Sophronitis cernua 'Charlie'

[John M]

Here's a really cute one that is a favourite of mine. I've had it for about 25 years. It grew into a huge specimen. Then, I chopped it up and sold off the divisions. However, then I had a lot of rot trouble with the piece I kept and I lost a lot of the plant. I finally got that issue to stop.....thankfully. I discovered that not only does it not need the cold, it does not even like the cold! I've been keeping my greenhouse colder the last few years to save costs and it did not do well. However, when I moved it to the warm corner of the greenhouse, the rot stopped and the plant is finally coming back nicely. There were 3 other clusters of flowers this year; but, they finished as these next 3 clusters began opening out. Normally, they all bloom at the same time. The flowers are very short-lived if they get wet. However, the life can be extended considerably if the blooms are kept dry.

 

[NYEric]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Migrant13]

Wow that is beautiful!

 

[gego]

Beautiful. Very nice color.

 

[Ruth]

Beautiful!!!

 

[Ozpaph]

beautiful

 

[Wendy]

You know I like it....:clap:

 

[Hamlet]

That is a very beautiful and healthy looking plant!

 

[Linus_Cello]

Congrats and good tip on keeping warm. How cold did your greenhouse get?

 

[eggshells]

So beautiful. I can't grow mine well enough to do something. Just on a stasis.

 

[John M]

Thank you, all.

Linus, the temps in my greenhouse went down into the 40'sF at night a lot in the past 2 winters. That's too cold for Phals and warmer growing things, like this species. It really does need a minimum of about 60F, with bright shade to medium light....not high light.

However, I improved the health of this plant by placing it at the warm end of the greenhouse, right in line with where the heater blows towards. It also happens to be the NW corner of the greenhouse, so this area also gets the most heated in the daytime from the sun....and when the sun isn't shining, at least the heater is blowing it's heat towards it. Of course, at night, the heater runs even more often; so, the plant is fairly consistently being kept warmer than other areas of the greenhouse. While the rest of the greenhouse is quite cold, this area has a microclimate that is about 15*F warmer. This change in location was all the plant needed to stop rotting it's new growths.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Thanks! Helpful to know when I build my dream greenhouse/conservatory. (40 F sounds perfect for cymbidiums and some Brachys.)

 

[Erythrone]

Wow!!!! Very well grown!!!

 

[SlipperFan]

Beautiful flowers, John. They look larger than mine.

Thanks for the tip on watering.

 

[chris20]

Gorgeous!

 

[JeanLux]

Great blooming on this small Beauty !!!! Bravo !!!! Jean

 

[paphioboy]

Cute specimen!

 

[Stone]

Beautiful, well grown and good colour too! Very nice John.

 

[trdyl]

John, It's a beauty!

 

[OrchidIsa]

Speechless!:clap: