Ophrys bombyliflora

[ian mcenery]

Just acquired this plant but have no idea about cultivation any ideas about compost, watering and general hints please

[Carlo]

Ian,

Anything I could offer at this time would be conjecture...the plants are very rare in the US and I have not grown any. There is a book coming out soon on Ophrys and I hope to be reviewing it for my website, but I haven't seen it yet.

Carlo

[Lesley Cox]

Tony Darby grows some Ophrys species.

[gote]

I cannot grow them - at least not outside - so my advice is not all that good. However until someone else comes up with better answers:

Ophrys start growing in the fall when the first rains arrive in the Mediterrean. They then grow on during the winter as a rosette of leaves. In spring they send up a flowering stalk and set seed whereupon they wither down and stay over the summer as a corm.

The problematic part is the winter since they need light and cannot take much frost. A couple of degrees below freezing is OK for a short time. In the summer they should be dry and warm but not so dry as in a dry and warm pot. If they are outside in well drained soil one could use a cloche. The soil where they grow is low in humus and a little high in pH.

I suggest that you find the websides of Pinkepank and of Malmgren. They have advice that at least partly is in English. There is also a book "Hardy Orchids" by I believe Cribb.

Good luck
Göte 

[ian mcenery]

Thank you Carlo I will look out for the new book .

Lesley thanks for the tip.

Gote thanks for the tips the Cribb doesn't say much in specific terms as I already have this being a Cyp nut. I have found a refernence in one of the recent AGS bulletins which again suggest the regime you suggest, but the writer claims to grow many Ophrys outside. To be on the safe side I have for the time being potted it up and will water this when I water my bulbs in pots and see how it gets on. If it grows I might plant it out in a protected spot in the garden with a cloche for winter cover. Watch this space

[Anthony Darby]

Just had this thread pointed out by the fair Maggi. I have just been repotting my Ophrys spp. Some, like O. scolopax (Woodcock Ophrys) have remained a single plant in a pot for several years. Others, like O. iricolor seem to be producing offsets. Time will tell. Some have produced very small extra tubers which I missed when emptying the pots. These are very susceptible to drying out over the winter.

Here is what I do. I use a mix of Seramis® (40%); perlite (40%); sieved loam (10%) and fine bark (or orchid compost) (10%). I grow them in terracotta pots plunged in sand in the greenhouse and do not water until the first shoots are visible, or beginning of October if that is sooner. They need plenty of water over the winter, but outside in sunny D is too damp and cold. When the flowers and leaves die down they remain hot and dry over the summer.

[ian mcenery]

Thanks very much Anthony most useful. I will let you know if I succeed

[gote]

The writer in the AGS bulletin is probably based in the UK. The winters there are much milder and more than one Ophrys grows wild there. If my winters were as mild (and light) I would also succeed. Malmgren (also in Sweden) grows orchids with this kind of behaviour under artificial light during the winter. That is the thing to do in a Swedish climate but it is too much work for me.
Göte

[Anthony Darby]

Ian Christie has had Ophrys spp. survive outside in Kirriemuir, 50 miles north of me, but he has a much drier climate (a near neighbour of his breeds Mediterranean tortoises in his garden). I have a friend who has Ophrys apifera in his wild flower meadow near Anston (between Worksop and Sheffield). They like limestone and not winter wet. Although there are limestone areas in Scotland, there are no ophrys. Hard water doesn't exist in Scotland so we never ever ever suffer from limescale in kettles etc

[Maggi Young]

Hard water doesn't exist in Scotland so we never ever ever suffer from limescale in kettles etc

This is also the reason why our whisky is so good! a small price to pay for the lack of Ophrys, I contend.

[derekb]

Maggi,
            I said only 2 glasses.
Derek

[Maggi Young]

My mistake, Derek, I thought you said only one, so I used a pint glass!