Encyclia cordigera

[leslie_texas]

HI friends!
Leslie here, Just wanted to show yall my newest child member. my Encyclia cordigera. It still needs to get better established but so far so good. Any tips for this one? whats the max temp it can handle? Can it be outside on my patio in Texas or is that to hot and to much light? Thanks yall!

[78Terp]

Check out this link to IOSPE for this encyclia:
IOSPE PHOTOS

Hope it helps you!

[Catt Mandu]

There are 2 types of E. cordigera, one with a lip that is all pink (or nearly so), the other has a white lip with a pink dot. I have the latter type, I have had mine less than a year.

Mine likes Cattleya light levels, very well-drained at the roots. I have mine growing in a terracotta pot with scoria (="lava rock"), pieces about 3/4 inch size. You could probably grow well in any of the inorganic media (such as LECA). Bark might be OK, but I would still add in some materials that resist breakdown, such as lava rock, LECA, or coarse charcoal. Chunks of tree fern might also work well.

Mine seems to do well with Georgia outdoor temperatures. We frequently get mid 90s F here in the summer, occasionally up into the 100s. I'm not sure how Austin compares. I haven't seen problems with the heat. I would be cautious moving it into too much light too quickly.

Good luck with yours. They are very fragrant & long-lasting when they bloom.

[leslie_texas]

I used an orchid mix with big bark chunks and sphagum grass, its nice to know that it will do outside!Here is a pic of what mine looks like in bloom.

[Catt Mandu]

One thing I was not sure about from your original post photo: I am not seeing big pseudobulbs, which ought to be the size if a lime or lemon on a blooming plant. I figured that the new growths in that photo just indicated a really young plant, pseudobulbs just small & not developed much yet, but your plant has bloomed already (nice blooms BTW!). You do want to make sure that pseudobulbs are not buried in the medium.

Here is a photo of mine when it was blooming early this year, before I repotted. You can see the size of the pseudobulb, which is about 2 inches tall (also, this is the other type of flower I mentioned):



Regarding your growing medium, Austin is probably drier than here (not Midland or Abilene, but drier than Georgia), so the medium you have might be OK. If you do have root problems in the future, consider changing to an inorganic medium. In the meantime, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Miller]

I'm in Houston and grow mine outside most of the year and they are growing great. I may be a bit more humid than you are.

[Cjcorner]

The more sunlight your Encyclia gets, the better it will like it. They like it wet...but dry out in between. When I find them on the trees they only have about four to six inches of gunk matted with the roots so I now limit how much potting materials I put in pots or baskets for them. Can't wait to see yours with a nice spike of flowers...