L. Anceps

I know somebody grows L. Anceps....I just forget who. Does L. Anceps generally require higher light than other unifoliate Catts?

When I had one, I grew it right along with the other Catts, but on the cool end of the greenhouse so it could get more of a winter chill. They'll tolerate a wide range of conditions, but to bloom their best, they need a holdback of water / fertilizer in the winter (just enough water to keep their PBs from shriveling) and bright light at the same time. I wouldn't say it needs higher light, but similar light, year around if possible.

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Louis J. Aszod

I have one of these and recently asked growing advice from an acquaintance in CA. This guy is really well know for his incredible Laelias. I was mainly curious about the growth habits and potting of these plants.

Here's part of the email he sent me:
(make sure you check the photos in his gallery)

My suggestion:

Grow it outside as long as you can

Since L. anceps are temperature tolerant, meaning they can tolerate night temperatures well below freezing, I suggest that you keep it outside as long as you can, where it receives almost full sun. If it doesn’t get very hot during the middle of the summer, then full sun is better. (Of course, you have increase the sun gradually so you don;t burn it.) Since I’m fortunate enough to live in mild climate, I grow mine outside all year, but I do keep them protected from cold winter rain as well as occasional frost.



Potting

Some of mine are mounted with no moss or anything to protect the roots, and they do well. Of course, I have to water these every day during the summer. Some of them are in medium bark chips in wooden baskets while others are potted in medium bark chips or gravel in clay pots. I’m gradually switching over from bark to gravel (crushed granite - about 1” pieces ) because they obviously don;t break down and let the roots dry out sooner. Also, the added weight keeps the pots upright even when the plant sends out a long arching spike. It seems that L. anceps are happy no matter how I plant them.

My answer to your questions

It is no problem to let the roots hang outside of the pot. Often I’m lazy and I let a plant grow with one or two year’s worth growths hanging over the pot. When I water/fertilize I do make certain that the exposed roots are wetted thoroughly, however. Ideally, I suppose one should repot during the next growing season.



If you give the plant more light, as I’ve already discussed, it won’t take as much space as they are now. Although the rhizome that connects two adjacent pseudobulbs are somewhat long, they can be kept relatively compact. One of my ‘FortCarlone’ cultivar is in a 5” pot and has over a dozen pseudobulbs.



I think my largest one is in an 8” pot, and the largest wooden basket (the one shown earlier) is in an 8” basket, too. Also, when given enough light they won’t just continue to grow linearly. Rather they will start to branch out, and thus they “make more efficient use” of the pot.



Although I reduce watering/fertilizing during the winter months (because the temperature is low), I donR17;t force my L. anceps to go dormant. My practice conforms to the growing guides given by SBOE, the world leader in L. aceps. Here is a link to the growing guides for L. anceps by SBOE: http://www.sborchid.com/GrowingGuides/culture-Lanc.htm



I suggest that you take my suggestions with a grain of salt, of course, because your and my growing conditions are quite different, but I hope that what I wrote above will help you somewhat in growing this attaractive laelia species. Good luck with yours, but don’t become addicted like me! Here is a link to my laelia photo gallery: http://www.notsogreenthumb.org/galle...lia/laelia.htm



Regards,

Wow, great growing tips

I have two L. anceps and they won't flower for me... the increased light thing, I will definitely follow. And I don't feel so bad that one of them have last season's growth outside the pot with the roots hanging all over the place...

Now, I have one of those var. veitchiana x self so that would keep it a veitchiana right? The other thing, one is called var Churchill, but do u think this might be more a Cultivar rather than an actual variety?

I am so getting into the Laelias lately, esp with your previous post on L. lundii and now all those pics from your friend's website...

Thanks again for all the info.
Cheers
Tim

Tim

I'm going to leave your other questions for someone who might know the correct answers.

My one lonely anceps is an experiment to see if I can actually grow these. If I can, then the fun begins. These plants make me weep I find them so beautiful. I would think they would be easy for you taking into consideration what part of the world you're in. You grow them outside, right?

Everyone I've talked to about these who seems to know what they're doing really emphasizes the light thing. Most say to fry them silly for the best growth and blooms. That's not to say they won't flower or grow in less than intense sun, but it does really seem to be a factor with the people I know.

One other little tip I learned to make a pot of these fuller is to cut through the rhizome on larger plants. In essence dividing the plant, but not actually taking it out of the pot. I think the recommendation was to leave at least 3-4 PB divisions. After the cut is made, both parts will send up new growth and hopefully, both will flower. By not actually taking the plant out of the pot to do this, there's no root disturbance and the whole thing recovers faster. I might try this on my plant this spring since it does seem large enough. I also think I'm going to switch over to lava rock for a potting medium. I've been doing this on a few other things this spring and really like the way they're growing. Plus I have like a hundred pounds of the stuff.

Kev

Hey Kev,

The growing part seems 'easy' so far, I got the two plants only late last year and they have both sent off two new shoots each from the main growing section... however, I thought that they flower from these new shoots before completing the hardening off process of the pseudobulbs. Alas, all I got is big fat p/bs but no flowers.

So I guess given that the plants seems to be happy with the conditions to grow, I need to tweak the light they get given to induce flowering. Looking outside now, at 10.20 am the plants are in full sun... it'll either make em flower or cook em... however, they have been moved to that spot since the thread on sheaths turning into leaves... and no signs of leaf burn yet.

As far as the back-cuts are concerned, I have heard that it is a great way to get specimen plants of the cattleya family real quick. What I can't seem to get is, some ppl say leave three backbulbs and new growth and some say up to seven... but by that stage, the plants would already be in a massive pot... so, I might try with three p/bulbs each...

Well, that's all from me for now.. I do ramble on a bit sometimes so apologies to all...

Cheers
Tim

Tim

Since we seem to be the only guys having this discussion, feel free to ramble as much as you like. Doesn't bother me a bit.

Your comment about the potential pot size once these get old made me remember something else I wanted to tell you. I also had the same concern. I really do have space restrictions, so the thought of some huge 12 inch pot made me a bit nervous.

You know how these things tend to grow in a straight line? At least mine does so far. I wasn't sure what to do about that, but another grower told me he trains his anceps. As the new lead is forming, he uses toothpicks stuck in the pot to gently steer it along the edge of the pot and halt it's forward march. Once you get one of these new growths going in another direction, it becomes easier to keep the pot size down. I thought that was a way cool idea.

K

Kev, I've been doing this to my catt type orchids for 2 years now and its great. It will also encourage those old b-bulbs to send out new growth. Just a reminder, beware of rots though, so take the necessary pre-caution.

Thanks Tanya

How many PB's do you leave in each cut section? What's the minimum # you've tried?

K

The minimum I tried is 3. Mostly I will give the one with the leading growth more pbs than the one behind.

I am VERY lazy when it comes to repotting, so this method works fine for me. I only remove plants from their pot if they are in poor shape or if they are already out of the pot. Even then, I will only cut out the part that is already hanging over the edge and leave the remainder in the old pot. But thats just me .