Cremastra appendiculata

[fredg]

This Japanese orchid has a reputation for not repeat flowering. It's my sixth year to have it in flower so I'm not too sure why it has that reputation. It just gets on with it quietly under one of the benches.
The information I first read on it said it was saprophytic so I've not re-potted or fed it.



This is the best show it's put on so far.

[SteveC2]

Mine is bulking up nicely, three large leaves, two smaller and a couple of nice spikes developing.  Like you I had heard that it is "difficult" and like you haven't repotted for a while, but there must come a time when it needs to be done.  I grow it in a very woodsy compost, plenty of bark included, so perhaps it is getting some nutrition from that as it decomposes, but I do give it a very weak feed a couple of times a year.  Are your leaves still pristine or going over?  The slugs got mine before it even appeared above ground so two leaves appear to have been sawn off.

[Maggi Young]

"Botany Boy" writes about Cremastra appendiculata :  http://botanyboy.org/a-calypso-tribe-orchid-from-japan/

[SteveC2]

I would agree about the yellow blotches, but single leaf?  I think not!  The problem with not repotting for the past few years is that I have no idea what is going on underground.  Are all five leaves on a single chain of bulbs or has the chain broken to form separate plants?  Almost makes me want to check.  But then again I think I will leave well alone!

[fredg]

What don't you agree with about the single leaf Steve?

[SteveC2]

I have only bought one plant.  There are now five leaves.  Five plants or five leaves on one plant?  As I have not repotted in a few years I am not sure what is below the ground, but presumably it is a bletilla like mass of old bulbs with five new growing points.

[fredg]

You have five plants. There is just a single leaf per plant.

[naoki]

Very nice.  Steve and Fred, do you happen to know if they are Chinese or Japanese origin?  How do you deal with them during the summer dormancy?  Also what kind of temperature do you use during the winter?
Thanks,
Naoki

[SteveC2]

Mine go outside, in a sheltered spot.  When the weather is dry, which it usually is, I try to keep the soil slightly damp.  Winter temps down to -7 have had no impact but simply because of what it is growing with it tends to be around 0 minimum.

[fredg]

Very nice.  Steve and Fred, do you happen to know if they are Chinese or Japanese origin?  How do you deal with them during the summer dormancy?  Also what kind of temperature do you use during the winter?
Thanks,
Naoki

I'm afraid the origin country of my plant isn't known to me.
As I stated it sits quietly under a bench so if there's no leaf I will not water very often until signs of life are apparent. My first post of flowers was in 2010 so I was growing it over the winter from 2009 during which time I recorded a temperature of around -18C ( 0F). My greenhouses are unheated and receive very little direct sunlight in winter, vents fully open.

[naoki]

Thank you very much for the info!  So it can handle really cold winter!  It is somewhat related to Calypso, which is also summer dormant.  Calypso grows around here (Fairbanks, Alaska) where the air temp can hit -40C (but under snow, it is usually 0 to -10C).  It overwinters with leaves out, which seems to be a very weird strategy to me.