[/b] ]... and I find that a couple live sphag heads right next to the plant are often beneficial ...

I also do this whenever I remember. Sort-of like a petiolaris good luck charm

I think a few of my plants might need some more....

 

[The Griffin]

Small pots? Lowrie talked me into deep pots (6").

Cheers,

Joe

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I'd go deep and narrow, but in cultivation (under my conditions) I found overpotting was a bad idea. I lost 3 species after repotting into larger pots and the plants were thriving when I repotted. I guess this could have triggered a dormancy reaction as all 3 stopped growing. By the time i noticed this and began drying off the medium it was already too late. I never had this issue using smaller containers. Maybe things are different in Australia?

 

[The Griffin]

I was thinking the same thing after I posted. Of course, it probably does not hurt to be living in the same area of the World they grow in Nature.
Nice to see you posting again, btw, WD.

Cheers,

Joe

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Nice to be back Joe, thanks. Well, D. petiolaris are a challenge here (at least for me). We don't get the light and heat the NT in Oz gets. Oswego gets 49% of the available sunlight and that is at a fairly Northern latitude. I've only grown a dozen or so plants of different species, so I am no expert. My best results have always been in a light and fluffy mix that dries off fairly quickly - about the only use I have for perlite. I wish I had more plants to experiment with, but seed rarely was viable when I got it and plants too expensive to mess around with. So don't take my advise as gospel by any means, but if you are up North do pay close attention to indications of dormancy: cold wet roots are bad medicine for the Pets, esp. when not in active growth ( although without a doubt there is a grower out there who grows them the size of pancakes in an icy slush, lol)

 

[chloroplast]

Quote[/b] ]I'd go deep and narrow, but in cultivation (under my conditions) I found overpotting was a bad idea.

Hey, Tamlin. Thanks for the additional info. I was going to pot them up into my regular 2.5"W pots, but I've got some deeper-than-normal varieties that I'll give a try instead. Take care.

 

[homer]

As a sidenote, I've noticed that D. paradoxa has shallow roots that don't extend nearly to the capacity of a 2.5" pot. D. ordensis; on the other hand, have are more developed root system. I have four 1-year old D. ordensis plants growing in the same 4" pot, and roots are already visible through the drainage holes.

Has anyone else observed this, or am I on my own here?

-Homer

 

[RL7836]

Quote[/b] (homer @ May 07 2006,12:18)]As a sidenote, I've noticed that D. paradoxa has shallow roots that don't extend nearly to the capacity of a 2.5" pot. D. ordensis; on the other hand, have are more developed root system. I have four 1-year old D. ordensis plants growing in the same 4" pot, and roots are already visible through the drainage holes.

Has anyone else observed this, or am I on my own here?

-Homer

I'm not too sure I've paid a lot of attention to this but my initial observations indicate that root length is more a function of the environment in which the plants are growing than a species thing. In my 'dry' tank, the plants all have robust root systems (& 1 of the 2 D. kenneallyi had an amazingly huge complex of roots).

When I received some plants that had been grown sitting in water 24/7 - they had almost no roots at all (less than 1"). These same plants in my 'dry' tank developed large root systems in a few months.

I'll try to pay more attention when repotting/dividing to see if I notice a pattern...

 

[jimscott]

That's a general truism; all things being equal, a plant in drier conditions has incentive to seek water and develop roots. In contrast, the same plant, in wetter conditions doesn;thave the incentive to look for water.