# Pecteilis sagarikii



## KyushuCalanthe (Oct 3, 2008)

An endemic of Thailand's deciduous tropical forest is this odd little plant. It is a winter dormant species, with winter being a dry period, but not cold. 












This is its second year with me and so far, so good. I grow it a well draining mix high in organics like bark, leaf mould, and peat with plenty of coarse perlite. One thing though, please DON'T call it the "Donald Duck orchid"!


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## Hakone (Oct 3, 2008)

very nice , thanks


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## goldenrose (Oct 3, 2008)

:clap::clap: AWE... so cute! Lovely photos Tom!


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## NYEric (Oct 3, 2008)

Nice, good photo.


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## Yoyo_Jo (Oct 3, 2008)

Very interesting flowers; reminds me of a bird, but wasn't Donald Duck I was thinking of. Great photos. :clap:


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## biothanasis (Oct 3, 2008)

Great photos!!! I hope mine blooms like this next year!!!Thank for the tips!!!


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## Kevin (Oct 3, 2008)

Very cool! Never seen this species before.


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## SlipperFan (Oct 3, 2008)

Oh my -- another one for my wish list...


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## paphioboy (Oct 3, 2008)

> One thing though, please DON'T call it the "Donald Duck orchid"!



But that's what it is...  beautiful..!! If I don't kill my susannae, I have to get one..


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## JeanLux (Oct 4, 2008)

new to me too, but very very interesting!!! Jean


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## KyushuCalanthe (Oct 4, 2008)

paphioboy said:


> But that's what it is...  beautiful..!! If I don't kill my susannae, I have to get one..



I think this one may be a bit easier than _P. susannae_, so give one a try regardless. I'm growing _P. susannae_ this year as well, but so far no flowers!


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## GuRu (Oct 4, 2008)

JeanLux said:


> new to me too, but very very interesting!!! Jean


It's the same to me - but not only interesting also very beautiful and on top of that very good photos, congrats!!

Best regards from Germany, rudolf


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## Shadow (Oct 5, 2008)

Very nice! :clap:
I've heard that this specie needs fire on top of the pot once a year to imitate grassland fires that occur regularly in its natural habitat. The author of the article claimed that the culture without such fires will lead to plant degradation. Do you organise fires for your plant?


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## KyushuCalanthe (Oct 5, 2008)

Shadow said:


> Very nice! :clap:
> I've heard that this specie needs fire on top of the pot once a year to imitate grassland fires that occur regularly in its natural habitat. The author of the article claimed that the culture without such fires will lead to plant degradation. Do you organise fires for your plant?



Yes, I put it on the BBQ every December! :rollhappy::rollhappy: OK, OK, no, I don't bother with that, but I do put some charcoal in the mix, so maybe that keeps it happy?


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## Shadow (Oct 5, 2008)

Thanks! You've just made few people very happy!

Couple of my friends have ordered the bulbs and after searching the Internet and reading that article are thinking about organising fires at home. They will be very happy to learn about your plant and charcoal.


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## biothanasis (Oct 5, 2008)

Wow! I have some sussannae bulbs too, but it is the first time I am growng this species!! The fire treatment sounds interesting and I think that carcoal makes it easier than it sounds...!!!! Thank you Tom for the tip!!!


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## rhiZoctonia (Oct 7, 2008)

That first picture is beautiful!!
William Rhodehamel has an article on this in the October 2007 issue of the AOS magazine, except he calls it Pecteilis hawkesiana. The tricky part to their cultivation is keeping the tubers through the winter rest period. Too much water and they rot, but if you don't water them at all, they dry out and fail to come up in the spring. (They rot instead; this happened to me.) I don't think they need fire to grow or bloom. I have read that Pecteilis susannae is fire dependent, though.

Gene


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## KyushuCalanthe (Oct 7, 2008)

Hey Gene,

Yeah this species has been floating back and forth between the two names. I'll let the taxonomists fight it out. To avoid rot in winter I remove all my tuber forming orchids from their pots and store them in slightly, *and do mean slightly*, damp vermiculite in freezer bags. Depending on the genus these are stored either in a closet or in the fridge. I treat _Habenaria, Pecteilis, Amitostigma_, and _Ponerorchis_ this way and so far I've had good success. Still, I recommend a monthly inspection to be sure no problems are developing.


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## paphjoint (Oct 8, 2008)

Great - you make me want one!


