I'm excited that I finally got some Spathoglottis! I already grow the Bletilla which is hardy in my Zone 8 but I know the Spathoglottis isn't and have never grown them before.

They appear to be going dormant at the moment .. I'm wondering if I should just keep them that way in the greenhouse where it get's no lower than mid 40's at night or would it be better for them to pot them up and bring them indoors?

Any and all advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Anne, I hope our Floridians will give you advise regarding temperature.
In the meanwhile, since I really don't know much about Spathoglottis ( I have never grown any of these) I looked it up. It seems the Spathoglottis parsonii is not an accepted name, its correct name is Spathoglottis x parsonsii, and it is a natural hybrid.
http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/named...

Perhaps this will make it a bit easier to gather information….
and
http://www.orchidspecies.com/s...

Thanks for responding .. I'm just not sure if I should let them stay dormant til Spring or wake them up.

Anne, I think the ones I have are Spathoglottis plicata. Do yours have the pleated leaves?

Mine are blooming still. We've had some nights down into the 40's and it has not slowed them down so if you are keeping them in the greenhouse, they can get on with growing, I would think. Once you get them blooming, they just keep right on until they get too crowded. My pale yellow/purple ones have been blooming for months. See pic

I have a lot of the purple ones, as Lowe's carries them as landscape plants here in the spring and summer. Last spring I divided them, and they have pouted and not bloomed until just the last few weeks. As with a lot of orchids it seems they want a change of temperature in order to get inspired and put up a bloom stem. Suddenly all the divisions I made are putting up spikes.

They seem to like growing in the leafy duff under my big oak trees, so bright shifting shade with some good peeks of sun. Loose loamy soil. I give them slow-release pelleted fert in the spring and fall.

Thanks Elaine .. the leaves are pleated .. look just like the Bletilla leaves and I'm thinking what I got were offsets and probably won't be blooming any time soon. The soil temperature of most of the plants in the greenhouses are in the low 50's .. a few in the mid 40's .. the ones on the ground - I keep my greenhouses pretty much at "don't freeze" temps. I'm thinking if I keep them there they'll stay essentially comatose. I think I'll leave them in there for awhile then pot them up and bring them in probably in late January if you think that is safe to do.

What other terrestrial orchids are there besides the Bletilla and Spathoglottis? I'm really liking these!

I have the Sarcoglottis sceptrodes ("Green Dragon Orchid") and the Vanilla planifolio ("Vanilla Orchid"), as well as two of the Spathoglottis varieties.

Ludisias - the so-called Jewel Orchids are also ground orchids I think, although I do have mine in little hanging baskets c/w sphagnum in the soil mix and very loose soil. I'm contemplating trying an offset in the ground once spring is here. The Macodes Petola in the picture foreground is related. They have 'jewelled' leaf veins that sparkle like gold or ruby in the sunlight. (but don't grow them in the sun!)

I always thought Spathoglottis parsonii was just a variation of the plicata.

I have mine planted in large pots around a live oak tree. I leave them out all year long and they make it about half of the time. They are easy to find at the big box stores and not very expensive. I use lose loamy soil and patchy sun just like Elaine.

Other ground orchids that I have are cymbidiums, which are tougher than the Spathoglottis, bletillas, various jewel orchids and Arundina graminifolia, the bamboo orchid, shown here.


Jim

I also have the Ludisia - it's putting out a flower spike! I didn't realize it was also a ground orchid. Also have a Vanilla Orchid but that's not a ground orchid is it? .. keeping hoping it will bloom .. it's wrapped around a metal hanging basket and is over 9 feet long. That Macodes petola sound very interesting!

Yes, jewel orchids and Vanilla orchids are both considered ground orchids. So are Habenarias for that matter. Even some Epidendrums are considered ground orchids.

Jim

Jim, as per Kew, Spathoglottis x parsonsii is a natural hybrid of S. plicata × S. vanoverbergii.

What Jim said - quite a few Orchids which we grow in pots, do grow in the ground in nature. We just about stepped on thick mats of Orchids in Ecuador, they were impossible to avoid at times. ( some Lycaste, Maxillarias, certain Pleurothallids too as example)

I have never seen a terrestrial orchid plant in any of our big-box stores. Perhaps they are only found in FL and CA since they would surely all die if left outside in most US regions.

