Mexipedium xerophyticum

[Jorch]

fantastic job! 3 flowers on the same spike, that's simply amazing!!

like JPMC, my 2 plants grow so much better after i give them lots of water.. i even let them sit in water for the whole time

 

[cnycharles]

that's very nice!

 

[John M]

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna have a good talk to my piece of 'Windy Hill'. It's one growth and puts out a new leaf as an old one dies off. No stolons - ever. I've had it for almost 2 1/2 years. It did start out rootless and desicated; but, after it grew some roots and plumped up, it won't multiply....it just puts out new leaves in the top and loses them on the bottom......hmmmph!

 

[smartie2000]

that moss looks great too! and good job on the 3 blooms

 

[Claudia6982]

Very, very nice!

 

[Kavanaru]

looking at it in more detail... is that tall spike branching? or is it just another flower bud at each nodal point?

 

[goldenrose]

Interesting culture differences. I got a division from Heather & it seemed to be doing alright, even putting out 2 new growths. I think I was afraid of overwatering, seems like a common misconception. I have mine in a bonsai pot, fine bark mix with perlite added, now water at least 2x a week depending on temps & sun. It's definitely perkier & growths are getting taller.
As long as it has very good drainage it should be fine.

 

[John Boy]

Well, to be honest, just by looking at these plants you can get the impression that they’d be happy to be kept on the dry side. I’ll be changing my own regime according to the information provided here. I think the results (as shown here) speak for themselves, and I too will start my next stolon in a coal & sand mixture, just to see if I can duplicate that sort of success. Thinking about it, this is also the first plant I come across that’s “overgrown” with moss like that. As a result I have to conclude that MUCH MORE WATER would be a good place for me to start at.

 

[Kavanaru]

just a comment regarding water needs... even though the name is xerophyticum (actually related to the xerophytic environement where it grows - on a general view!), the species grow near creeks on a very wet micro-environment... This is one of those (very) misleading names!

you can see in-situ photos in this article (sorry, it is in spanish). The stones where the plants grow are actually covered by moss.
http://www.lankesteriana.ucr.ac.cr/lankesteriana/Lankesteriana 9(3) 2009/31 Perez-Garcia.pdf

 

[JPMC]

Great culture, great flowers. Is there any pink in the flowers at all?

Yes, but it is faint. You can see a little of it in the center of the middle flower.

 

[JPMC]

looking at it in more detail... is that tall spike branching? or is it just another flower bud at each nodal point?

It's not branching tremendously, it just has flower clusters at each joint on a small (1/2 inch) stalk branching off the main stalk.

 

[JPMC]

just a comment regarding water needs... even though the name is xerophyticum (actually related to the xerophytic environement where it grows - on a general view!), the species grow near creeks on a very wet micro-environment... This is one of those (very) misleading names!

you can see in-situ photos in this article (sorry, it is in spanish). The stones where the plants grow are actually covered by moss.
http://www.lankesteriana.ucr.ac.cr/lankesteriana/Lankesteriana 9(3) 2009/31 Perez-Garcia.pdf

I think that you're right. Viewing such images and reading about the natural habitat gave me the idea for growing it this way.

 

[Leo Schordje]

Yes, the general habitat where it comes from is drier than most Phrag habitats, hence the name, but Phrag habitats are VERY wet, and drier than typical Phrag habitat is still quite wet when compared to habitat for Tolumnia, or Brachypetalum Paphs, etc. I found M. xeriphyticum likes to be watered regularly, I don't stand mine in water, but I do water it a couple times a week. It also wants charcoal & either limestone or oystershell (or other calcium & magnesium source) in the mix.

Many times over the past 15 years I have seen Marilyn Ledoux's CCM pots of xeriphyticum 'Windy Hill' and the other MoBot collected clone. Often they have 3 flowers on a stem. Culture strongly effects flower count and size, the CCM plants were well over 100 growths, in 14 or 16 inch bulb pans. The bar for good culture was set quite high by Marilyn.

 

[Kavanaru]

...the CCM plants were well over 100 growths, in 14 or 16 inch bulb pans. The bar for good culture was set quite high by Marilyn.

wow... must be a fantastic view!

 

[John Boy]

It would be quite something to learn, if there's plants like that in Europe. I know that Popow has huge plants, but plant-size alone does not explain the spikes, carrying 3 flowers and 3 buds. I’d be willing to loose a very nice bottle of wine to anyone, showing me a plant like we’ve seen here, being grown in Europe. JPMC’s plant is not huge, it’s not even very very multi-growth, any yet…. Okay, it has this moss-layer; it obviously grows much wetter than at least I would have dared to keep that species. Could that be enough to make such a difference?
@JPMC: just out of utter curiosity: How did you arrive at a potting medium like that? And: how long has your plant been cultivated that way? Is there any chance you could let us have a few more pictures? I’m dying to see what would be happening under that layer of moss. Next up would be: do your new stolons dig their way through the moos to the surface, or do you still (like the rest of us mortals) have to burry the stolons every time they are large enough to start making roots?

 

[JPMC]

It would be quite something to learn, if there's plants like that in Europe. I know that Popow has huge plants, but plant-size alone does not explain the spikes, carrying 3 flowers and 3 buds. I’d be willing to loose a very nice bottle of wine to anyone, showing me a plant like we’ve seen here, being grown in Europe. JPMC’s plant is not huge, it’s not even very very multi-growth, any yet…. Okay, it has this moss-layer; it obviously grows much wetter than at least I would have dared to keep that species. Could that be enough to make such a difference?
@JPMC: just out of utter curiosity: How did you arrive at a potting medium like that? And: how long has your plant been cultivated that way? Is there any chance you could let us have a few more pictures? I’m dying to see what would be happening under that layer of moss. Next up would be: do your new stolons dig their way through the moos to the surface, or do you still (like the rest of us mortals) have to burry the stolons every time they are large enough to start making roots?

I saw and read about the natural habitat which seemed to be a scree (rocky with nearly constant moisture). The moss came along without my intervention except that I gave it the moist environment that it likes. Whether it is the moss that makes the difference or the moist conditions, I cannot say since I don't get one without the other in my plant room. It has been in this pot for about 7 years. I can take more pictures, but I'm leery of digging up the moss for fear of damaging the plant. The stolons are not burrowing into the moss, they creep along the surface. I am forever training them around the pot so they don't escape the rim. They don't need burying, they root in the moss once they get to be about an inch across.

 

[NYEric]

Very nice. I still haven't re-potted mine!

 

[John M]

Very good info here. Thanks eveyone! I'm going to have to reconsider what I'm doing for my plant. It's in CHC/perlite/limestone gravel, in a plastic pot with lots of drain holes. I never let it dry out. There is some moss beginning to grow on the surface and yet, it never produces any stolons. Maybe it needs more light now? Currently, it gets intermediate light.

 

[goldenrose]

...... Maybe it needs more light now? Currently, it gets intermediate light.

probably, mine is with the catts, the vanda & higher light multi paphs.

 

[John M]

Thanks! I'll move it this afternoon and hopefully that will help it along over the summer. I only have to move it 10 feet or so; but, that will increase the light it gets to what's good for a Vanda and high light loving Cattleya.