Ansellia africana

[goldenrose]

Any one growing & blooming Ansellia africana?
My enabler, bullsie shared divisions with me. Seems we were mistaken on the light requirements, we've corrected that by moving them to lower light rather than full sun. For plants that grow in trees, apparently from what I've researched, they can take more water than what I'd think. So what I'm wondering is - how much light are you giving, what type of media are you using & how much water.
This is what mine are looking like now - decent roots, new roots sprouting as well as new grow.

The new tip on this one was soft, used a couple of drops of dragon's blood, the growth is firm.

 

[cnycharles]

a friend was growing a large one in his greenhouse, and he wasn't giving it very good care and it grew and flowered for him. we are in upstate ny and he had shade over that part of the greenhouse, so it wasn't all that bright considering it isn't always sunny here. it could get fairly warm and it may have gotten a bit dry here and there, but it would flower for him. so, maybe benign neglect is part of the culture requirements? I hope someone can give you better clues than this, though

 

[Candace]

Mine grew and flowered easily. I grew it in cattleya light. African species can take a lot of light and heat.

 

[goldenrose]

Thanks Charles & Candace, your responses are exactly why I posted this. My first search revealed they grow in trees, so I thought like you Candace - catt conditions - good light, good drainage, let dry out betwen waterings & that possibly during summer droughts would be a dormant period for them. Are yours leafless & the canes yellow? To me the yellow indicates too much light & the ribbing in the canes too little water? But I had that new tip brown. There was an ebay seller that had one last week & the pic of his was gorgeous, nice dark colored leaves & lots of them. I then decided I need to do more searching. Info on Jay's indicated shady conditions, lots of water during the growing period. So I'm not sure which way to go. I was hoping some of our members in Africa could advise, anybody out there?

 

[Candace]

This is a pretty tolerant species, Rose. I don't know what else to tell you. I would probably buy another plant, though. This one looks pretty rotted. I had some canes that were greener than others, but the blooming is what matters most to me, not if the plant is "green" or not. Most of my catts. verge on the lime-green yellow range and that's where they bloom best.

 

[bullsie]

YOURS is sprouting new growth!!!! All mine is doing is putting out roots, lots and lots of roots and those whisker roots are just shooting up everywhere.

Maybe I should start ignoring it...aaahhhhhh!!!!!

 

[goldenrose]

YOURS is sprouting new growth!!!! All mine is doing is putting out roots, lots and lots of roots and those whisker roots are just shooting up everywhere.

Maybe I should start ignoring it...aaahhhhhh!!!!!

Post a pic of yours please. I have what I think are the whisker roots as you describe, but it sounds like yours has more. I think new roots are good, they can support new canes/growth!
If it were rotted, in this type of plant with canes, be soft & mushy like in most? The canes are firm & solid, even with that one showing a blackish color. The new growth, even though the tip was soft & brownish, after applying the dragon's blood the rest of the growth remains white & firm.
Appreciate your input Candace, what media is yours in?
I know quite often orchid growing is by trial & error & we need to read our plants when they're telling us something is off. What works for me won't necessarily work for you & vice versa, but we ask & try just the same! After unpotting it my gut feeling said try loosely packed sphagnum, it can breathe, have moisture & dry out when needed. The bigger piece is in a net pot, the little guy a clay pot.

 

[slippertalker]

These things are pretty easy to grow and bloom. The biggest problem is that they get so big pretty quickly. (a few years) Hopefully you have plenty of room to grow it!

 

[bullsie]

What I am wondering about is since Goldenrose and I have divisions, if they concentrate on root growth before pseudobulb and leaf growth. I have mine in Cattleya mix (bark, husk, sponge rock, charcoal etc) and while the top part is doing nothing, the bottom part is absolutely filling with roots. At this rate if Goldenrose and I can put the two back together, will have one complete one! And so far, those on here who grow them have great sucess and say they are easy.

But what to do to get them started?

 

[bullsie]

Update on my Ansellia. Great frustration erupted and so I moved it to a north window in a warm room. Eureka! It started putting out growths like mad. At this point not sure if it was the warmth or the low light or both. OR neither as at this point it had a pot and half full of roots of all shapes and sizes. So, was it the change of 'atmosphere' or that it finally put enough root growth on to satisfy normal leaf/pseudobulb growth? Don't care. Just tickled it is now looking like a plant that should flower for me - and after more growth I will try it in a sunnier location with a heat mat. See how that goes!

Goldenrose, what's happening with yours?

 

[goldenrose]

Not much, being in the GH with night lows of 55 I would guess that warm nights will trigger new growth on any & everything!