Epi. ilense

[Diane]

Now that is really nice. So delicate in shape and color. As for cooling, they have these things call Central Air Conditioners.... They work really well inside a house....

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

Good growing, Julie!
It is a difficult plant, difficult set-up but it looks like you manage to get through and it blooms!
Cheers. Hoa.

[Piper]

Well, after seeing Lisa's lovely blooms first pic we discussed my struggling fellow. She suggested unmounting it and sticking it in sphag in a clay pot. There simply isn't a way to otherwise provide the humidity a mounted plant wants in my apt.

When I got home, the flowers had dropped. It should be free flowering, and I realized this fellow was doing its darnedest to bloom and grow, and that it needed some help. So I did something I thought I'd never do...I unmounted it. It had been growing on cork bark since I bought it, 2 1/2 years ago. Those roots were deep in the fissures.

I soaked it for an hour to soften the roots. Then I used the round end of a kitchen skewer to try and dig under the outermost roots, gently prying them up. I worked around the edges, progressing slowly inwards. Applying some pressure, but not enought to tear roots. It took about a half hour, but I did get it off. I then tried to pot it so the new growth would grow up straight. The mounted growth has a pretty good recurve, but I can live with that.

Here it is in its new pot second pic. The kitchen has been a potting zone this last week, and I never bothered to remove the black velvet, as more chid's are starting to bloom. So meal prep has been a bit paltry. The magenta line shows the orientation of the former cork mount to the plant. I'm pretty happy with the outcome, and am looking forward to a happier plant.

Julie

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

That is a great picture of the Epi. ilense, Julie!

That is a great idea to repot the plant into the claypot. As we have discussed previously in the Claypot thread, many of us have found that claypot is a good substitute for conditions that mounted plants require. I am all for it!
BTW, it looks like you have been busy! Your kitchen table looks so FULL!!!

Cheers. Hoa.

[etothex]

Julie,
I am curious as to what the humidity is in your apt.. As you know I have an Ilense I keep it moist and around 70-76 degrees with 60+ humidity. I keep it shaded so not to burn it. It seems to be doing ok

[Piper]

Hi Kevin,

I don't humidify in the summer, and I'm right off the water with the windows open, so I'm at the ambient humidity (70%) at the moment. It gets cold here in the winter, and even with the humidifiers I struggle to keep it at 40%.

With all the heat we've been having, I've had fans going around the clock and that's drying everything out pronto. I'm a watering slave! I'm really reconsidering clay/sphag. The plants love it, but they're drying out so fast I can't imagine I'll ever be able to go away again!

The ilense never burned, even in direct sun. But it didn't grow either. I've moved it from my more shaded room into bright indirect. I want to see with the pot how it likes that.

Julie

[Piper]

Wohoo! Two more buds have formed! They're tiny yet, so it'll probably be about three weeks before they open. But it hopefully means the plant is happier in the pot. I'm hoping I'll get two good flower this time. We'll see...

Julie

[Piper]

The buds were just starting to crack open yesterday, and I only just remembered to check on them half an hour ago. Wow! It's in full bloom, and the flowers are doing just what they're supposed to - and they're magnificent!

I still hadn't taken down the black velvet in the kitchen, so I grabbed my tripod and snapped off some pictures. This is what a happy Epi. ilense is supposed to look like!

Julie

[Mehera]

Those blooms are AMAZING! Wow. Your photography really shows them off too. Congrats on finding the combination to make this plant happy.

[Diane]

Very nice blooms, and great photos!