# Spiranthes cernua var. odorata care



## The Orchid Boy (Jun 7, 2013)

I got a Spiranthes cernua var. odorata as a gift. I think I know how to care for it but I want your opinions. Light, water, media compared to cyps? And should I dig a hole and ammend soil, sink a pot and leave outside, grow in pot and sink or don't sink it and put in refridgerater?


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## Erythrone (Jun 7, 2013)

The easiest orchid for me! The media was bark with some othe stuff when I repotted it many years ago. It is now all broken and the plant is still healthy even in a stale condition. I grow it very wet in summer (the pot often sits in water). For winter: some years it is outdoor, under a protecting blanket, sometimes in a cool storing place with veggies, semetimes in the front of a window.

Very very very tolerant!


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## NYEric (Jun 7, 2013)

They grow very wet in nature.


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## The Orchid Boy (Jun 7, 2013)

So courser bark mix or finer cup mix? And dormancy? How low can they handle? I'm in zone 5a.


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## cnycharles (Jun 10, 2013)

it's a close cousin to spiranthes cernua which grows up into canada, so if you were to leave it in a pot outside in a moist place maybe with a bucket cover it would be fine. I'd probably have it in a pot sitting in water during the warmer part of the year, just because the water would help cool the roots


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## Erythrone (Jun 11, 2013)

The Orchid Boy said:


> So courser bark mix or finer cup mix? And dormancy? How low can they handle? I'm in zone 5a.




Orchidboy..... I live in a colder zone than you... (USDA zone 3!!! But with a good snow cover)

And yes I try to give it dormancy any year. Lots of water in summer. Less in winter. 

The reason why I sometimes grow it indoor in winter is that it is a very late bloomer and the flowering stem can be killed by frost (it blooms in novembre-december here). So I sometimes bring the pot indoor in fall and it is often too late to bring it outdoor with the other pots under the "carpets".

I used fine bark at first (but the media looks now like dirt)


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## fbrem (Jun 11, 2013)

I grow mine outdoors in my bog garden with my Sarracenia and Dionaea. 1:1 ratio of peat:sand. I also put a division in a raised bed in my back yard with regular ol' soil, sand, and compost. A very easy one to grow.


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## The Orchid Boy (Jun 11, 2013)

It's in a 2" pot now. Does it like a big pot like cyps? How much bigger of pot? I think I'm worrying about it too much...


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## mrhappyrotter (Jun 11, 2013)

I actually picked up a 5 inch pot full of these on Saturday. My plan is to grow outdoors year round in the pot, but that probably won't work in your area due to winter temps.

I've always seen them grown on the wet side in cultivation -- outdoor bog gardens, near garden ponds, or close enough to the hose that they can be watered easily and frequently. They do well when grown that way.

To me, it's interesting that I've always seen them grown that way in the garden. Locally, there are at least 2, maybe 3 different species (or perhaps varieties of the same species, I'm not particularly privvy to spiranthes taxonomy) that I've encountered in the wild. I've never seen them in particularly close proximity to bodies of water, and certainly not in areas that are boggy or prone to flooding. They've always been in fairly dry woodlands, sometimes in deep shade or hidden deep down in the grass of open woodland clearings.


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## cnycharles (Jun 13, 2013)

there are spiranthes that grow in more 'dry' conditions, but dry meaning there isn't standing water. they aren't truly dry, but often there is groundwater or a seep not far away, so that they don't truly completely dry out at any time. there are ones that grow on banks near here or in sandy places, but water is never far away in the ground

erythrone answered your question pretty well; they can be outside in any cold climate as long as they have lots of snow cover, since that would moderate the temps and keep the ground and plant from freeze-drying from wind or frost. you could always shovel some snow on top if it was a thin, cold year


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## The Orchid Boy (Jun 13, 2013)

Full sun? That's what I've been told...


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## Erythrone (Jun 13, 2013)

Full sun here


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