pleuro restrepioides? id and culture

[cnycharles]

I got this orchid at our member's silent auction this last sunday, for $6 I think. It's in decent shape, though some of the leaves are yellow. The tag says 'pleuro. restrepioides'. I just looked at a recent thread that Ruth posted of her p. restrepioides in flower, and noticed that the leaves don't look the same. If anyone can tell if it isn't what the tag says, or which species it might be...

If this is a p. restrepioides, what is the proper culture for it? The previous owner said that she had it for four years and it never flowered... some of the leaves are a bit yellow - is this from too much fertilizer or light?

whole plant

some yellow leaves

 

[NYEric]

Without a bloom (or the tag) it's not possible to tell what it is. The yellow leaves are definitely a sign of distress! Use RO water to flush the media but dont get the leaves wet.

 

[cnycharles]

sorry, i'm confused... there is a tag, and it says 'pleuro. restrepioides' ; just that when I look at a picture of the same species here on the forum, there are different leaves so just wondering if in fact it is what the tag says. thanks for the culture info, will flush it with clean water for a while

 

[NYEric]

sorry, i'm confused... there is a tag, and it says 'pleuro. restrepioides' ;

Humor! I tried to check the Pleurothallid alliance website but there is a message on their pages that says "Hacked by Humei7"!!! Jerk.
When i checked on Wiki there are photos w/ somewhat similar leaves but I have a yellow Pleuro that matched the plant you posted also. Just bloom it out and see.

 

[goods]

Your plant definitely not Plths. restrepioides. It's leaf is rounded at the tip whereas yours comes to a point. I have one labeled Plths. truncata with the pointed leaf tips that resembles yours but is taller. It might be the yellow species Eric mentioned.

My advice would be to give it medium light, keep it moist, and try to get the nights down to around 60 or a little lower. Hopefully, that will get it blooming. I get the yellow leaves on mine too, but that's because I'm growing them a bit too warm.

 

[cnycharles]

my north kitchen windowsill should be able to get down to 60 easily enough, thanks for the info and insight

 

[cnycharles]

update

the last few weeks i've been watching my pleuro put out new, shiny leaves right along, and noticed that on some of the old leaves (where leaf meets stem) there was a funny, wiry thing curling out. I didn't know if it might be a keiki or inflorescence, but today I think I see orange buds! I have been watering it mostly with aerified tap water (very low tds) and an occasional low-power klite feeding

I didn't mention before that on the name tag, the original name that had been scribbled over, was pleuro truncata. pleuro restrep...ides was written next to it.

possible flower spike/orange buds

new shiny leaf; I wonder if they normally get rough with age or if it's
a consequence of low humidity?

slightly younger spike

 

[NYEric]

Very good. Pl. truncata form is different and the buds bloom down along hte middle of the leaves. Well, soon we should know.

 

[Ruth]

Very interesting, looking forward to the flowers

 

[maitaman]

It could be any of dozens of pleuros found here. If the flowers open a very clear, pure yellow, I'd opt for Pl. costaricensis, but there are a lot that resemble that.

 

[cnycharles]

oldest buds today, bright orange. I looked at pics of p. costaricensis,
and the leaves/stems look totally different. every time I look at the
plant/leaves (just about every day now), I see new leaves coming up!

the spike was curled towards the window at first, but it had been caught in the little sheath and gotten bunched up. it's straightening out towards the middle of the leaf, now and seems like it should be what it's tag first read, 'truncata'