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## cnycharles (Oct 9, 2008)

very interesting! also because it looks just like (leafwise) platanthera orbiculata and platanthera macrophylla (north american terrestrial orchids) and the flowers are remarkably similar in the general shape. i'm not a geneticist or anything close, but it would be very interesting to see just how related they are and if they would hybridize. the two platantheras I mentioned need cold winters

one thing I read about different smoke-dependent species (not necessarily orchids, and it was word of mouth communication not cite-able) was that for someone who mowed down the surrounding brush but the plants didn't come back strongly was that using a very dilute solution of the stuff called Liquid Smoke for barbecuers found in grocery stores would trigger new growth. others just needed certain nutrients that wouldn't be in high supply after a little while (likely in a sandy, low nutrient jungle area) so that the burning just made them more available. others just needed the increased light made available from burning the cover plants


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## rhiZoctonia (Oct 12, 2008)

KyushuCalanthe said:


> Hey Gene,
> 
> Yeah this species has been floating back and forth between the two names. I'll let the taxonomists fight it out. To avoid rot in winter I remove all my tuber forming orchids from their pots and store them in slightly, *and do mean slightly*, damp vermiculite in freezer bags. Depending on the genus these are stored either in a closet or in the fridge. I treat _Habenaria, Pecteilis, Amitostigma_, and _Ponerorchis_ this way and so far I've had good success. Still, I recommend a monthly inspection to be sure no problems are developing.


Thanks. You must have read my mind, since I was going to ask how to keep the tubers over the winter. My original plan was to keep them in their pot, keep the pot indoors, and add some water every week or two. I like your idea better, since it is easier to keep an eye on the tubers this way.

Gene


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## Ed M (Oct 13, 2008)

I wish I had some pollen from Pecteilis sagarikii right now. My plant of Pecteilis susannae is coming into bloom. This is the one that is two feet tall with flowers four inches across. It would make a great hybrid.


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## rhiZoctonia (Oct 15, 2008)

Ed M said:


> I wish I had some pollen from Pecteilis sagarikii right now. My plant of Pecteilis susannae is coming into bloom. This is the one that is two feet tall with flowers four inches across. It would make a great hybrid.


Hi Ed.
I understand that some P. susannae were available at the WOC. How are you growing it? I'm interested in the type of compost, and the watering schedule. Thanks (and congratulations on getting the plant to flower).


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## Ed M (Oct 16, 2008)

Yes, I got the P. susannae tuber at the WOC.

The plant in nature grows amongst rocks and grows and flowers best after a fire. Most plants in cultivation live for just a few years. Reportedly, some of the most successful growers burn a small pile of twigs over the plant's container after it has gone dormant. After I got home with it, I looked around on the internet for cultural information. There I learned it is getting rare in nature due to over-collection and I found pleas from one individual not to buy it because long-term cultivation usually doesn't happen. So, I really don't want to encourage anyone to buy a wild collected plant. I did not ask if mine was wild collected or nursery grown, I simply didn't know and assumed it was nursery grown.

The tuber on mine was quite long...about seven inches, and about two inches thick. I didn't have any appropriate nursery cans and so I bought a clear green plastic wastebasket about 14 inches deep and made drainage holes in the bottom. The compost I am using contains lots of hardwood charcoal, and seedling grade fir bark chips, spongerock, chopped sphagnum moss, peat, tree fern, and coarse sand. I kept it fairly dry until I started noticing growth at the top of the tuber, then I occasionally watered lightly around the perimeter of the pot. After the first couple of basal leaves, a ring of roots emerged at the base of the growth and I began watering more frequently and fertilizing. The upright growth is now about two feet high and the bracts at the top are protecting a number of large flower buds with nectaries. Through the clear sides of the container I can see a very large tuber forming. I expect it will start opening flowers any day now.


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## rhiZoctonia (Oct 29, 2008)

Thanks, Ed. I was interested in hearing from someone who is growing this successfully since, as you saw, information on the web is pretty sparse. I didn't realize the tuber got to be that large; I was figuring maybe 2 inches max (??) I'll have to see if any more of these are offered in the future.

Gene Z


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## paphioboy (Oct 30, 2008)

Great buy, Ed...  Whoa..! The one I bought in September (flowering size) came in a 4 inch pot only, so the tuber must be small compared to yours.. But it was 2 feet tall and carried 4-inch flowers too... I'm not sure, but I think that pec. susannae has been germinated in-vitro successfully, although some people claim that the yield is low.. I am still not sure whether to 'burn' mine or not as it hasn't gone dormant yet... Is burning necessary to have strong new growths..?


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## biothanasis (Oct 30, 2008)

Thank you for the info Ed!!!


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