Herself's Houseplants

It is nice to see some new orchids coming to the local plant dealers.  This is the first Grammatophyllum I’ve had or seen.  Outside this plant wants light shade, which indoors means a bright, sunny window.

Temperatures can be as hot as 105′F These grow outside in Houston but it’d really be much happier if you kept the temperature under 85′F.  Nights should be around 55′F So find a drafty window or door to put it near.  Or place it outside in light shade when not in bloom.  It can tolerate an occasional light frost.

Watering should be frequent, water frequently but do not let it sit in water.

Grammatophyllums are from the rainforests of Asia, so keep the humidity as high as you can.

As you can see in the photo these are large orchid plants, so they are great for floor plants.

Watch for rust, give it more sun if you see the rust fungus on the plant and better air circulation.

The more sun it gets the more blooms you will get.

Fertilize regularly, most orchid growers are now using the time release pellets when they repot their orchids.  I still prefer my liquid fertilizers.

There are over ~ 2000 species in the Pleurothallis family.

The tripterantha are easy to grow  and bloom year round.

Because Pleurothallis tripterantha remains tiny and prefers temperatures between 60′F and 85′F it’s a great plant for terrariums.

Light should be shade to bright light, no direct sunlight.

These are epiphytic rain forest plants, found in Central and South America.  So keep the roots wet, humidity high, but do not leave sitting in water. I find mixing peat moss in with orchid soil helps to keep the roots from rotting.

I’m having a difficult time finding information on this plant, I’ll update this entry after I’ve been growing the plant a while and had more time to experiment with it.