# How to grow delenati?



## Bjorn (Oct 24, 2014)

I have something to admit; despite being sucessful with all kinds of rare species that supposedly are difficult in cultivation, I never managed to grow delenatii well.
Actually its worse, I kill them.:sob:
And I cannot understand why. Since I got this flask of vinicolor (dunkel) the other day (could not resist, the leaves are too nice) I thought, " what? are you going to kill a full batch this time?"
To avoid this I humbly ask you guys how do I sucessfully grow these things?


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## Justin (Oct 24, 2014)

I find them easy to grow and bloom however they always seem to die after about 6 years. sine they are.inexpensive and plentiful i just restock. sorry if that doesnt help but thats my experience.


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## Chicago Chad (Oct 24, 2014)

I grow all of mine is a mix that is heavy with aggregates (sand, large perlite, and small grow stone) mixed with small orchiata and shredded sphagnum. There is less orchiata than anything else. They are packed much tighter than other plants and the roots push through it easily. I water them very heavily and they will go dry in between. They are all in clear plastic pots.

84F high in summer and 50F low in winter. Seedlings and FS plants are treated the same. 8" under LEDS and CFL. (sorry for the ignorant American measurements)


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## ALToronto (Oct 24, 2014)

Chad, I will translate. Summer high 27 degrees, winter low 10 degrees, 20 cm under lights.


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## Chicago Chad (Oct 24, 2014)

thanks... bad habits. I blame my teachers.


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## cnycharles (Oct 24, 2014)

Before I repotted it and it declined, I had one growing and flowering well in a tall styrofoam cup with holes poked in the bottom and sides. Media was medium chc charcoal large perlite and maybe something else like aliflor. It would dry between waterings usually. 
When I refreshed the media with an aragonite sand plus the New Zealand. Composted treated bark, it went into decline. I think it was the sand because I put it into a lot of pots to 'help calcium supply' and I think I burned a lot


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## MaryPientka (Oct 24, 2014)

I find delenatii the easiest species to grow. I grow them on a eastern-facing windowsill. The medium is orchiata/perlite/LECA/and a little bit of chopped sphagnum moss. For me they seem to like to be evenly moist-I let them "almost" dry-out between waterings. They seem to thrive on RO/K-lite, but are quite tolerant of any reasonably good water. My temperatures are similar to Chicago Chad's. The delenatii that I have in cache pots (held above but not in standing water) seem to sent roots down to the very bottom of the pots (I grow in clear plastic). I purchased the delenatii that I use as my avatar in 2005 at the NYBG. It is still thriving but it never grows to more than 10 growths at one time. It just seems to consume the oldest growth. Last year it decided to divide itself into 3 pieces, all doing fine. I'm not a botanist-but I seem to do well with this species.


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## SlipperKing (Oct 24, 2014)

The theme I'm reading and also go along with is, less organic and more inorganic. I'm using very close to 50% perlite/sponge rock in my mix. Lahua Orchids have been sending out many of their products with 80% +/- sponge rock all with fantastic roots. I really don't back off on the water and mine don not dry out. Greenhouse grown.


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## mrhappyrotter (Oct 24, 2014)

I think you'll have to experiment a bit with your plants to really find out what works well in our conditions.

I grow mine warm and wet, year round. My mix is mostly inorganic, but I do add some sphag. Only difference in my delenatii care compared to other slippers is that I skip on the oyster shell, since I've read and heard they like acidic growing conditions.

As far as water and food, I use rain or RO, and feed lightly. Delenatii is grown relatively far from the T8s, like all my other parvis.


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## abax (Oct 25, 2014)

I have del vini in bud now and the species del. and both are doing well
in almost straight Orchiata in clay pots with holes in the sides, temps. 60F-
80F and K-Lite a couple of times a month (1/4 tsp.). Oh, I also have the
album del in the same conditions and it's doing quite well too. LOTS of
air movement and none of them ever dry out completely. They're not fast growing, but dependable with lovely foliage.


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## Bjorn (Oct 25, 2014)

Hmmmmm? A bit confusing, but might be an issue with temperature. Generally I have had them together with the multis and that may of course have caused the decline
Is it better to place them amongst the other vietnamese species(85-90F at day summer, 50low winter-night; with a diurnal range of some 20F)? Temperature-wise it seems closer to the temps described here.
I am asking for your opinion on this.


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## MaryPientka (Oct 25, 2014)

I'm getting a 10-15F diurnal range. 50F would be the minimum not the optimal night temperature.


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## MaryPientka (Oct 25, 2014)

I agree with abax about the air movement and not letting them dry completely. I think her clay pots are doing what the LECA does in my mix. If my plants dry for too long, the lower leaves will yellow.


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## Ozpaph (Oct 25, 2014)

much less light than multi's


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## John M (Oct 25, 2014)

I grow mine in intermediate temps, low to medium light, water copiously just before the pots completely dry out and I use a little peatmoss in the mix to acidify. It's my understanding that delenatii is the only Parvi that prefers decidedly acidic conditions. Using limestone and/or oyster shell raises the pH too much and they decline.


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## Trithor (Oct 25, 2014)

John M said:


> I use a little peatmoss in the mix to acidify. It's my understanding that delenatii is the only Parvi that prefers decidedly acidic conditions. Using limestone and/or oyster shell raises the pH too much and they decline.



Interesting observation/comment


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## Paphman910 (Oct 25, 2014)

The delenatii vinicolor grow well in warm bright conditions with lots of moisture during the spring and summer(esp when they are in growth mode) then they like to grow in intermediate temperatures with the mix almost dry out between watering in the late fall and winter. Give them good air movement. 

They like pH on the acidic site at about 6.5.


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## Stone (Oct 26, 2014)

Bjorn, They come from south central vietnam at about 700mt I think. Although they may tolerate cool temps, it seems they do best with higher temps (min 16-18C) and never to dry out. A friend of mine grows them at 20C min. all year and they are very vigorous at this temp.
Tanaka has the best write up on them:
http://www.orchid.or.jp/orchid/people/tanaka/perv/enpervcult3.html


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## abax (Oct 26, 2014)

Judging from my experience with the dels., 50F is about 10 degrees too
low for winter.


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## Bjorn (Oct 27, 2014)

Stone said:


> Bjorn, They come from south central vietnam at about 700mt I think. Although they may tolerate cool temps, it seems they do best with higher temps (min 16-18C) and never to dry out. A friend of mine grows them at 20C min. all year and they are very vigorous at this temp.
> Tanaka has the best write up on them:
> http://www.orchid.or.jp/orchid/people/tanaka/perv/enpervcult3.html



Guess dr. Tanaka says it all....However, my temperatures when I killed the delenatis was not that different? Could it have been some deceases that killed them? I did not spray at that time and suspect that there might have been a micro-deficiency of some kind.
Is it different for vinicolor; I think I remember Xavier said it comes from a pocket with limestone?


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## Ozpaph (Oct 27, 2014)

well, my deflasked ones from last year grew through winter unheated here - temps down to 10C at night, commonly.


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## Paphluvr (Nov 3, 2014)

After reading all the posts to this thread, it becomes readily apparent that the proper culture is "what works for you". Some say warmer, others say cooler. Some say dry out between waterings, some say evenly moist. Some say brighter than most Paphs, others say low light.

In my experience all this is true, what works for me won't necessarily work for you.

I've had my delenatii for over 35 years, originally purchased from J & L Orchids while on a business trip many years ago. I grow mine under warm/intermediate temps, brighter light than most Paphs, and let it dry out between waterings.


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