Sobralia, Cymbidiums, and some Epidendrums are all good in large pots, or as Jim says, under trees where they don't freeze. If you get frost they can be brought inside. Mine only get light frost for a couple of hours so they stay out.

Ken, I don't recall ever seeing ground orchids in the stores either - just not suited to our Zone 8 unless grown in pots I guess .. I'd give anything to be able to grow Cypripediums but it's just too hot here for them.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Cymbidiums. I got a raging deal on some huge pots of Cyms at Costco in Feb. last year. I would think they'd send them to your area as well, Anne. Keep an eye out. Those would do better in your zone than they do here. I'll be finding out soon if they'll rebloom for me.

Those are beautiful!

Elaine, check your local vendors. Santa Barbara Orchid Estates lists which Cyms. are "heat tolerant". I don't buy from them often , as they are pricey, but they do have some good info, considering their location, and my two Oldest Cyms. probably came from them. If you have a local Cym. grower they may be helpful. They grow them in Hawaii where they have to haul them up the mountain at night to get them to bloom. As long as they get the 20deg. change between day and night temps. most should do well in the south east.

Thanks for the information, Carol. In my forty years of growing orchids, I don't think I have ever had a Cymbiduim. I always believed that they were "cool" growing orchids and thus not well suited to being outdoors in our hot summers.

Ken, in addition to Carol's post -
I read this article on warmth tolerant cymbidiums some years ago, I think it was on the Orchid board forum. Luckily I saved it to my computer. It ranks the Cyms according to their warmth-tolerance, so if you get a hybrid with these, you will have some idea about their temp requirement to bloom. I wish I could give credit to the person who wrote this.

You can read books.. or you can try things out. I find that you need some understanding (from genealogy) but in reality you need to also be willing to experiment. Here's what you need to know. What are your day and night temperatures in the late spring to early summer? This is when the spikes are triggered. If there is less than a 15-20 degree difference then you must have cymbs that are related to things like ensifolium. In addition what are the absolute high temps in late summer early fall? If they are in the 90s this limits the amount of non ensifolium material you can have.

Other warmies include canaliculatum, and a few more.

Kobsukh lists the following according to tolerance
Heat Factor
1Cym ensifolium subsp haematodes 10.0
2 Cym canalicaulatum 10.0
3 Cym aloifolium 10.0
4 Cym finlaysonianum 9.5
5 Cym ensifolium subsp ensifolium 8.5
6 Cym munronianum 8.0
7 Cym dayanum 8.5
8 Cym madidum 8.0
9 Cym bicolor 8.5
10 Cym atropurpureum 8.5
11 Cym chloranthum 7.0
12 Cym sinense 5.5
Many of these while warm tolerant are very small flowered short lived blooms and really only worth mentioning in that if they are the parents you may get some heat tolerance and a decent flower. For example I have some dayanum x cherry cola and the flower is nice and they are very warm tolerant.

I've had a lot of experience with pumilum sic floribundum) and discussions with Andy Easton about it. It seems there are at least two distinct 'races' of it, one that is much more warm tolerant than others. The ones that are not, initiate a bud, then sort of go dormant for about 3-5 months and then die off, never elongating or maturing. Also it seems that crosses make a big difference as to whether they are more warm tolerant. So what I say about it, is that pumilum is a very iffy warm tolerant, and only in some crosses. Mimi 'Sandalwood' was tolerant, some other Mimi's were not. Mimi 'Lucifer' is but Mimi 'Mary Bea' is not. I think you get the picture..so I didn't include it as warm though there are some crosses that are.

Now if you look at the parentage of the famous and gorgeous Cymbidium Golden Elf on the Santa Barbara warmth tolerant Cymbidium page, you will see that one of the parent is ensifolium, making it warmth tolerant.

I think I will stick with my cattleya alliance, with a few phal., vanda, den., and terrestrial orchids thrown into the mix.

This summer I purchased several Mtssa. Royal Robe 'Jerry's Pick' plants, and now that I think about it, I think they are somehow kin to cymbidiums. They are growing well and compared to the majority of my cattleya alliance plants, they are fast-growing. Since I purchased them as2-3 inch "baby" plants, they are no where near blooming size. Until/unless they bloom, I won't know how well they really do in my climate here in NE Mississippi.