Pleione 2014

[Steve Garvie]

I think that when they are put into the fridge, they contain a lot of water. Climate in the fridge are very dry, so the bulbs loses some water during the winter. This could be why the change shape. So not that spooky realy.
Regards Erling

What?
So you have no fridge fairies in Danmark?   

We have them at work. They come out at night, take the best fresh food and replace it with rot and empty wrappers!

Then there are the toilet trolls ............

[erf]

Steve..... please, I am not sure that I want to hear about them toilet trolls.... 

Erling

[SteveC2]

A few questions for anyone growing autumn flowering Pleione, especially saxicola.   And before anyone says, I know that I have asked them before, but that was a few years ago and I'd be interested in any new thoughts!

I have grown mine in sphagnum moss in small aquatic baskets for the past couple of years and the bulbs seem to have done quite well.  I was ill last autumn and some jobs were missed, including repotting my autumn flowering pleiones.  The saxicola, praecox and maculata do not seemed to have minded, although the maculata are now packed so thickly that the flower buds are struggling for room.  Sadly my Confirmation have had a set back.  I think that the moss decayed too much and has remained too wet which upset my root growth and hence bulb size. 
But although the saxicola have grown well I have one problem, the new shoots, that is the ones from last winter /spring, seemed to prefer to come out of the side of the basket rather than from the top.  This is because the bulbs were not repotted and so were not neatly arranged on top of the compost.  rather than disturb the new growth I spent several sessions creating holes in the side mesh to allow the shoot to grow and develop.  I have just noticed what I think are flower buds starting to grow through these holes and so more chopping has just taken place. 
Beneath the new bulbs there is just the first signs of a new root system.  This suggests that I will not be able to "rest" these bulbs through the winter as next year's growth will be under way.
So here are the questions; What do you do with your autumn flowerers?  Do you keep them moist or dry?  What temperature do you keep them at?  When do you repot?

[Graham Catlow]

I too would like to know the best time to re-pot P.maculata. Mine have outgrown their pot this year contorting it with the size of the pseudobulbs. I am rather astounded by the size they have grown this year - see the second photo (£1 coin as comparison). Is this how big they should get because I have never had them grow so large or seen any this large. I have been growing them for a few years and had them flower on much smaller bulbs. Re potting has always been done very carefully but with much smaller bulbs and roots left in tact. Not sure I can do that this time as the roots will be long and tangled, so would like to know when the current roots will have died and how long I have before the new ones start to grow. I would like to re-pot them and separate them before the flower spikes get distorted trying to get between the bulbs if that's possible.

[Danshi]

I keep my saxicolas just slightly moist at around 10 °C in winter. If you want to repot, do it now if the new roots are still short. In my opinion the best time to repot any Pleione is when the new shoots have just started into growth.

[SteveC2]

Thanks for that.  This season's leaves are still green and healthy and I was under the impression that saxicola bulbs do a lot of their growing late in the season, but if I leave it much longer the new roots will be too long and they are the most important part.
Found another flower shoot trying to get through the mesh on the side of the pot today.  Yet more cutting required!

And Graham, I thought my maculata had done well this year, but those are huge!

[Nova]

I've repotted my saxicola from a plastic pot into a pond basket last week while blossoming. I always try to avoid root damage when repotting, but I do believe the mature bulbs have enough food stored to enable the growth of new shoots.

[Graham Catlow]

Really nice Khadija.
Might need to make space on a windowsill to give saxicola try. Will have to remove something else first. But What?

Graham

[karel_t]

P. saxicola is a terrestrial orchid. Can you see any difference between plants growing in pot or bowl and in pond basked?
K.

[SteveC2]

When I first started with Pleione I lost a few, forrestii and saxicola to name but two.  A few people suggested that I might try pond baskets, citing better drainage and increased aeration as possible advantages.  I tried them and they seemed to work for me.  My replacement forrestii built up into a good colony, until the winter of 10-11 did for them, the saxicola have bulked up, and gradually all my expensive and "difficult" pleiones have found their way into baskets.   
I have also found that the sphagnum in which I grow most of pleione lasts longer in the baskets.
The disadvantage is that several new growths tunnel out the side, and that by the end of the summer the pots are joined together as the roots run between them, but the root growth is excellent.
It also helps that they can straight on my society's show display where "any colour as long as it is black" is the rule.

[Nova]

Autumn bliss...

Pleione maculata

P. 'Confirmation'

[Maggi Young]

Lovely photos, Khadija - I've add the plant names to your text so the search machine can find them
 

[Nova]

Great, thank you Maggi!
I will keep in mind to add the name in future posts 

[Maggi Young]

My thanks to YOU! 

[pleione07]

hello,
VIRUS?  Fugi?