Ancistrochilus rothschildianus (and a thom)

Managed to screw up the white balance in the middle :bang:
And one quick pic of the thompsonianus which is also blooming.

 

I'm always shocked when people say how hard they find these. It must mean that they prefer lower humidity, poor quality light, not a very good temp drop at night, and decent water quality with little fert.

But seriously, since I grow them inside, that's pretty much what they get. They definitely seem to be much happier in a shallow plastic pot with LECA or similar on the bottom and a layer of sphag on top. Either with drainage holes a bit up the side or very few small ones on the bottom.

My original thom came from Hoosiers as a plump fat single bulb and the roth came from H&R as a multi-bulb division. I do think they are much easier once they get a bit of a fattened bulb. I killed a jillion with the two flasks I got from Troy after selfing the thom. In fact, only one tiny seedling left alive. Once they get to bulb size though, they couldn't be easier.

 

Ummm, I think I only repotted the roth from the way that H&R was growing it. As I recall the bulbs were growing out of the pot so I potted up. I don't see how the depth could make much difference. I'd just adjust the layer of well draining media on the bottom to suit the depth of the container, if you use my method.

Goods, they do go kind of deciduous so the leaf loss might not be so bad. Rootless...on the other hand...could be an issue. Try just nestling it into a bit of sphag that stays fairly moist. It might bounce back.

 

Checking out the forum on my phone. Will give a good reply when I'm back in town.

 

Ok so I used to water primarily by soaking and would put my entire tub of A. thom in the larger tub of water, soak for awhile, then repeat a week or so later. In the winter I would soak much less often. Gradually I've stopped soaking and done more spraying. The A. thom did better with soaking than it does with (overall drier longer) intermittant spraying.

Temps are house temps. Never higher than 85 in the summer and really not much lower than 75. In the winter, occasionally over 75 with lows of about 60 +/- a few degrees. Definitely drier in the winter what with the forced air heat, low humidities, and less frequent watering. I have a humidifier running off and on nearby but that doesn't begin to maintain what I would consider adequate humidity.

They are supposed to be deciduous and naturally grow on large branches near the trunk on deep African jungle trees. So I imagine that being fairly shady and with little or no direct water but with a good amount of water flowing down the trunks of the trees and over the branches. So I try to simulate that situation with the LECA in the bottom of a shallow pot with moss on top (figuring the moss acts like the natural detritus, moss, and othe crap that would accumulate on a thick tree branch).

There's really not much else to say about it. I can't imagine that intermediate temps in a gh with occasionaly pot drenchings following by a good drying, and a drier winter rest, will not result in success!

 

Well, in theory i could probably send some seed. However it would be many many months from now. My plants are just in their early stages of regrowth after last year's growing season and loss of leaves/blooming. So they will have to grow new leaves, bloom, be pollinated, set a pod, mature, and be harvested. Obviously that could be a very long process so you might be better off searching elsewhere. Feel free to remind me again in a few months. By then I should have matured leaves and (potentially) emerging spikes.